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About The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902 | View Entire Issue (May 22, 1902)
ma WW -.ft; mm mm VOL. XIV. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, MAY 22, 1902. NO. 1. FINANCIAL DEVILTRY The Fowler Bill Belles all Experience and all Kecognized Kconomic Authority Editor Independent: Never since the passage of the national bank law in 1862 has there been a financial bill passed that has not been presented and urged under a deceptive title. The Fowler bill, now pending, is no exception to the rule. But for disre gard of truth and misrepresentation of well-established principles of finan cial economies the report of the com mittee, submitted by Mr. Fowler, sur passes anything that has ever been presented. One is left In doubt as to whether the author of that report is wholly ignorant of the experience, teaching and literature of the last century, or has deliberately sacrificed truth and falsified all experience and philosophy at the behest of that organization of selfish scoundrels that has existed in New York city since the beginning of the civil war, and the members of which are now, and have been, con trolling the national banks of New York, and through these banks, un der the special privileges granted by the act of 1862 and subsequent amend ments and acts, controlling the finan cial interests of the country. Never in the whole history of con gressional action has any member of congress more completely excluded all possibility of his being regarded, by those who know anything of the sub ject of his report, as both intelligent and honest. It is hardly possible even that the charitable conclusion, that he is a most unmitigated ignoramous, can be entertained. This bill, that belies all experience and all recognized economic author ity, is said to be intended "to secure the advantages of longer experience." This bill, that shows in no single sec tion any evidence of intelligent hon esty, is said to be intended to secure a "higher degree of intelligence and more permanent policy in the supervi sion of our vast banking interests." There has been intelligence enough, but the difficulty has been that most of it has, in the management of our "vast banking Interests," been wholly di vorced from honesty of purpose. With a credit that for more than thirty years has been unsurpassed, and is still unsurpassed in the history of any country, this bill puts forward again the false pretense that it is intended "to protect the national credit." With a credit that has not been impaired, notwithstanding all the vicious legisla tion since 1862. and notwithstanding the granting of special privileges to financial combinations by which they have been able to double and treble the burden of public and private debts and put the larger part of the increase in their own pockets, this bill pro fesses to protect the public credit against assaults through our demand obligations. The report states that one of the ob jects is to relieve the treasury from the burden of greenbacks, treasury notes, etc., and yet it provides for the redemption in gold coin of "all legal tender money, including the silver dol lar." It destroys every "standard of payment" except gold, and calls this relieving the treasury. In God's name, what about the people? Who will re lieve them when the volume of legal tender (i. e., standard of payment money) in circulation is reduced, prac tically by one stroke, from over 1,650 million to less than 650 million, while at the same time the credits repre sented by the loans and discounts of national banks alone are increasing at the rate of over one million per day rot excluding Sundays. The report pretends that the burden of redeem ing the government legal tender paper will be transferred to banks, but where will the burden of redeeming the sil ver currency rest? This bill, if it becomes a law, will prevent the government from using its credit as money, but turns that same credit over to national banks and permits them to use it as money. It is equivalent to the government loaning these banks every dollar of national bank currency, issued at one-quarter of one per cent per annum. Is any man such a fool that he cannot see that national bank currency rests on the . credit of the government? The asset currency proposition contained in this bill leaves it still resting primarily on the credit of the government, but ultimately upon the depositors of these banks. Is Mr. Fowler such a fool that he does not see that this bill is a trick to turn over to the national banks the entire credit of the govern ment, and leave the government with the responsibility but without ben efit? The pretended transfer of re sponsibility to the banks is a dis honest attempt at legislative jugglery, and no man with a school boy's knowl edge of the subject ought to be de ceived by it. The pretense of imposing upon the banks "the burden of furnishing all the gold for export, and for any and all other purposes" ought to deceive no one. It is ridiculously transparent. The machinery of this bill with ex isting laws puts it in the power of the national banks to make the govern ment furnish all the gold they want. The silver