Nebraska Newspapers

    Lincoln, Nebraska.
Onr An
Great Muslin Underwear Sale
Began Thursday, February 20, and will Continue for Ten Days. This
department is so well and favorably known for the quality of its goods
that we feel it unnecessary to go into elaborate details. We carrk
only first-class stock and mention only a few of the articles. Our stocy
is complete, and includes a greater variety than we have ever offered
, j
Mail Orders Promptly Filled. State Bust Measure for Gowns and Corset Covers, and Length for Skirts or Drawers, and Age for Children
Ladies Corset Covers, plain fitted
styles, pearl buttons, sizes 32 to Qn
42, each Oil
Ladies' Gowns, tucked yoke1?, V
and high necks, lace edged, ruf- QKfi
fle trimmed, each OJu
Ladies' Drawers, tucked umbrella
ruffles, edged with embroidery, -OQft
full sizes, per pair L.OXJ
Ladies' Full French Corset Covers,
V neck front and back, embroi
dery trimmed, and many other OKn
styles, each Jb
Ladies' Cambric and Muslin draw
ers, hemstitched and tucked
umbrella ruffles, extra values, OEn
each tub
Ladies' Gowns.yoke trimmed with
four rows of embroidery insert
ing, hemstitched effects, lace
trimmed, V, square, and high
neck styles, best values, great Efn
variety of styles, each at. ....... JUu
Ladies' Corset Covers, the largest
assortment we have ever shown
at any sale, 50 different num
bers, each at.
50c
Ladies' Drawers, handsome em
broidery, ruffle trimmed, lace
and inserting trimmed, umbrel
la ruffles, dainty hemstitched ef
fects in muslin or cambric, prices,
per pair, from $5.00 down to .
50C
Ladies' Corset Covers, full French
styles, entire front of Val lace
. inseriings,with Val lace trimmed
neck and sleeves, embroidery
trimmed full entire front, diag
onal hemstitched tucked fronts,
Exquisite styles in short or full
lengths, ranging in prices from
56.00 down to
Ladies' long Chemise, in numerous
styles, from $1.00 down to
Ladies Skirts, long or short styles,
best values, in plain or neatly
trimmed effects, each. at. ,
Special values in embroidered C I fft
trimmed Skirts at 82.50 and..$ I iUU
Ladies' High Grade Gowns, C I 0 DD
French styles.all prices up tow 1 UiUU
50C
50C
50c
Ladies' summer Gownsfopen fronts
and chemise styles, puff elbow
and full length sleeves, plain
hemstitched effects, also dainty
embroidery and lace-trimmed,
made of tine long cloth, Nain
sook, and Cambric, ranging in
- prices at 3. $1.25. $,1.15, 97c and . .
Ladies' full length Skirts, up to
44 inches long, handsome lace
trimmed, too many styles to de-
89C
power. ' With knowledge will come
the use of this power.
Ignorance if not a crime is the
parent of all crime. When a Vander
bilt can make fiat dollars by the fifty
millions as fast as a steam press can
print them, it is not strange he can
leave 200,000,000 for his heirs. It is
certain this can be done only by fiat.
Since our daily bread does not re
main from generation to generation,
but is the result of someone's daily
toil and is consumed day Dy day with
out increase. 1NITIUM.
scribe, deep flounces, insert I T ilfl
J u.uu
ing trimmed, from 2.50 up to
Children's, Drawers, made of Ma
sonville cotton, clusters of tucks,
extension side bands, six worked
button holes, per pair upwards
, from ...... ,v.
IOC
5C
IOC
IOC
2C
Embroidery and Laces
500 pieces of machine torchon lace
with inserting to match 15c val
ues, at per yard
Pt. 'de Paris laces in sets of ex
quisite designs, per yard, from
50c down to
Near Real or German Val. laces,
white or real coiors, in full sets,
beautiful trimmings on Swiss or
dainty dresses, per yard, from
65c down to
French or English laces, in great
variety, at per yard, upwards
from
AH the latest styles in laces are
carried by us. Irish White Cro
chet all over laces, with bands,
galloons and laces to match, in
exquisite sets; beautiful laces
in motive effects; Pt. Venice, Pt.
