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About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 18, 1902)
DECEMBER 18, 1902. THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT. (the legal rate of interest). The second railroad charter was fo. the Missouri River and Platte Valley," "starting at the town of Plattsmouth to Fort Kearney, then to Fort Lara mie, then to the western limits of the territory of Nebraska ... with a branch road from the mouth of the Nemaha, to unite with main track al Fort Kearney." Further power was granted to build a branch from Ne: braska City to Fort Kearney. Each of these corporations was em powered to "take and transport per SOUS, and every species of merchandise or produce, or other property, by tho force of steam or other power, and may fix and establish rates of tolls and re ceive the same for trie transportation of persons or property upon said road." Through the shadows of 47 years one can discern the dim outlines of two great systems of Nebraska railroads, and although the legislature has sine-4 then at various times attempted to ex ercise some supervision, the power to "fix and establish rates of tolls" stili is exercised by the, successors of the paper railroads of 1855. One thing more and we shall close this investigation. The report of the first territorial auditor is worthy of being reprinted: " "Office, of the Territorial Auditor, Omaha City, Dec. 15, 1855 To the Honorable the Legislative Assembly: In accordance with law, I herewith re spectfully transmit my annual report. The whole amount of warrants issued from the 1st of July, 1855, to December 10, 1855, (as shown by statement A) is $1,971.20. There remain warrants yet to be issued to meet appropriations by the last legislative assembly, say $1,000.: "It is impossible to make an esti jnate of the amount of expenditures for the coming year (1856) that will come very near the amount that will be act ually appropriated, and the regular and indispensable expenditures are therefore only put down in that ta ble. "The amount of taxable property for 1855, as returned by the assessors, (as shown by statement C) was $617. 822. In accordance with the present revenue laws, a tax of two mills on each dollar was levied on the above amount for a territorial revenue, and each judge of probate of the several counties, duly notified of the same. As no one of the county treasurers have as yet settled. their accounts, I have no means of knowing how much of the above tax has been collected up to this date. "I would call your special attention to the importance of the passage of a 3uew revenue law. The law should set forth fully, clearly, and in detail, what property shall be liable to taxa tion, and also what shall be exempt. The passage of such a law will render the duties of the county assessors plain and cleir, whilst under the pres ent laws, their duties have been ob scure, and the laws thus rendered al most entirely inoperative. "The revenue derived from the pres ent system is entirely inadequate, and I would recommend that the rate or territorial tax be increased to an amount at least double that of the last year, to cover the debt now outstand ing and the expenses of the coming year. "All of which is respectfully sub mitted. CHARLES B. SMITH, "Auditor of the Territory." STATEMENT A. Showing the amount of warrants issued from July 1, 1855, to December 35, 1855, and upon what account: Legislative, expenses, pay of pages, firemen, etc $1,454.70 Salaries of auditor, treasurer and librarian 516.50 $1,971.20 STATEMENT B. Showing an estimate of the neces sary expenditures for the year com mencing November 1, 1855, and ending October 31, 1856: Auditor, treasurer and libiar- ians' salaries .'...$1,100.00 Stationery, rent, fuel, etc 400.00 Incidental expenses of the ter ritory 400.00 $1 .MO.0O STATEMENT C. bnowing the value of all the prop erty, real and personal, as assessed in the several counties in the year 1855: Douglas county $311,116 Ottoe county 8oi701 Nemaha county 71980 Cass county 7L52t Richardson county 20,643 Washington county 20337 Dodge county 14J55 Burt county 13!oo $017,822 Such was Nebraska's first "floating debt." After 47 years it is now more than a thousand times as large. The total territorial tax levy for 185 was $1,235.64, but the territory had in curred nearly three thousand dollars of debt What was done in the years subsequent remains to be told. False on Its Face Some days ago the State Journal printed a plutocratic boiler-plate story about 10,000 state railroad oper atives down in Victoria, Australia, who have become so powerful that the government is thinking seriously of disfranchising the whole lot It was such a clumsy lie that The Indepen dent at first thought of ignoring it. But in a recent number of the Appeal to Reason, Mr. Wayland analyzes the whole question so completely that'The Independent must reproduce a part of his comment:. "This has been printed in nearly every daily and weekly paper sup porting the capitalistic interests. It emanates from the literary bureau es tablished and supported by the cor porations to prejudice and mislead the people concerning government own ership of industries, that the said cor porations may continue to exploit the people. It bears the stamp of false hood on its face, as I shall show you by analysis. The railroad men did not strike. They did not need that weapon. 'They fell back on their power at the polls.' There is where they were strong and where they could control. They did that. As the men are admitted to be 'almost irre sistible at the polls' how could the government disfranchise them without their consent? Does it seem reason able that men who have voles and are using them for their benefit would vote to disfranchise themselves? Can't you see the absurdity of the po sition of the clumsy writers for the corporations? And on the other hand, how can the officials dominate if. the men are all powerful at the polls? And if the men are all powerful, doesn't that infer a' majority? And if a majority rules, does that show signs of an extinction- of representa tive government? All these articles against public ownership are paid ar ticlespaid out of the money extorted from the public by corporations. Men who will extort, bribe public officials, keep a system of false books to de ceive the public, will not hesitate to lie to the public that their profits may continue. I get papers from Victoria and I have yet to find a single