dollar is quite as good an endless chain as greenbacks. What a ridiculous humbug it is to talk about placing on the banks the burden of "assumption of redemption" when the notes supposed to be redeemed retain all the legal tender quality they now possess; when every one of them will be the equal of gold for all purposes except duties on imports and interest on the public debts. Such jugglery is not the product of ignorance, but of very Intelligent rascality. v The statement of the purpose "to Blmplif y and limit the government fiscal operations by confining it to the collection of its revenues and the payment of it3 expenses", is a most purpose to "limit the government fiscal operations" so that there will be noth ing whatever to Interfere with the control, by the national banks, of both the issue of money and of the creation of credits. Mr. Fowler very correctly calls these banks "credit merchants." He might just as correctly have called them manufacturers of credits. They are both. There can be no doubt in the mind of any one, who has any knowledge of the subject, that the primary and principal purpose of the proposed legislation is to assist the national barks In expanding credits. For four or five years frequent warn ings have been given that the New York bankers had - purposes in view not in accord with the public welfare. These warnings have been ridiculed and denounced in and out of congress, by the so-called leaders of the party In power, as the mouthings and rant ing3 of demagogues; but here, in this bill, are embodied all the iniquities and scoundrelly contrivances for pub lic robbery of which any one has ever dreamed, and more. Not only is it proposed to tie the government hand and foot so that it can have no power over either the issue of money or the creation of credits, but it is proposed to bottle the whole matter up so that it will be next to impossible to undo the mistake by a change of admin istration, either executive or legisla tive or both. It will be remembered that during sessions of 1899 bills were Introduced providing for a board of comptrollers of three members, each with a tenure of office of twelve years. This would insure the control of this board for at least four years after any change of administration .just as Is provide-.! in this bill. Mr. McCreary was frank enough in his report on the former bill to say that the intention of this pro vision was "placing our currency sys tem beyond the reach of political ac cidents." The former bill would have made it impossible to have changed the board except by impeachment, or by a repeal of the law. The Fowler bill is not quite so bare-faced, but the purpose Is none the less certain. The statement of Mr. McCreary is suffic ient warning of the real purpose of the triune board and twelve years' tenure of office. The New York national bankers, not many of whom would be outside of the penitentiary if the law was en lorced, do not now believe that there is so much necessity for such a guard of their interests as there was then. We have passed into a condition in which they have such control over .the banks of other reserve cities' and over the country banks, that any attempt to enforce the law against them would likely produce a panic, and so they feel secure against any prosecution. The rapid increase of the credits of these banks has increased their power to an alarming extent. The time between February 5, 1901, and February 25, 1902, is covered by the comptroller's abstracts of the con dition of national banks, and the in crease of credits per day is shown to be as follows: Abstract 22 53 days in crease per day $2,034,975 Abstract 2378 days in crease per day.... '. . 1,117,152 Abstract 2482 days in crease per day 553,415 Abstract 25 77 days in crease per day 801,422 Abstract 2671 days in crease per day 276,610 Abstract ,27 77 days in crease per day 1.175,657 These banks have increased their loans and discounts, since the fall of 1896, over $1,250,000,000. These ab stracts also show that we have already reached an expansion of bank credits that is encroaching upon the reserves, and that these banks cannot go much farther without danger of bringing the whole fabric down upon themselves. Trey are, therefore, anxious for the passage of some such bill as the Fowl er bill that, by asset currency, will in crease their power to further inflate credits, and, by branch banks, make more certain the control of the New York banks over other banks. The fact is, we have reached a stage of bank credit inflation in which we have left behind all hope that these credits can ever be paid. The liabil ity of banks to depositors, and the out standing loans and discounts, cannot be reduced without disaster; much less can they be paid. The New York financial combina tions must control the administration of the government in order to save themselves. FLAVIUS J. VAN VORHIS. Indianapolis, Ind. ASSOCIATED LIBELS THE REAL MOTIVE Major Steagall Points Out the Motive of of the Plutocrat in Acquiring the Philippines Editor Independent: There has of late been a great deal, said in the pa pers and in the debates in congress as to the motives that prompted the ac quisition of the Philippine islands; but so far no one has touched