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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 24, 1914)
f 1 THE 8EMLWEEKLY TRIBUNE. NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. w fis jst s v V il D I aii i is nil To Members of Pross Asso- the Onicers and the tho Nebraska Stato elation: Ladles and Gentlemen: Your com mittee appointed at the Ina Stato Convention, hold In Omabu, Juno, 1913, to Investigate nnd report up on the subject of taxation In Nebras ka, begs loavo to submit the follow ing in compliance therewith: In tho Hist liiBtunce, this committee desires to extend to the editors of this stato its heartfelt thanks for their ready assistanco asked by tho com mittee. In order the better to ascer tain gonoral public sentiment, the committee drafted a form of ballot atatlng certain propositions in tax roform and asked tho readers of Ne braska papers to vote thereon. Tho editors of tho state, to thp number of about one hundred and fifty, kindly inserted In their papers a stereotype plate of tho ballot, and some others set up the form in their own estab lishments, publishing tho same in their papers. A copy of tho ballot to which reference is inado is hereto at tached and made a part hereof. Tho most conspicuous result of the vote cast Is tho demonstration made that the present revenue system of Nebraska has fow if any Intelligent defenders anywhere within the state. Our rovenuo statutes, published In a hook of more than 120 pages, are a -most pitiable jumble' of idiocies, tho etrlct enforcement of which would crush out of existence every vestige of enterprise in the State of Nebras ka, except that of the foreclosing of mortgages nnd the business that grows out of sheriff's sales. Wcro it possible strictly to enforce those revenue laws, tho pcoplo would flee the state as from a pestllonce, and its Trospority would bo doomed. There fore, while It is generally dangerous to allow public ollicials any discre tlon in tho execution of tho law, still tho people of this state owe to their tax ollicials a certain debt of grati tude for tholr non-enfoi cement, .even wero tho enforcement, of these rov cnue laws possible. There Is today before the people of this state an amendment to our con stitution which would, If adopted, cn--ablo tho legislature, which under our initiative and referendum laws, in cludes the people, to remedy tho de fects of our revenue system. The re sult of the voting upon the question mentioned was to record a very large majority of the newspaper readers of tho stato In favor of that amendment. Even those who voted against it evi dently did so through a misapprehen sion of its purport.' This is proved Tiy the fact that invariably these same 'readers who rejected by their ballots this amendment, made sugges tions of changes In our revenue sys tem, every one of which would be Im possible unless this amendment is -carried next November. Apparently -their opposition Is less to the amend ment than It Is to the legislature. They fear tho exerlclso by tho legis lature of any larger power Yet this fear is groundless, especially in view of the fact that In. Nebraska, thanks to the Initiativo and referendum, tho legislature means or includes "tho people." The main object of the ballot was for tho committee to find out If, in tho average reader's mind, there was nny Idea that tho State ought not to lax those things that the people de aired and ought to havo, or things that, could hide or run away, or that could nnd would como into the State, To the question as to whether the reader favored the taxing of farinjm- lilcments, stock or other products of the farm, the vote snowed about an equal division of opinion, as it also showed an equal division of opinion as to tho taxation of personal property, Yet an amusing feature of the ballot ing was the reasonable unanimity of opinion among certain farmers that j.irm implements and products should "not bo taxed, though they voted "yes" to the question as to whether manu facturing machinery and, merchants' goods ought to be taxed. Overlook iiig entirely tho disposition to tax tho city and town producer while allow ing the farm producer to ercapo, these readers failed to see that when they vote to tax the manufacturer or the merchant they only voto lo tax them elvos, slnco the tax Is Invariably added to the price of tha goods pro duced nnd shifted onto tho farmer and all other consumers of the goods. Si.ch tnxes are never paid by the por son upon whom they an lovied. 