suggestion to disfranchise the government employes. Again, public ownership of rail roads Is not socialism. Socialism is a condition in which all the industries are not only public property, but each industry is governed by the workers therein, and nothing is taken from them for either interest, rent or profit. Such a condition is not prevalent in Victoria or anywhere else today." Every time that a proposition is made to lower the tariff on anything the reply comes instantly: "It will destroy that industry." In the eyes of a protectionist, that is all that is nec essary to be said: If the tariff were taken off hides, no more shoes would be mad- in the United States. All the factories would clone their doors and the people would all go barefoot ed. Oh! the horrors that would fol low. The most brilliant imagination could not conceive them. This writer has attended many sittings of the house ways and means committee, and he has never failed to hear a tariff grafter declare most solemnly that if the import duties were not fixed at the rate he demanded that "the industry would be destroyed." That phrase is old and worn, but it is coming into active use these days again. At present it is applied to the reciprocity treaty with Newfound land. If that treaty is ratified "the fishing industry will be destroyed," and Gloucester, Mass., will be made a howling wilderness. The British parliament does not take to subsidies, especially ship sub sidies. A special committee of the house of commons has just made a report on that subject in which it says that "subsidies restrict free com petition and facilitate the establish ment of federations and shipping rings and that therefore a general system of subsidies, except for services rend ered, and without government control of the maximum rates on freights, is costly and inexpedient." The com mittee's plan to fight American ship subsidies or those of any other na tion, is to pass laws reserving the "coasting trade" of the British em pire to British ships, copying for that purpose the laws of the United States which prohibit foreign ships from en gaging in the shipping business be tween any two points on the Ameri can coasts. As a law of that kind would prevent any but British ships from engaging in trade between Eng- I! It THE NATIONAL CORNSTALK REMEDY The Greatest Discovary of the Age, Prevents stock from dying of Corn -talk Disease. The rem edy is a real preventive. , We have such absolute confidence in it that we require no money from buyers until they have fed and tested the remedy. , If it is not as represented you pay nothing. We want every farmer to try our remedy. ' It never fails when fed with salt as directed. Order today. $io.oo will protect 6o head for the sea on. 1 EADDRESS: National Cornstalk Remedy Co., RAMGE BUILDING, OMAHA, NEB. WHAT IS YOUR REMEDY FOR THE TRUSTS? Thk Independent, during the next six months, desires to receive and print the vie ws of ten thousand jeople regarding the cause and cure for the trust evil. State your ideas pointedly. Tell the whole story in net more t hau two hundred words. Write plain. What causes trusts tariff, freight discriminations, or what? Wbat is the remedy free trade, tariff for revenue, protection, govt rnment ownership, populism, socialism, single tax, or Jeffersonian democracy?. Give your idea 13 WEEKS' EDUCATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION, CENTS. Enclose a silver dime with your manuscript, get The Independent on trial 13 weelts, and study this subject. ' BOX 2431. THE INDEPENDENT, Lincoln, Nebraska. The Greal Remedy For Cornstalk Disease In Cattle and Hordes It dieolves, neutralizes and destroys the poison from smut pij dust; prevents all animals from becoming affected by it. For particulars write E. E. BRUCE & CO., Sole Agents for U. S. A. OHAHA, NEB. WAREHOUSES OF MC MILLAN FUR & WOOL CO..MINNEAPOLIS MINN. "The above is an illustration of the five story and basement brick and two story and basement frame ware-houses of this company located at 200-212 1st Ave. No. Minneapolis, Minn., with a floor space of over an acre which is several times as large as any other establishment in this business in the west. This gives them every facility for taking care of the great quantities of furs, sheep pelts etc., which they handle every year. In addition they have a sheep skin tannery on Hennepin Island, Minneapolis, with a capacity of 3,000 pelts per day. This concern has been building up its business for twenty-five years and as may be assumed it had grown to very large proportions. High prices, fair treatment, and quick cash returns ex plain their success. Their circular i3 furnished free upon application." land and any of her colonies, it would be a severe blow to all other nations. Morgan don't find as smooth sailing In British waters as he meets with on this side. The New York and New England European correspondents of the great dailies seom to believe that the peo ple on this side of the water have no interest in anybody in Europe except the few stupid and degenerate human beings who have royal blood in their veins, so they give us column on col umn of stuff about kings, dukes and princes, their wives, their cousins and their aunts. Of the great sociol ogical movements, of education, of science, they have nothing to say. Perhaps it is because these correspon dents are of the monkey dinner kind themselves and haven't brains enough to write any other sort of stuff than the trash that they send. Then it may be that these correspondents are sent over there for the express pur pose of writing such articles as New York's "400" can comprehend. Phelps is another county that has been snatched as a brand from the fusion burning, and now she is enjoy ing the fruits. Her election day corn shuckers will have to raise about $829.02 by local taxation to make up the shortage In her last schQol appor tionment warrant. In other word", it lacks that much of being as big as 1 rms IIP PLIBE MALT is one of the best known whiskies on the market and is most prescribed by physicians and most largely used by the men who know what good whiskey is and insit on Laving it. It has been made for over thirty years by the famous Willow Springs Distillery and is positively guaranteed as u purity as well as pos . , . "csBing the finest flavor or an? whiskey on the market. You ou 'J , it because if you do you will like it ami I .. ;t' ,u" Willow Sp'gs Distillery, Omaha. W ! . the smallest one ever sent her bv the fusionists.