Arab, Novelty Duchess, Batiste
and imitation Batiste, filet ef
fects, applique laces, shown in
all the late colors.
Books and Stationery
All kinds of books, magazines, period
icals etc. School supplies, writing paper,
etc.
Buttericks patterns and publications.
We are sole agents for Lincoln.
Cloak and Suit Department
We are closing out all our Ladies' 1 vttit-
Jackets at..... 2 V !
All our $15.00 to $20.00
Raglans at 2 OJb lv
Melton cloth skirts in Oxford gray, 5 gores CO flfl
4 inch tailor stitching at. , t?-iUU
Ladies' wool homespun skirt, in medium light gray, lined throughout, 2 $Q Q"7
rows satin stitching flounce effect, in all lengths up to 13 inches at. . .tZiU I
Satin waists, lined throughout, in red, blue, brown, or castor, tucked front 09 flfl
and back, satin tucked collar, at tpOiUU
Taffeta silk waists, QQ flfl
lined throughout iUiUU
Baby Carriages and Gocarts
We show this season a line of carriages and go-carts in all the newest and
best styles. We guarantee every one in style, workmanship and price.
Write us about them. We can save you money. Carriage No. 514, full
sized, braided willow bed, upholstered in figured cloth, nice parasol, CQ 07
with rubber tires at $4.97; with plain wheels, at $UiU I
Carriage No. 42, a high grade style, large and roomy, yet very light run
ning, very pretty and durable, upholstered with plush rolls, double ruf-07 Kfl
fle, satin parasol, rubber tire, patent axle wheels. Worth $10.00 for $ I iUU
Go-cart No. 642, with fancy willow English roll, braided body, and is 7 cn
the swellest and most up-to-date cart in the market, at . I iUU
Go-cart No. 652, fancy oak body, strong and serviceable, very pretty, enam
eled gear foot brake, rubber tire wheels, reclining bed, which (! Q7
makes it the same as a carriage, at, only . .$fau
Parasols including rod and fixtures and upholstery cushions, for go-carts m
at each from ?1.50 to , U I C
Embroidery
Embroideries will be in -great de
mand; for trimming 1902 sum
mer gowns. We are in a posi
tion to supply every want.
Beautiful embroidered ribbon
bands, galloons and applique ef
fects, in white, cream, ecru or
black, per yard upwards from
$1.50 down to.
Beadings, in plain or fancy styles
of Nainsook, Swiss or cambric,
per yard from 50c down to ..... .
Swiss Flounces, 10 to 27 inches
deep, in the new solid embroid
ery effects, with insertings and
bands to match, per yard from
$1.75 down to....... ,
20C
IOC
35C
All-over embroidery, 45 inches
wide, suitable for fine waists, OQ Kfl
at per yard, 5.50,34.00 and. 0 did U
New effects in all-over tuckings,
for entire waists.
4 yard factory strips of embroid
ery pieces of cambric edges, per
piece ,
4 yard pieces of Nainsook edges,
per piece.... ,
25c
50c
Mai
O
rders to
Yunca black silks are absolutely guar
anteed.!" Sold only at this store.
: ' '-
.
tncoln
AH HONEST DOLLAR
"Ialtlum" Takei a Fall Out of the Gold
Standard A Philosophical Discourse
on Various Units
The honest dollar unit, what is it?
A unit which remains the same today,
yesterday and forever like all our other
honest units of measures for ex
change. The yard unit is a determined
three feet of any meridian or of any
imaginary line of length. Since all
material things have the quality of
length, this immaterial unit may be
represented by any and every ma
terial or any three feet of empty space.