the ral point, the moving cause that lay at the' bottom of the plot, yea, conspir acy, to saddle those "islands upon the American people. The desire to ex ploit them had but little to do with it, in comparison with that deeper, dark er, more hellish and damnable motive, to-wit: the desire for an excuse to es tablish and saddle a large standing army, that would be at the command of the plutocrats whenever they might wish to crush out the last vestige of civil and religious liberty in this once happy republic. From the day that It was first mentioned in the negotiations at Paris, I have never for one moment doubted that this was the hidden sec ret, the underlying motive, and I have upon hundreds of occasions so de clared.. A. H. STEALALL. t Associated Press Engaged In Libelling Democratic Senators Some Lies Corrected Washington, D. C, May 17, 1902. (Special Correspondence.) The Asso ciated press dispatches have com mitted a great libel on the Hon. An selm J, McLaurin, United States sena tor from Mississippi. The papers throughout the land reported that Sen ator McLaurin had deserted his col leagues on the Philippine question to the extent of justifying the inhuman treatment given the Filipinos by Gen eral Smith and others of that stripe. It was said that many other demo cratic senators were opposed to the policy of their party on the Philip pine question and would willingly fol low Senator McLaurin's lead to get out of a bad hole. But the truth of the matter is that Senator McLaurin said nothing of the kind, and the lat ter part of the statement contains no more truth than the former. The democrats in. the senate are perfectly united on the Philippine question and the method of pursuing its considera tion. Perfect harmony exists among them all. I wish they were united on all issues. But the Associated press, willing as it always is to aid the re publicans, gave a report to the coun try that on its face would show that Senator McLaurin from Mississippi was heading a number of democrats insurgents on this gravest of questions. They know that the republicans are badly in the hole on the question; that they have made several desperate at tempts to have it closed; that they have refused absolutely to summon witnesses for fear of hearing the truth, and now the Associated press has gone one better by deliberately misquoting a speech of a democratic senator. It is but the pursuit of the same old game that they have prac ticed to deceive the American people ever since they have had to read their dispatches. A statement made in the Omaha Bee concerning Dietrich's great feat of tricking Witness Boardman into eat ing army rations and enjoying them, after he had a few minutes before de nounced them as utterly unfit for food. e see this statement in the Bee and the Bee copied it from the Washing ton Post. Yet, from the information I can secure, there is no more truth in it than in the statement the Associated press made about Senator McLaurin. Boardman denounces it as a "lie" out of the whole cloth and declares it to be his intention to carry the. matter higher. -J This witness, Boardman, a member of the Twentieth regulars, is the only man -who has had the courage and I . think it either courage or lack of men tality to go upon the stand and at tempt to justify Smith in his "kill or burn" policy. Boardman says that he believed it necessary and as a gov ernment witness, summoned by Sena tor Lodge, made a pretty fair witness for them until some one asked about the army rations and then one thing led to another until he was asked about the currency of the islands. He then deliberately charged that coun terfeiting was being practiced by the American officers in the islands and that these counterfeits were being forced upon the Filipino people. He turned out to be a good witness for the prosecution before he had finished his testimony. The senate has been considering the Philippine government bill all week with the exception of a few hours spent in the discussion and passage of the fortification and agricultural appropriation bills. Several republi can senators have spoken among them Senator Stewart, and here again the Associated press gives a test of Its ability to send out the truth. The dispatches speak of the senate as being crowded to hear the eloquent speech of Senator Stewart the old renegade from Nevada. As a matter of fact, there were not half a dozen senators republicans and democrats on the floor during the whole three hours oc cupied by the white-haired hypocrite. As for the galleries well, there were not a half dozen people in them for any length of time. The usual num ber of visitors came in to see the sen ate in session, but Stewart's eloquence affected them to the extent that they wanted to get out. And they got out. Senator McComas spoke on Tuesday on the situation and, as usual with the republican senators, denounced the minority for their attack on the Amer ican soldier. This one idea is the whole text of the speeches of the re publican senators. The ensign was hoisted by Lodge, and every republi can senator since has made this point the main topic of his speech. The house was busy during the week with the naval appropriation bill and incidentally the Sampson-Schley