1 ho present constitution of the htatt, evidontly with the idea of on couraging tho planting of trees, con--tains this provision: "The legislature may provide that tho Increased valuo of lands by reason of live fences, Fruit and Forest Trees, grown and of all kinds in this state. It It was tho Intention of the trainers of tho constitution to encourage' troe plant ing, this rcctlon should havo enabled tho lcglMnturo directly to exempt from taxn on all trees, and not mere ly stated that tho increased valuo of tho laud due Lo that fact should not bo assessed. This, to." tho simple reason that the exact amount of in crease In tho aluo of tho land duo to tho planting or cultivation of trees could never bo usceralncd with any degree of accuracy. However, tho vote showed about 85 per cent, of the readers voting to bo in favor of tho exemption from taxation of all trees. TIiIb shows that In tho minds of those readers there Is a comprehen sion ot tho Idea that to tax trees will tmd to the ti'lmlnntlon of them, either b cutting down or noglcctlng thorn, and discouraging their plant ing and cultivation in the first In stance. The converso of this is also perceived b. these readers In recog nizing tho fact that to oxompt from taxation all trees would encourage tho planting or cultivation of trees in tins foimerly treeless stato. It is a fact deserving of notice that though tho Constitution directs that the valuo of land by reason of treeB may be exempted, tho law passed by the legislature presuming to carry out this proviblon. exempts only forest trees. Why this apparent discrimina tion in favor of timber lands, which largely require no attention, as against tho fruit orchards, which re qutro largo expenditures nnd the con stant attention of the fruit growers, and tho products of which come more directly Into touch with the consumers of the Stato? Lot It bo observed here that if to exempt trees from taxation will tend to produco orchards nnd timber lands, whv will not the exemption of In dustry of all kinds from taxation en courage the establishment of Indus tries of all kinds In this Stato? There was nlso about So per cent. ot the vote cast in favor of Stato In come nud inlioi Haiico taxes. Tho" question of taxing the market valuo of franchises secured the high est afP.niatlvc vote ot any question on the ballot, it was almost unanim ous. There micht be somo of the spirit to "soak the corporations" in this vote, and yet th.ero Is some con siderable degree of Justice In tho idea that the franchises of public service corporations should be taxed. For the fianchlse usually constitutes the most valuable part of tho nssests of these -public utility corporations. The franchise is practically never taxed at present. The justice of taxing these franchises is In the fact that they constitute a natural monopoly granted by the people to tho corpora tion, and aro not in any sense the re sult ol the efforts of tho corporation Itself. If the state wero to exempt the tangible property of these cor porations end tax only the land val ues and the franchises, It would at once bo soon that tnese properties wo'ild bo greatly Improved and in- f creased, whllo tho rates for their sor- ices would be reduced. This question of taxation, like most public questions, proves how tho peo plo hi general -mny be opposed, nnd vigorously opposed, to the present system, and yet utterly unable to sug gest "a remedy. It is because of this general Ignorance of tho question of taxation that Privilege is able ta "put across" so many unfair jobs up on tho people. And tho pitiable thing ot it Is that tho peoplo them selves are misled Into the support of these oppressive measures. Naturally, then, it followed that in response to the question upon tho bal lot as to the source from which revenue- should be derived, only about half of thoso voting suggested any romedies at all. However, of tho total who did make suggestions of a remedy, about 75 per cent, either sole ly or in connection with other Ideas, mentioned the value ot land as the proper source rrom which revenue should be derived. An overwhelming number of thoso voting supported tho idea that tho matter of local taxation should bo left In tho hands of tho counties or cities directly interested. Local control of taxation Is ono of tho progressive Ideas of our tlmo, and soon or