When I was a lad my father was a
manufacturer of cotton cloth. In his
counting room he had two upright
posts, from each of which projected a
sharp steel spindle placed exactly
three feet apart. One end of the bolt
of cloth was put upon one spindle and
the cloth was moved back and forth
from spindle to spindle. The imma
terial three feet measured each yard
and their county determined the num
ber of yards the bolt of cloth con
tained. The cloth was the only ma
terial that represented and expressed
the immaterial determined three feet.
The . pound unit is a determined 16
ounces of the earth's material gravity.
Since all things have weight, any and
every material may express this im
material unit. It is only necessary
that it express the 16 ounces no more
and no less. The bushel unit is a de
termined 32 quarts of the earth's bulk
in space. The unit can be expressed
by , any material that surrounds and
contains 32 quarts of empty space, the
Immaterial unit. It would be absurd
to call the material chip of the bushel .
basket the bushel unit for that would
be saying the chips which surround the
empty space are the empty space. If
our fingers were deft enough to pile
up exactly 32 quarts of flat turnips we
should need no basket.
The unit of number is an imma
terial one and representation by any
and all material things, since each is
one. . It seems evident all these units
of measure are immaterial. The units
are the soul. The materials that ex
press them, the body. All the ma
terial can do is to express in the ma
terial measured lor exchange its sin
gle unit. The count, the measuring, is
a mental process since all units of
measure for exchange have their birth,
. use and home in the brain. It seems
evident no material, from the nature
of .things, can be a unit of measure.
The body is not the soul. When "the
soul goes out the body is dead. You
cannot put a yard stick, pounl weight,
qT) candy cathartic,.
JDnctMs.
Genuine stamped C C C Never sold In bulk.
( Beware of the dealer who tries to sell
"something just $ iood."
bushel basket, gold dollar, or a ma
terial figure one into your brain. The
material is the clothing put on the
immaterial unit for our inconvenience
and for accuracy.
No one ever saw gold or any- other
material used for a unit of measure.
No one can imagine how it can be so
used. A farmer's wife takes 50 dozen
eggs to the store for exchange. She
finds they are ten cents per dozen, or
five dollars. She exchanges them for
40 yards of factory at five cents por
yard, 20 pounds sugar at 5 cents per
pound, 10 pounds coffee at 10 cents
per pound, and 2 bushels of potatoes
at 50 cents per bushel in all five dol
lars. The quantity of the cloth is de
termined by the yard unit. The quan
tity of coffee and sugar by the pound
unit. The quantity of potatoes by tha
bushel unit. And the quantity of egfrrs
by the unit of number.
By what dollar unit are the material
eggs exchanged for the merchant's
material cloth, sugar, coffee and po
tatoes? It cannot be gold, for no gold
is used. They are exchanged by the
price unit. Price of eggs, 10 cents per
dozen. Price of cloth, 5 cents per yard.
Price of sugar, 5 cents per pound, and
so on. The material eggs expressing
five dollar price units, are exchanged
unit for unit for the merchant's five
dollar units expressed by his goods,
material for material, by the imma
terial dollar price unit. It is not pos
sible to exchange in any other manner.
Suppose she had exchanged her eggs
for a $5 gold piece. She would ex
change her material eggs for material
gold by the old immaterial price unit
and then exchange her material gold,
expressing five dollar price units, for
the merchant's material goods equally
expressing five dollar price units.
There is no other, way of exchanging
material for material except by the
immaterial unit. Our wise solons in
congress may continue to declare until
doomsday that 25.8 grains of material
gold is and shall remain the dollar
unit of measure. From the nature of
things they cannot use gold or any
other material for a unit. They do not
now so use it. They never did so
use it. They never 'can so use it. .It
is the impossible. Forever they, use
the immaterial price unit. What is
the price unit? The imaginary fiat
dollar price of a few grains of gold.
All things have the qualities of length,
weight, bulk and number. These quali
ties are not created by flat. They are
continuously stored in products by
time or labor. Who ever saw price
written by nature on shrub, tree, or
soul of man? There is no such entity
or thing as price.. It is a will-o'-th-wisp,
now here, now there and never
anywhere.- It is a coinage of a devil'3
brain, a legal fiction expressed legally
only by a few grains of material gold.
