The Hood River News-Letter, Hood River, OR., November 24, 1906, page 1
APPEAL TO THE LEGISLATURE
Unity Endorses Creating Cascade County and the Facts and Figures Explain
Why it Should Be Done
A most enthusiastic county division meeting was called
off Saturday afternoon in the K. of P. hall. President Davidson, of the Hood
River Commercial club, called the meeting to order and an informal discussion
of the subject was the indulged in by the gentlemen present.
Mr. J. Adrian Epping, of Portland, made a very interesting
address on the subject of " knocking." He gave some very humorous illustrations
of the methods of some of our farmers. Going to one farmer and asking his
prize he was told it was $15,000. His neighbor, joining farms, having practically
the same kind of soil and the same acreage, when Mr. Epping asked as to the
value of that tract was told that it was not worth more than $500 and when
he asked the reason was told that it was to stony and would not raise anything
like the crop on land of the farmer he was talking with. Later in talking
with the neighbor he asked about the farm of the first gentleman and was
told that it was no good at all that it was underlaid with hard pan and trees
would not thrive upon such land. The facts were as Mr. Epping found them
that there was very little, if any difference, in the productiveness of the
two tracts of land. Another case came more nearly home to him as he was talking
to a neighbor about a piece of land which he (Mr. Epping) has bought. The
neighbor told him that the slope was wrong, that his trees would not do well.
His neighbor had about the same acreage and the trees were of the same age.
Mr. Epping asked him how many boxes of first class apples he marked this
year from his orchard and the neighbor replied 650 and Mr. Epping replied
that he had marketed 800 boxes from his orchard and then called the attention
of his neighbor to the fact that the slope of the land on the two ranches
were identical. The point Mr. Epping made was that this knocking by the farmers
all over the valley was doing an injury to the farmers themselves and that
in common justice should be stopped; that it had been fully demonstrated
that there was little or no difference in the different sections of the valley;
that any of the land in the valley would raise in the largest quantities,
the best apples that grow on the face of the earth; that it was right for
a man to think his own place was a little more desirable than his neighbors,
but because of that a man should be manly enough not to go knocking his neighbor;
that the thing for our people to do was to stand together in the closest
bonds of friendship and help each other instead of knocking. Particularly
in this matter of county division we should stand as a unit. He assured the
meeting that there was much interest in Multnomah county in the issue and
that we could expect substantial assistance from the Multnomah members when
the question came before the legislature.
T.A. Reavis compared Cascade county with other counties
when they were caught off from Wasco, showing that our condition is much
more favorable now with us than it was in these other instances and they
have been eminently successful. Therefore he thought the sooner we accomplished
the division the better.
Judge Henderson called attention to the convenience of
having our county records here at home where so much time would not be needed
to consult the records, and closed with an amusing instance where a man told
a Portlander that it was through Hood River that he had heard of Portland
and never knew there was such a place as Portland until he heard of Hood
River and began to inquire about the country.
Truman Butler called attention to the fact that the heaviest
expense would come the first year and that we would be assisted over by the
proportion of the county property this section of the county has at The Dalles
which would be refunded to us and that after the first year the expenses
would most certainly be less than they were before division.
Professor G.D. Thompson emphasized the remarks of J.
Adrian Epping in reference to knocking and move to the appointing of a committee
to circulate petitions asking the division.
Hon. A.A. Jayne was requested to give information regarding
the modus operandi used in the work of the legislature in creating the division
and satisfied his hearers.
P.S. Davidson was requested to present some figures obtained
at The Dalles from the records, which follows:
The assessed valuation of the proposed new county for
1906 is $1,618,0670.
The area of the proposed new county is almost 460 square
miles.
A tax levy of 1.5 mills on $1,618,670 will raise........$29,945.40 Earnings of county clerk's office (estimated).............4,000.00 Income of proposed new county....................33,945.40 COUNTY EXPENSES (ESTIMATED) Books for and transcribing of records....................$2,000.00 Court expenses (2 terms)..................................2,000.00 Board of prisoners..........................................500.00 Officers, jail, fixtures, etc.............................3,000.00 Incidental expenses.........................................500.00 ---------- County expenses other than officers......................$8,000.00 COUNTY OFFICERS AND SALARIES Assessor...................................................$900.00 County Judge................................................300.00 County clerk..............................................1,200.00 Sheriff...................................................1,200.00 Commissioners ($3.00 per day)...............................200.00 Coroner.....................................................200.00 Treasurer...................................................100.00 County school superintendent................................900.00 ---------- County officers..................................$5,000.00 ---------- Total county expenses other than road and schools, etc..$13,000.00 ---------- Balance to apply on the road and schools etc.............20,945.40 Amount to pay out of above balance as follows: State tax.......2.5 mills................................4,046.67 Library fund......1 " ..................................161.87 County school...6.8 " ...............................11,016.00 Road tax........3.5 " ................................5,665.35 --------- Amount to pay in addition to other county expenses as enumerated above.............................20,889.89 --------- Surplus on 1.85 mills per tax levy.........................$55.51 Extra tax levy of 1.5 mills to make a total levy of 20 mills...........................2,428.00 Surplus should the tax levy be 20 mills.................$2,483.51
The tax levy in Wasco county for the three years 1897
to 1905 inclusive ranges from 20 to 27 mills.
The lowest levy of 20 mills having been made for the
year 1905.
Petitions are in the hands of the committee and if presented
to you and your conscience will permit you to, be sure to place your name
on the list. While it may have been doubtful heretofore whether we could
as economically operate the new county as we could the same section as a
part of Wasco county, Hood River valley has now reached that stage of development
and is advancing with such rapidity that all doubts seem to have been removed
of our ability to do so. Everything seems to be in favor of this division
at this time and we too, will now probably meet with as little opposition
from the remainder of the county as we ever shall, so let us do the only
logical, sensible thing that which an enterprising, energetic body of citizens
can do under the circumstance, secure home government by home people and
keep our revenues at home.
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© Jeffrey L. Elmer