late must be conceded to overy commun ity of tho state. - Your committeo Is dlnposed to pro pose to tho editors of tho Stato some suggestions in tho line of progressive reform in matters of taxation. First. There should bo overy sup port given to tho amendment to our Constitution to be voted upon In No vember, allowing more discretion in matters of taxation upon the part of tho legislative body whethor that subject to revision by the commission. There should b olected la oyery county an asseBBor for such county, with power to nppolnt his own depu ties. Ho should be cx-oflleio a mem ber of tho Stato Tax commission. There should nlBO bo chosen In each community a local assessor whoso Jurisdiction should ho v Ithln such com munity only. Tho County Assessors should constltuto a countj tax com mission, which should sit as a board of equalization in nil matters concern ing nscssments of property in such county. Tho action of bucii county tax commission should, however, bo subject to review and further adjust ment, whereever necessary, by tho Stato Tax commission. Third. When tho law makes cor- tain exemptions from taxation, as of churches, schoolB and tho like, It Bhould not leavo such matters In the hands of local assessors. Assessors aro not tho proper persons to decide matters of law. Such should bo for tho courts to determine. Therefore all assessors should be requlrod to make assessment of all property of any class taxable under tho law Church property, schools not owned by tb,o state or municipality, hospitals and all similar institutions possessing kinds ot property taxable under tho law, should be listed for taxation by tho nssessor. After such listing, tho parties directly concerned, fooling they might bo exempt from taxation under tho law, should npply to tho courts ot proper Jurisdiction for an order for such oxomptlons. (Parenthetically, it might bo ro markod that It is the Judgment of your committeo ,that the constitution al provision all ".lug exemptions of such properties, has beon grossly abused when exemptions have been allowed to commercial schools nnd hospitals privately owned for private profit. There aro many thousands of dollars of such pioportles In this Stato that have escaped taxation, not withstanding the fact that these In stitutions aro prlvntoly owned nnd controlled and conducted for tho pri vate profit of the owners.) Fourth. Though tho Constitution directs that the valuo of nil property shall "bo ascertained in such mannor ... -, i ,, f. as tho legisiaturo may uiruui, ii. would appear that the courts have ar bitrarily ruled to Inhibit tho legisiat uro from using any discretion. If this general property tax which, largely, tho courts havo forced ifpon the peo ple, was Intended to effect an equal ization of the burden of taxation, It has miserably failed For instance, household goods used in a private dwelling cannot be said to be of equal value "for purposes of taxation as such goods UBed for hotel purposes, out of which a profit is gained. The same is truo of all other things privately used, such as poisonal effects of overy nature. Under the law, the clothing upon your backs Is supposed to bo taxed on the same basis as the clothes In the stores. The one has reached Its final cousumer, whllo tho othor Is for sale at a profit. There fore, .even under tho present anti quated and clumsy Constitution, in spite of the judgment .of courts, the legislature ought to bo empowered, and it is so empowered, to use some discrimination in this matter. Fifth. Tho statute providing that lands should be assessed ovory four years, whllo other properties are as sessed every year, should be repeal ed. If our Constitution Intends what It sftys about equality of taxation, this progi osslvo result only from his Individual outer prise, whllo this increased valuo comes to this land not only independ ent, but In splto of whnt tho owners have done. That Is tho manner la which tho present revenue laws of this Stato reward thoso who nro In dol6nt and punish ' thoso who aro thrifty. Sixth. Thero should bo a provi slon of law requiring each owner of land to make his own assessment, fixing its vnluo for purposes of taxa tion. As a penalty for false estimates, any person or the Stato Itself should ho empowered to purchase such lands at tho valuo so (jxed by tho owner. By this moans thoro would bo a moro equitable assessment of lands throughout tho State, most especially