If the earth would perish all true units
would remain. . If gold should disap
pear we would lose . our dollar unit.
Constantly changing In all materials
except gold, It makes all exchange a
gamble and all men gamblers. If there
was such an entity as price it could
not measure the quality of time or
labor stored. It could measure Its
own quality of price and no other qual
ity. ,
true units are determined immaterial
parts of the quality they measure.
No quality of product can be other
wise measured than by its own unit.
You cannot measure the quality of
length by a pound weight or a bushel
basket. It must be measured by its
own immaterial unit of length and can
be not otherwise measured. All things
created are composed of the qualities
of length, weight and bulk, and their
sum makes the product. None of
these qualities or the product itself
are created by fiat. They are contin
uous creations -and the sum of the
qualities is product, or continuous
time or labor stored. Time is but an
other name for the earth's labor. One
day its labor in making one revolu
tion on its axis. One year its continu
ous labor by which it journeys once
around the sun. All product is con
tinuous time or labor stored. It can
only be measured by a determined im
material part of itself, just as its
qualities are by a determined imma
terial part of the quality.
Since all the qualities whose sum is
product do have exact unvarying units
of measure, it is a mathematical con
clusion that product, the sum, must
equally have an exact unvarying unit
of measure created precisely as these
are. If all the terms of the first part
of an equation can be divided by two
it is certain their sum, the other part
of the equation can equally be divided
by two, as 4 plus 6 equals 10. The
imaginary price unit can only meas
ure price. Falsehood is a parasite that
cannot lift its head unless it has some
real thing to climb. This fiat price
unit, which has no real existence in the
heavens above or the earth beneath
or the waters under the earth, tied
only to real gold, having gold its only
legal representative, makes gold ' at
fixed dollar price the arbiter of fate,
king over the kings and emperors or
men, the God of the world usurping
the throne of the invisible in which
here and now all the operations of the
invisible life are carried on.
It seems evident we can have no
dollar unit in use until we rid our
selves of fiat dollars and substitute
the honest dollar unit for the dishon
est fiat price unit. It seems evident
this honest dollar unit must be a de
termined immaterial part, of time or
labor stored. Just as we can only
measure quality stored by an Imma
terial part of the quality. It can be
proved by unquestionable history .that
there was a time when this exact unit
was used. This unit was five parts
of time or continuous labor and was
expressed by either 300 grains of sil
ver or 30 grains of gold at the most
ancient known ratio of 10 to 1, be
cause it required five parts of time or
labor to procure 300 grains of silver
or 30 grains of gold. Since men are
governed by names, they retain the
dollar name and call the fiat price of
the materials which express the real
dollar unit, the dollar. The material
became the fiat dollar and was made
by law to command in exchange for
itself at fixed dollar price any and all
other materials at changeable price.
The material gold and silver being a
flat, unchangeable dollar and the only
tender of the law of legal tender, all
the price of labor or its product, labor
stored": ' Two metals were essential to
preserve any semblance of equilibrium
of price. With but one metal and
that hoarded there was no possible es
cape for the poor devil labor from de
struction. With the labor destroyed
can the hoarder live on his gold? He
cannot eat the food his ancestors
created and must live on the fruits of
present daily toil. With the laborer
destroyed he must drop his gold and
work if he would live. With all his
hoarding nature has so ordered that
he can use but one man's share. The
tramp who gets his three meals, com
fortable clothing and a good bed has
the same. With the honest dollar
unit expressed by any and all mater
ials there would be no hoarding of dol
lars. None thinks of hoarding yard
sticks, pounds, weights, bushel bask
ets or figure ones. The products of
labor are limited by capacity of pro
duction. Fiat picture dollars can be
indefinitely multiplied in stocks,
bonds, paper dollars, etc. As Vander
bilt increased his stock of the New
York Central $50,000,000 without add
ing a tie or a rail to the railroad.