feud was referred to by Representative (repM Md.), an ardent champion of Schley. Thus it came and from that moment there was very little said about the naval appropriation bill. The conflict took a partisan turn and every subject from the Philippines to Maclay's war libel on Schley were dis cussed with equal vigor. Representa tive Vandiver (dem., Mo.) brought up the Philippine question and severely attacked the administration for refus ing to Investigate the charges in the islands and with deliberately white washing the charge against officers charged with such outrages. The Phil ippine question was then the topic for several hours, when Mudd started the Sampson-Schley feud by offering an amendment that no money appropri ated by the, bill should be expended In purchasing the Maclay history. Crowninshield was then given a hearty reception by Representative Williams of Mississippi. 5 "Who is Crownin shield?" asked Williams, and he then -proceeded to read a humorous poem pntltled "Wbn Ty CrnWn,"gVH'1L Papa ?" and the Jaouse was convulsed with laughter. . It closed ,by calling him "the greatest tar who ever stayed ashore." In a more serious ,vein, Mr. Williams1 took up the ; Sampson-Schley controversy Whatever the official conclusion might be; the American people, he said,, had come to the con clusion that Schley had something to do with the magnificent victory at Santiago. And . yet It has happened that Maclay had .written a book, had submitted it to Crowninshield, declar ing that Schley was a coward and had nothing to do with the victory. De spite the imperial ukase that the Schley controversy must be dropped, Mr. Williams said that American . peo ple would not be . stopped in drawing their own conclusions; as to who the victor was and on whom the responsi bility for his mallgnment rested. The bill will probably be voted upon pn Monday and - then ' several matters of importance will be discussed. . After finishing the naval appropria tion bill, the house will proceed to the discussion of the bill coming from the committee on foreign . affairs to regulate passports. One day will be devoted to claims, the regular day for that business having been postponed. Under a special order, a bill-providing for the regulation of immigration will be taken up and. a lively debate is to be expected. - There is also prospect of taking up the Hill bill relating to subsidiary coinage. This measure will be strong ly antagonized by the minority, and may precipitate a discussion of the currency question. Early in the week the committee on rules will hold a meeting to decide whether or not time will be given to discuss the Pacific ca ble bill. - .; No political interestcenters in the caucus which will be .held tomorrow evening relative to the Fowler cur rency bill. If the final decision is to consider the bill In the house, it will, beyond the shadow of a doubt, be an item of interest in the" fall campaign. There will be a strong opposition in the republican membership and the decision will probably be to let the bill alone at least until 'after election. "Uncle Joe" Cannon is stated to be the leader in opposition to the bill and he will make a strong fight against allow ing the bill to be discussed on the floor of the house. The Older and more con servative members of j the party are against the consideration of the bill at all as a census of the members shows. The entire delegation Irom Illinois with the exception of Mr. Boutell from Chicago are opposed to the bill. On the otner hand, Mr. Fowler, chairman of the banking and currency committee,1, is -certain that a fuller explanation 'of the -bill to. the republican members will win it many supporters and as he has numerous able and influential members of his party behind the measure and particr ularly as it is a good thingv for the trust, 1 the money r trust, an energetic canvass for votes will secure many in its support. The passage of the naval appropria tion bill will clear , the decks at the south end of the capitol . for general legislation,-which will fill in much of the time between now and adjourn ment. The general deficiency bill will not be made up until a few days before adjournment and will not be likely to be discussed much either in the com mittee or on the floor. The prospects are that from now on the attendance will be very small, as many members are at home mending their apolitical fences and looking for a renominatlon. The exodus has been so great during the past ten days that the committees have secured a quorum with great dif ficulty. During the past week there has been much activity on the part of those fav oring the passage of the irrigation bill, which has passed the senate and has been reported to the house with some modifications. Speaker- Henderson has promised to set aside a day for Its con sideration and the prospects are, from a census recently taken, that the bill will pass. The leaders are opposing the bill, but as it has some strength on the republican side and is favored al most unanimously on the democratic side, it will probably pass. There has been a persistent campaign in favor of irrigation, which involves the allot ment of lands made fertile by irriga tion to bona fide settlers, who would be