nearest to tho centres of population. Tho nearer wo go to the centres of our cities tho moro Inoqultablo do wo find tho nsicssment of lauds. In tho City of Omaha It will bo found that tho highest valued lots nverago for assessment about fifty per cent ot their market valuo, whilo the averago homo owner's land Is assessed nearer to 75 per cent, of such value. Seventh. Many people do not renllzo tho absurdity of tho law re quiring that taxes shall be louied up on only one-fifth of tho assessed val uation. This law was framed nnd passed at the behest of th,o railroads, and tho only honest excuse, if such enn bo considered honest, was that by this process the taxing authorities would be limited in tho amount ot taxes raised. In actual practice tho taxing authorities can raise only suf ficient revonuo to admlnlstor econo mic government, and If they daro go boyond this the peoplo will check thorn. The result ot this law Is to show high levies for taxation, which give tho stato an unfair standing In the other sections of the country, where it is not understood that tho levy Is only upon onc-flfth of tho as sessed valuation. Your committeo would, therefore, recommend that this law he repealed and that lovlea bo made upon the actual assessed valua tion, cutting down tho lovy. Eighth. All personal property taxes should bo repealed. They are unjust In tholr very nature, They compel peoplo to commit perjury, and they punish thoso who attempt to bo hon est. Furthermore they are utterly Impracticable. No assessor can como any way near estimating tho valuo of personal effects of tho rich, while ho may approximate tli.o valuo of the personal effects of tho avorngo person. This operates to compel thoso who aro least able, to pay a higher percentage of taxes than do those who aro hotter able. Further more, If tho cosf of assessing and collecting such taxes were carefully considered, it would be found that tho cost about equals tho amount of taxes from this Bourco. Ono of our loadlns county assessors recently stated that If ho were to attempt a strict en forcement of the personal property tax law of this State, ho would bo as sassinated within two weeks. What can bo said in defense of a law that Is utterly Impossible of enforcement, and If It could bo enforced would ubout destroy the enterprise of the Stato? The fact is, Bovero ns tho statement niay seem, that much of tho prosperity of this State 1b duo to tho fact that, Judged by the standard of honesty enforced by our lax laws, nine out of every ten of our pooplo aro liars and willful perjurors. Ninth. As a step In the lino of legislation, tho Stato (St-or-ORDINAI &-I- statute Is clearly in violation thereof. Bh0ln( provide for tho assessment ot It Is an unjust discrimination in toyor franchises in-tho State according of large land holders and against on-to tneir market value. It should also torprlslng cltlzons. To Illustrate this, consider this single instance In the city of Omaha. Thero Is at the cor ner of Sixteenth and Farnam streets a single lot, valued by its owners at ?G00,000. "At the assessment of 1908 this lot was assessed at $132,000. At tho next quadrennial in 1912, the as sessor raised this figure to double that amount, or $264,000, which was said to bo tho increase in value dur ing the four years. Tho Board of Equalization afterward raised it to $400,000. Let us bo conservative. Let us con sider the figures of the assessor only. In 1908 the valuo of this lot, not counting tho Improvements, was $132,000. In the following four years provide for tho assessment of tho land of the Stato under tho supervi sion of tho State Tax commission, eliminating as far as possible taxes upon Improvements. This Is the only means by which a Just assessment can be made an assessment that would not discriminate in 'favor cf one county as against another. It should- then bo provided by tho Stnto that all Stato revenues bo derived from a levy upon such values. This would effect a Just distribution of tho burd,en of taxation among tho soveral counties of tho Stato in oxact pro portion to tho valuo of tho lands nnd franchises located In each county of the State. Slnco the valuo of theso franchises and lands is a perfect It had Increased to $2C4,0O0. This .barometer of the general wealth con shows an average Increase during the dltions of the communities whpro lo quadrennlal period of $33,000 porjeatod, this syBtom would effect a