These stocks drew interest and are
payable in gold. When the interest
on these fiat paper units outruns the
capacity of production they lose their
value. The people whose capacity of
production is exhausted by interest
are ruined and perish like the Romans,
compelling barbarians to create a new
civilization on similar lines.
For the edicts and rescripts of th?
worst tyrants of Rome codified by
Justinian still largely rule. It would
be absurd for our wise solons in con
gress to enact by statutes that no lit
tle girl could be taught to do the
simplest sum In her head or work it
out on her slate unless she brought a
yellow or russet colored hog or his
hired picture to school to cipher with.
A white hog would be impious. Such
a law would be less absurd than our
law enacting that 25.8 grains of gold i
and shall remain at dollar price the
unit of value. The hog would repre
sent the .unit one and the little girl
might learn to cipher independent cf
the hog. . The dollar of the gold, man
represents nothing and hogs all.
Theirs is an impossible attempt to
create something , out of. nothing. Its
object and purpose is to forever trans
fer f rom-. labor's something in ex
change for their . fiat nothing Our
money system is organized robbery,
materialized in. statutes sanctioned by
law. The i details of this system of
robbery can be exposed in so plain
and so complete a manner that the
ordinary school boy can see how It is
done.. 'V ' 1
When Americans see the absurdity
and iniquity of our present money sys
tem they will banish it either, with the
hughest guffaws or with a consuming
wrath from the forum of politics, from
the arena of the world. It seems use:
less l to fight, monopolies, combines,
trusts and leave the parent, this gold
devil trust ruling. He will spawn new
ones faster ' than we can scotch the
old.. My countrymen, it remains for
us to decide whether we will continue
slaves of his gold' trust "or make our
monev our servant. The money trust
Postal Savings Banks
Anent the recent wrecking of the
City Savings bank of Detroit, the
Omaha Bee says:
"It apears pertinent to remark in
connection with this circumstance that
nothing of the kind would be likely to
happen in the case of a postal saving3
bank, but if such a government Insti
tution should be robbed, which of
course would be possible, the deposi
tors would not suffer. Every person
who had a deposit in the bank would
be certain to get it on demand. This
is the strong point in favor of the
proposition to establish postal sav
ings banks, that the money of deposi
tors would be under any ana all clr
cumstances absolutely secure. This
is the consideration -of chief import
ance to the people who put their sav
ings in the savings banks, the ques
tion of interest on their deposits being
of minor consequences. It is these
people who ought to be strongly in
favor of postal savings banks and such
incidents ' as that at ' Detroit should
have the effect to increase popular
sentiment favorable to banks in con
nection with the postal service."
This is not a sudden conversion on
the part of the Bee. Rose water has
been pounding away on that line for
years, yet he persistently trains with
a party that is the bitterest opponent
of such avowed "paternalism."
THE REVENUE LAW
Comment Upon the Nebraska Revenue
Law Suggestions as to Another Plan
Discussion Invited
At every session of the legislature
some enterprising member, a first
termer usually, introduces a bill Cor
an act to correct the evils of our pres
ent revenue system. The bill Invar
iably gets lost somewhere before it
reaches the governor for his approval,
and the people t Nebraska are obliged
to peg along somehow with the old
law.
Credit is due the different legisla
tures for refusing to adopt a new rev
enue law until it has been thoroughly
discussed not only in that body, but by
the people generally in the campaign
preceding the election ' of the mem
bers of the legislature. Hasty and
ill-considered legislation is always to
be deplored.