required by deferred payments to reimburse the government. One strong argument Is that it does not take mon ey directly from the treasury, but provides for using the proceeds from the sale of public lands for the stor ing of water and the conveyance of the same to the arid lands. There will undoubtedly be a strong opposition and If the bill passes it will be by democratic votes. The democratic certainly can claim credit for what has been done so far and the passage of the bill will be a great step toward making the western farmer a true friend of the democratic party. The entire time of the senate will be used In discussion of the Philippine government bill, and there is no reason for changing previous predictions that the debate upon the measure will come to a practical close at this week's end. The fact that? there will be an adjourn ment of the senate over the coming Saturday to permit that- body partici pating in the Rochambeau statue un veiling, will have the effect of post poning the final vote from Saturday until Monday or Tuesday. There is no longer doubt that the minority will permit the bill to be voted upon as soon as debate upon the measure will have been exhausted. Under present conditions the bill will take, up most of the time this " week and the prospects are that no other business will be sandwiched in with it. Speeches in favor of the bill will be made by Senators Spooner, Dolll ver, Burton and Clapp, while tn oppo sition Senators Hoar, Bailey, Bacon, (Continued on Page 2.) RAILROAD ASSESSMENT As Predicted by The Independent, the Be- publican Board Insults tbe People by Making-a Raise of beven Tenths of one Per Cent The unexpected "doesn't always hap pen. Frequently results can be fore casted with almost mathematical cer tainty. It required no gift of prophecy to foretell that the state board of equalization would make nq appreci able raise in the railroad assessment this year, because the republican party in Nebraska has for many years been controlled by the railroad interests. It is not simply because the taxing board is composed of Governor Sav age, Treasurer Steufer, and Auditor Weston, that the railroads are asses sed at such a ridiculously low valua tion but rather because the republi can party, that is, the leadership of that party, is dominated by the rail roads. There are individual republi cans, of course, who are free from such a charge; but the party as a political organization is essentially a railroad party, a monopoly party. On the other hand there are undoubtedly soma populists who wear the corpor ation yoke, although not many;, but the party as a political organization is essentially an anti-monopoly party. For these reasons it is folly to expect relief from railroad extortions and tax-shirking through republican ad ministration; it cannot come except through an anti-monopoly party, and when the republican party ceases to be a monopoly party, it will cease to be the republican party. Last week the board completed its work of assessing the railroads, decid ing that the 5,704.34 miles in Ne braska should be valued at $26,589, 592.70, or an average of $4,662.12 to each mile. This is about $180,000 in crease over last year's assessment, or the insignificant amount of seven tenths of one per cent (.7 per cent, or an increase of 7 points out of a thous and.) The following table shows the as sessed railway valuation for the thir teen years, 1890 to 1902, inclusive, and the grand assessment roll for these years, except tor 1902, -that being not yet completed. Grand Assessed Rail Assm't Roll. way Val'n. 1890 .. ..$184,770,304.54 $29,854,221.05 1891 .. .. 183,138,236.28 29,265,917.80 1892 .. .. 186,432,376.71 29,339,631.00 1893 .. .. 194,733,124.73 . 28,574,138.00 1894 .. ..183,717,498.78 27,939,178.50 1895 .. ..171,468,207.48 25,425,308.00. 1896 .. ..167,078,270.37 25,424,708.00 1897 .. .1165,193,736.42 25,561,720.70 1898 .. .. 167,810,764.79 26,108,936.80 1899 .. .. 169,105,905.10 26,106,450.10 1900 .. .. 171,747,593.41 26,346,735.90 1901 .... 174,439,095.45 26,422,732.39 1902 .... 26,589,582.70 Last year the board assessed the Omaha Bridge & Terminal company, and did not do so this year. Compar ing the property assessed both years the increase on railroad property alone is $184,752.40, although the ac tual increase, as shown by the figures above, is only $166,860.31. This is acounted for by the omission of the bridge property this year, which will be assessed by the county authorities in Douglas. This insignificant raise in the rail road assessment is an insult to the in telligence of Nebraska taxpayers. It will help out the already overburdened state general fund to the tune of some thing over $900 on the 5 mill levy al lowed by law. It will result in about $1,300 additional state taxes all told general, university, and state school funds. And right in' the face of the fact that two of the roads, the Burl ington and the Union Pacific, have In the past nine months (ending March 31, 1902) increased their net earnings, over the corresponding period in 1901, as follows: Burlington $1,541,241 Union Pacific .. 