con year. Add these figures, and you get ditlon which would boon make of this tho following result: In 1910, $33,- Stnto ono of the most piyjsporous and 000 landvalues on this lot escaped thrifty of the Union. Kntorprlso and taxation entirely; In 1911, $CG,000; in capital and population would ho at 1912, $99,000, Added together this traded to our State from all the sur- W-Pmpfci SAYS CREOLES ARE NOW UP TO DATE Itopresentatlvo Albert Estoplnal of Louisiana, himself n Crcolo, says that tho mnnnora and opinions ot theso proud pooplo of tho old reglmo have undergone marked change within the past generation. "Within tho Inst thirty years thoro has beon widespread adoption of what mny ho called up-to-date American ways of thinking by tho Croolos. Thoro nro thoso still left, howovor, who ndhoro to tho old traditions ot tho blood, for wo nro nil proud of our French and Spanish ancestry. "Not so very long ago I had oc casion to go Into tho now residential district of Now Orleans I took with mo in my car a relatlvo who was a natlvo and resldont of Now Orleans a Creole, liko myself. Now, although ho was well along In yenrs, ho was ns much u stranger and oxhlblted ns much novel Interest In that quartor ot the city as though ho had boon fresh from n foroljm land. Ho know Now Orleans well; but it was tho Now Orleans of old, tho Now Orleans of tho Creolos who havo lived nil their lives thoro Into old ago who havo never been north of Cnnnl Btroet, tho main thoroughfare" IPHHlDtt'Vilku 111 DIDN'T KNOW CONGRESSMAN KENT Perhaps tho worst of all tho patty annoyances that bosot n congress man's path is to have somo of tho swnrm of employes about tho cnpltol fall to recognize him, "And this, irritating nt all times, becomes a source of extreme mortifi cation If nny of your constituents hap pen to bo around," observed Repre sentative Kent of California, comment ing on a rocont contact with this briery llttlo thorn along tho congres sional trail. "Somo frlondB from homo, to whom 1 wished to show special attention, dropped In on mo," ho Bald, "and I dovotod myself to showing them about tho capltol. Thoy woro keenly nllvo to tho dlsUnctlon of having their rep resentative personally conduct thorn, and wero profuse in tholr expressions of regard for my courtesy honco tho situation was all tho moro embarrass ing whon, on seeking to enter tho members' gallery, I was incontinently halted by a raw and Ignorant nsslstant-soniothlngor-othor nnd curtly forbid den to entor. "Of courso, If was all stralghtoned out nnd tho fellow apologized. But tho damago had beon done. Aftor that mlBorablo llttlo oplsodo things wero different in that party. Tho paint had come off tho doll and I could feel that thoy folt I must bo small potntoos if an insignificant llttlo whiffet liko that didn't know who I wns. You boo, thoy couldn't get out of tholr back-homo way of looking at a congressman. Back thero, everybody knows him; ovon tho boy who brings tho grocerloa knows him by sight and to find somo ono right hero under tho vory domo who doos not! "And the worst of it all is you cannot explain to them that thero nro 400 of us right here; explaining would only magnify It "So, you Just havo to let them tnko homo tho memory of you with tho sawdust leaking out!" CONGRESSMAN HENRY'S WITNESSES cultivated theroon, shall not be taken body bo the legislature or tho people Into account In the assessment there- ol." On account of the unfortunate word ing of that section, It has not contri buted, ns it otherwise might havo done, toward tho cultivation of trees Most Precious Possession. When I see about me, In the fields of intellectual attainment and culture, in tho walks of business and In fam ily life, to many disasters and trag edies long drawn out, of falling health and collapse of norve, brain and mus cle, I feel that health is tho only bill wark upon which everything wo prize in Intellectual culture and religious perfection can over bo reared. G. Stanley Hull. Praise. Pralsr la of no uso as a mainspring. direct Second. Thero should be establish ed a State Tax" commission, with power to appoint a State Assessor to hold ofhco for several years continu ously, and whoso conduct should bo Power lies outside of It, and entirely Independent of It, in all truly valuable) Ilvee. Tennyson, tho poot, was nlBo tho practical man when ho remarked, "I think It Is wisost in a man to do his work In tho world ns quietly nnd as well ns he can, without much heed ing pralso or dispraise.