Beyond a doubt the administration
of our present revenue law causes In
equalities. The burdens of taxation
are not evenly distributed. Some
property bears more than its share,
some bears much less than its share,
and some escapes altogether. But
where is the fault? Is it in some mat
ter of detail in the law, or a funda
mental defect? Or is it simply in the
administration of the law? -
The general provisions of our rev
enue law were enacted in 1879. Let
us examine into the method of fixing
the valuation of property and see
what, if any, defects seem apparent
there: The first provision is that "all
personal property, except as herein
otherwise directed, shall be valued
its fair cash value. Every credit for
a certain sum, payable either in mon
ey or 'labor, shall be valued at a fair
cash value for the sum so payable; f
for any article of property, or for la
bor, or service of any kind, it shall
be valued at' the current price of such
property, labor, or service. Annui
ties and royalties shall be valued at
their then present total value. Eash
tract or lot of real property shall b?
valued at its fair value, estimated at
the price it would bring at a voluntary
sale thereof, where public notice had
been given, and a payment of one
third cash and the balance secured by
a mortgage upon the property. Lease
hold estates, including leases of
school and other lands of the state,
shall be valued at such a price as they
would bring at a fair voluntary sale
for cash. Where a building or struc
ture owned by a lessee is located on
land leased from another, the same
shall be valued at such a price'as such
building or structure would sell at a
fair voluntary sale for cash."
Could much improvement be made
in these general provisions? About
the only apparently unfair clause is
that providing for the valuation of
real property, which, under the provi
sion can be valued higher than the
price it would bring at a sale, either
voluntary or involuntary, for cash
ddwn. "Its fair cash value" is the
rule laid down generally for assess
ing property. What better could you
ask? How much stronger could you
make it?
"Air personal property ... shall
be valued at its 'fair cash value."
Seemingly as plain as words could
make it but how can-this value he
ascertained? We have seen that even
in the case of exchange; the estimates
of the parties to the exchange differ.
Who is to be the arbiter? WhoJs to
say what the "fair cash value is?
Under the law the assessor does thi,
subject to the review of the county
board, and also to the interference of
the owner of the property. : Without
having in view the acquiring by ex
change, how can the assessor ascer
tain the "fair cash value" of the prop
erty he assesses? Is ' it to be the
amount of money he will give for the
property? Is it to be the amount of
money some other person or persons
will give, and if so, whom? Is It to
ba the amount of money the assessor
would be willing to . give if he were
able to buy? s
Under the circumstances it is un
avoidable that ; the assessor's valua
tion should at best be nothing more
than an estimate of what the property
lit
Id
U
pi f3
p 1
ILL
DR.F.L.OEARLESt
SPECIALIST. !
CURED III 5 DAYS TO STAY CURED.
NO CUTTING OR PAIN
"We want every man afflicted with VARIOOCET.T
BLOOD POISONNG, NERVOUS DEBILITY or allieJ
troubles to oorae to our office, where we will explain to hies
our method of curing these diseases. We is The la partly
ular all men who hve become dissatisfied with treatment
elsewhere. We will explain to you why you bare not bet
oared, and will demonstrate to your entire satisfaction wh;
we can cure you safely, quickly and permanently. Ouir
counsel will 00s t you nothing, and our charges for a perfeoS
cure will be reasonable and sot more than you will bo
willing to pay for benefits conferred.
Us
CERTAINTY OF CURE.
Is wkat you want. ' We give a written LEGAL GUARANTEE to cure you. TVe can
and will cite yon by permission when satisfied that Information is desired by sincere
people, to ewes that we have eured to stay mred which have been abandoned by family
physicians and so-called experts. What we hare done for others we can do for you. If
you cannot oau. write us a full and truthful statement of your ermptoms. One personal
Tislt is preferred, but if it la impossible for you to call at our office write us a descrip
tion of your case as you understand It. plainly stating your symptoms, your general
physical condition, your ccoupatlon, etc., and you will receive In plain enrelopo a
scientific and honest opinion of your case free of chargo.
Treatment by mall a (specialty. Call on or address with stamp. Box Kti.