2,796,084 Remember that these figures repre sent INCREASED net earnings; the actual net earnings for the 1902 nine months period being: Burlington .. $15,690,140 Union Pacific 17,281,769 Yet the state board of equalization, let all the railroads in the state off with a paltry raise of $1,300 for state taxes; and the total increase for all purposes, state, county, municipal, and school district even at the high rate of 50 mills would not amount to $10,000 for the entire year for all the roads. The Burlington alone will draw from the people of Nebraska for net earnings (that is, the total charges for freight and passenger service, less operating expenses) in the neighbor hood of $8,000,000 or $9,000,000 during the year 1902; but the people of Ne braska will receive from all the rail roads In the state not to exceed $1,300, 000 in taxes of every description and it is doubtful if the amount will reach $1,250,000. - Whatever criticisms may be urged against the members of other boards of equalization, whether populist or republican officials, the fact remains that the present board- deserves the severest censure for its action. The question of just and equitable taxa tion is a growing one, and it is idle to deny that the present board is better equipped for doing its full duty than the boards which preceded It. Only recently have the people came to a clearer realization of the fact that a railroad corporation possesses and en joys a valuable something which the owners of property generally do not possess or enjoy that is to say, its franchise, its right to exercise the governmental function of eminent do main, condemning and taking private property for its' use; its right to the ! exclusive use of a continuous strip land as a highway; its right to charge for services "all that the traflic will bear." Only recently have the people come to a clearer realization - of the fact that a railroad should be; valued as an entirety not as a scrap heap of ties, rails, box cars, and engines'. Only recently have they leaned that the railroad valued as an entirety is vastly more valuable than the com bined values of all Its visible constl tutent parts ascertained in the usual way. And the present board cannot escape criticism on the plea of ignor ance. Other boards may, but this one cannot, because the whole matter ha3 been very thoroughly discussed in the newspapers; it was presented in an able manner by M. F. Harrington in a letter to the board, and in the argu ments of Edward Rosewater of the Omaha Bee and E. W. Simeral, his attorney, before the board. The In dependent has been hammering away on this franchise question for many months but, of course the republican board would not listen to a populist paper but is is gratifying to note that Mr. Simeral and Mr. Rosewater have been close readers of The Inde pendent. There is no copyright , on the idea, but The Independent was the pioneer in the movement in this part of the west to tax railroad franchises and to show how the value of such could be ascertained. What is a railroad worth? Let Judge Brewer answer. He cannot be charged with being a wild-eyed popu list. "It is a cardinal rule," says the judge, "which should never be for gotten, that whatever property is worth for the purposes of income and sale it Is also worth for the purpose of taxation." (Adams Express Co. v. Ohio, 166 U. S., 185 and 220). It Is not often that a railroad is sold outright, but ownership of a portion thereof Is usually in the market in the way of stocks or bonds. Let us apply this to a Nebraska road or two. Before the Northern Pacific bought the Burlington stock, the capitaliza tion for every mile of line was: Capital stock $14,503 Funded debt ...... 22,767 Total $37,270 The Hill crowd offered $2 in 4 per cent bonds for every dollars worth of stock, and this was accepted. These new 4 per cent bond3 are quoted at 96. The old bonds are not quoted, but it is not likely they are below par. Accordingly the actual , value of the Burlington today is at a conservative estimate $50,000 per mile, or 4$120, 831,50Q for the 2,416.63 miles assessed by the board at $0,357,236.70, or less, than one-eleventh of Its actual value. 2,416.63 MILES B. & M. Actual value per mile. . . .$ 50,000 Actual value 120,831,500 Assessed value per mile; ... 4,285 Assessed value 10,357,236 At one tenth 12,083,150 At . one-ninth ; 13,425,722 At one-eighth . . 15,103,938 At one-seventh 17,261,643 At one-sixth.. 20,138,583 At one-fifth ... . . . . 24,166,300 Suppose we take the Union Pacific, not counting the branch lines.-simply the 467.38 miles from Omaha west, which the board assessed at $4,480,324. or $9,800 per mile. Under the reor ganization this road is capitalized per mile at: Stocks $73,263 Funded debt -.. 51,182 Union Pacific 4s are selling at 105 1-2 to 106 3-4; preferred stock at 87 and common stock at 103 1-2. This would bring the actual value of the road to about: Stocks $66,000 Bonds 54,000 Or $120,000 per mile. That is what the Union Pacifis is worth oa the market today. Yet this republican board assessed it at only $9,800 per mile or less than one-twelfth of its 467.38 MILES UNION PACIFIC. Actual value per mile ....$ -120,000 Actual value 56,085,600 Assessed value per mile .... 9,800 Assessed value 4,480,324 At one-eleventh .. 5,098,691 At one-tenth 5,608,560 At one-ninth 6,231,733 At one-eighth .. 