- Selected. showing Is that $198,000 of land val ues on that lot alono woro not taxed, and never can be taxod, because tho quadrennlal-asbessment-oMand law exempted these land values from taxation during tha period. Now sup pose a merchant or manufacturer or farmer, through the Individual skill and thrift of either of thorn, had add ed to his property In goods produced by human toil that or any other sum each year. Would tho law havo ex empted him from taxation upon that amount? And yot tho Increaso that ho might add to his property could rounding states. Naturally, Nebraska Is tho garden spot of tho land, nnd such a progressive move toward re form of our tax laws would make It economically and In every other re spect tho most attractlvo place in tho nation In which to live, In which to produce wealth and In which to rear tjio generations yet to come. Respectively Submitted, LAURIE J. QUINnY. Chairman. DON C. VANDEUSEN, HORACE M. DAVIS, A. W. LADD. Could Stand It Longer. A lecturer ono torreutlal night ad dressed an audience which might havo been much larger without taxing tho seating capacity of tho hall. Natu rally, ho was willing to curtail his ad dress, and, having reached what ho considered tho p-iychologlcal moment, said: "I'm nfiald I've Kept you too long." Whorcupon a volco replied, "CSo on, it's still raining." , Old Coats ana Old Friends. Sly coat and I Ho comfortably to gether. It has assumed all my wrink les, does not hint me anywiiere, has molded ItselJ on my deformities, and Is complncout to all my movements, and I only feci Its presence because it keeps mo warm. -Old coats and old frlondB arc tho same thing. -Hugo. To Stop a Hole. If using plaster of pnrls to fill a wall crack moisten with vinegar In stead of water, which Will iniiko It morq liko putty. Work It In tho gap and smooth with an old knife. It will not thon harden before you havo tlmo to apply It as when water Is used. Tho effort to change tho date of tho presidential inauguration from tho 4th of March to n moro seasonable day bobs up In tho house of rcpro sontatlves from time to tlmo. During tho present session a hearing upon tho matter boforo committee was set for a day on or near tho 4th of March. It happonod that a terrific bllz-, zard struck tho capital that very morning. As tho committeo members, witnesses, reporters and others gath orod the blast rattled fiercely at the casoments and the swirling snow and sleot drifted high against tho window panes. When Homo remark was made about certain witnesses not appearing on account of Uifi weather Represent tatlvo Henry of Texas, who Is an nr dent advocate for a change of date, seized tho opportunity. "Witnesses!" ho exclnlmed, dra matically. "Witnesses! There aro our witnesses!" nnd pointed out through the windows. "Hear them testify! Boreas, tho north wind, nnd snow nnd sloet nnd driving storm and biting cold! Thoy are testifying to their presence hero at this season," BRILLIANT MME. P0INCARE Character. Character la made up of small du ties faithfully performed, of self de nlaU, of eucrlflces, of kindly acts of love and duty.- Emerson. Hero Is a love story all the way from Franco. A husband risks mis representation and ovon rldlculo to honor his wife, and ho Is president! Tho gallantry nnd courage of Poln caro havo matlo presidents' wives equal to queons. Mmo. Polncaio's position is, of courso, as dellcato as brilliant. Ono of tho republic's dogmas Is that Franco roqulros no queen. For In stance, herotoforo when a Fronch president drovo In stato to Long champs, honoring commerce, sport and fashion In tho culmination of tho sonson, nobody noticed If his wife wnB present with him. But Mmo. Polncaro Is dlfTorcnt, And Polncaro Ib very different. Ills wife must tako hor place; It Is his prlnclplo; It Is his Joy. And Paris admires. Ho Is pietty suro to bo attuckod for it, In tho general attack which Is preparing against him, but Paris admires a man who will fight. Certainly ho fought for his wlfo boforo tho royal visits. Mmo. Polncaro rodo bcsldo Queen Aloxnndrla. Sho took King George's nrm In public coromonlos. Sho was photographed, standing ub straight as an arrow, very young and stylish, by King Christian, tho two making tho prominent couple, ns ho tainted nt tho review. Sho showed everywhere with, tho four royalties, boforo all Paris and tho world as boautiful and royal as a quecu.