HO? CCADI CC 9. ?CADI CQ Wain Office; Rooms 217 220 Richard Block
LINCOLN, NEORASKA.
ket, and the nearer home, he is th?
better will ; be ' his estimate of such
value. There he is acquainted with
all the circumstances. He may have
similar property. He knows the var
ious obstacles standing in the way of
exchange. , But it must 1 not be lost
sight of for a moment that there is no
such thing . as accuracy in making the
valuation it is simply an estimate
the very best that can be done. Th?
assessor cannot render his labors any
easier of accomplishment by carrying
with him ' 25.8 grains of gold nine
tenths fine the measure of value (save
the mark) and making a physical ap
plication of it to each object he as
sesses. And were a dozen men-from
the same - locality . to each place a
valuation on the same property, with
out knowledge of what the others had
done, there would probably be a dozen
different valuations. -
And this leads us to the next ques
tion: Who is best fitted to estimate
the value of property? Undoubtedly,
other things being equal, the man who
lives: in the vicinity of the property.
The township or precinct assessor ha?
better means of knowing the value of
property in his township or precinct,
than any state officer or state board of
"equalization" no matter how wise the
officer or board may be. This remark.
of course, applies to tangible property
and not to intangibles such as rail
road franchises and the like.
sold for in the markets (approximati'.
such value as nearly as could he doiv
without an actual sale and transf
of all the property) would permit t!
county board, if it desired to levy th
full limit allowed by law, to raise
taxation a much larger sum than !j
necessary to maintain county go
ernment In its present state of ef
ficiency. There is always the dan
that the board might do such a thin
And the people guard against such .
contingency by keeping'the assess
valuation down to the lowest possttv
notch. In the more thinly populate ;
counties the valuations are higher a
cording to the real worth of the prOi
erty, because county government mu
be maintained and the full limit levi
each year. Yet the valuations for pur
poses of taxation made by the varitv;
counties for county government at
used as the basis upon which sta
taxes are levied. And herein lies th
injustice. .
The suggestion that the powers of
the state board of equalization be en
larged so that it may raise or lower
valuations, although intended in good
faith to correct flagrant abuses in
the administration , of our , revenue
laws,; Is nevertheless fraught with
danger. That is not only . too much
power to place in the hands of a few
men1. vnt it, la nlsn MrnfirvHner a. .few
men to place a better estimate 01 inc
value of . property-they have probably
never seen, than is done by the as
sessors themselves in actual view of
the property. This is absurd on the
face of it. The suggestion of Senator
Dietrich that a steer in Box Butte
county is just as valuable a oneMn
Johnson, is a good illustration of
what the board of equalization might
do if its powers were enlarged., The
assessor in . Box Butte county . can
make a better estimate on the value
of all the steers in his precinct than
can Senator Dietrich or anybody else
who is not acquainted in that locality.
The same is true of Johnson county.
Assuming that the steers were of the
same weight and quality, it does not
follow that they are of the same value.
Locality cuts considerable . figure In
estimating values. Put both steers to
gether In Johnson county and they
would doubtless be equally valuable,
and this might be true if both were iu
Box Butte. But no man can sit In
Washington or Lincoln and make an
estimate on the value of property he
does not see and do it as well as tho
man on the ground.
This brings us to the question of di
vorcing taxation for county purposes
from taxation for maintenance of state
government. The real reason why the
burdens of taxation are not borna
equally by the different portions of the
state, in proportion to the amount and
value of the property in these differ
ent portions lies In the fact that both
state and county taxes are levied upon
the same valuation. The way o
obviate the difficulty is to adopt a rad
ically different system. Mere tinker
ing with our present law ' without
changing it fundamentally will do' no
good. , The present law is about as
good of its kind as the average legisla
ture ever enacts. There may be. some
minor defects that could be remedied;
but no approach to equalization can
he attained until the levie;3 for state
and for county purposes are separated:
Unless a law is backed up by pub
lic sentiment it cannot be enforced(
This is especially true where the com
mand allows neither - discretion or the
exercise of some other mental quaH
ity. The command . to value personal
property at its, "fair cash value" gives
considerable latitude ; to the assessor.
He estimates this. And his . estimate
might differ widely from the estimate
of someone else. And .necessity plays
an important vpart in the result. ,
;-.v-l y'-"Yr : r . ;.u--':,"
The county .board is the levying or
taxing power.' . It has also the power
of appropriatihg ' and ' spending the
revenues raised;. for-Tcounty; govern
ment. Within- certain limits as ,to
r,ate the board Is autocratic and the
law of self-interest causes the people
to keep downthe assessed valuation
to that point where by the levy eveu
of . the maximum rate the board may
not raise much In excess of the amount
needed to maintain county - govern
ment. The incentive to -extravagance
afforded by an, overflowing treasury is
always great and the people instinct
ively seek to protect .themselves as
best they may. In the older and more
thickly populated counties, 1 of Ne- j
braska a " valuation placed l upon the !
Were.it not for our present system
of taxation for state purposes,
would make no difference to the peopi
of Johnson county how high or ho.,
low a steer would be assessed In Box
Butte county. It . would make no dtf
ference to the land owners of Bo-,
Butte county if the assessors of John
son county should return $50 land '
$5 an acre while they were taked rv
the basis of $3 an acre on $9 land,
long as neither county was ashed :
contribute 5 mills on the dollar of a
sessed valuation toward maintainir
state government. As it now stani
the respective contributions towar i
state government stand in the rat:
5:3' when the ratio should be 50.0
a manifest injustice-to the Box Bur.
land owner.
How can these levies be separate'"
The most rational method seems to-'
to reserve for the purpose of taxati.
to maintain state government the.
properties which might be called lnte;
county. That Is to say, the railroad
telegraphs, telephones, express cou
panies, palace cars, etc., or such pror
erty the valuation of which is no -estimated
by the state board of equ:i:
ization and certified to the varion
counties. Let these be taxed only i
the state, and let all other propen v
be taxed only for local purposes ar.
contribute nothing toward state go
ernment.
In the year 1898 the railroads wr
assessed on a valuation a little os -$26,000,000.
The total taxes lei-i
against them in all the counties, for In
car and state purposes, amounted t
$1,111,603.45. The total taxes ievi. '
that year for all purposes amounted t
something-'tfver seven million doMnr
During that year the state treasu:
received approximately $1,250,000 a
taxes from the several counties whi-:
went into the four funds: Genera!
sinking, temporary school and tempo
rary university. Accordingly, it v.-n
be seen that if the state were pr
mitted to tax these corporations for it
maintenance and the counties were :il
lowed to tax all other property ther
In solely for local purposes, the situa
tion would not, in the matter of dol
lars and cents, be materially dlfferen
from what it was that year, excen
that the valuation In any county mlgn
be high or low without causing any
other county an Injustice.
The railroads in 1898 reported tin',
their 5,542.47 miles of road in tl
state had cost In bonds, stocks art
other evidences of Indebtedness. t?i
sum of $253,771,665. but the theu boar !
of transportation estimated from flv
ures furnished by the Rock island an 1
Elkhorn roads that the entire system-
might be duplicated for about mil
lion dollars. On their own statement
of cost the roads paid taxes on a val
uation of but little over one-tenth cf
that cost. Their net earnings that
year were, nearly eleven million dol
lars, out of which, of course, had to re
paid taxes, interest and other fixe I
hare-Ps before dividends could be -
clared.
Whether this suggested division f
the property to be taxed would stan-1
the test of constitutionality, or wheth
er an amendment to the constltuliu
-would be necessary. The Independent
r Is hot fully prepared to say at tn'
time.- Correspondence is invuea '
the subject. Let us discuss the matter.
V Is It C J. Smyth?
In order to win in our state cam
paign., W9 need something more thai:
platforms. We need men and th
right kind of men. Our candidate fa-governor-.-'
must - be a man whom th
people, know; cannot be controlled by
the corporations. Speaking frankly,
we know: it to be a truth that one of
the arguments used-against a very
deserving man Is that, his nomination
for the . office of governor would in- ,
vite the hottest kindof opposition
from the corporations of, this state.
To my mind, that very fact should b
an argument -in favor of the nomina- t
tlnn of such a man. Metealfe's ad-
Mi ' " ' ' mi 11 ii at fin MBMp.iJMMV"