7,010,700 At one-seventh .. .. ....... 8,012,228 At one-sixth .. .. 9,347,600 At one-fifth 11,217,120 In order that the farmer may know whether the board did its duty, let him make a comparison with his own assessment. The different fractions of actual value are worked out down to one-fifth. The Burlington's assess ment Is little if any higher than its net earnings in Nebraska will be this year. If the farmer or business man were assessed no higher than his net earnings, the grand assessment rolls would shrink worse than they have. Mr. Simeral's statement to the board that the Nebraska railroads are today worth about $300,000,000 on the mar ket, Is about the correct figure. These roads are earning interest and divi dends on that amount. They did not cost anysuch sum, but that makes no difference. When the farm rises in value its assessed valuation goes up the cost is never figured in arriving at the taxable value of a farm. The question always is, What will it sell for? The Nebraska roads, or most of them are being sold every day on the stock exchange. They are worth three hundred million dollars; yet they were assessed a miserable sum, less than one-eleventh, less than 9 per cenj;, of their selling value In the mar ket and this, too, after fellow repub licans to the members of the board, men higher in the councils of the party, had implored them to make a substantial raise. Even at one-seventh actual value, the railroad assess ment would have been over $42,0CO,000, or over $16,000,000 greater than j it is. (Continued on Tage 3.), r PARCELS POST Congressman Stark's Letter on the Measure Believes It a Railroad Scheme Representative Stark, of the Big Fourth district, Is out with a letter to the papers of his district statins the facts regarding his position on tha parcels post bill. The Independent ia glad to publish this communication in full, because, although It does not agree with Mr. Stark's conclusions, is recognizes the fact that he Is a thorouehlv loval siiDDorter of norm- 11st principles and that no district In the state has been better represented in the past six years than the Fourth, The letter is as follows: Washington, D. C, May, 1902. Editor: , "T I have received a number of copies or tne weorasKa independent, issua of May 8th with the following portion of an editorial marked "Populists and democrats in congress right along for- get the principles they preached from the stump and advocate something opposed to those principles at times, because they believe their constituents, or some of them, might suffer if tha true rule were invoked. For ex ample, Congressman Stark last winter sent out a letter in which he made a . savage attack on the parcels post bill, not so much because some republican , deviltry was lurking behind it, as because a parcels post would enable the farmers of his district to buy good3 from Seigel, Cooper and Co., or Mont-, gomery, Ward & Co., at a less price than they would have to pay the local merchant. Here was a measure es sentially populistlc in principle, op posed by a populist. And he was not alone in the opposition. A number of the Fourth district papers took it up and combatted the bill, because it was a parcels post measure and not because it might have some bad feat ures." As I recall the matter a number of retail merchants of the Fourth dis trict did write me as they had a per fect right to do, touching the proposed bill and I answered them, as was my duty.. At the same time others wrote me and to the end that all may be ad vised, I submit a copy of a letter on that subject. - Washington, D. C, Feb. 13. 1902. - ' Fred A. Allen, David City, Neb. My Dear Allen: I am In receipt of, your letter touching the proposed par cel post bill and greatly appreciate the same. One of the foundation doc trines of the people's independent par-i ty is government ownership of the means of transportation and communi cation: that is, that the government should, own and operate them In the interest of the people and the cost of the service to be fixed by the expense of operation. ' I -am thoroughly de voted to those principles and as the years roll by, believe In them mom and more. The idea of the parcel . post bill now before congress is to so extend the postal service tha't it will perform the same class of work as is now done by the express companies. Now the first question is, how do ex-, press companies perform their work? They maintain offices to receive and distribute and they rely absolutely on contracts, largely with railroads, to carry on their business. These con tracts were made a great many yeara ago, for a long time, and were eagerly sought for by railroad managers to show a fixed income, to assist them in selling shares of their stock. Of Iat4 there is a disposition by the railroads to absorb the express business and: make it a part of their own business. If the so-called Northern Securities company is held, by the supreme court of the United States, to be a corpora-, tlon that can carry on the purposes the incorporators intended, then it will only be a short time before the express business will be carried on by the rail-; roads and the express companies will be small affairs as are now the fast freight lines. One of the things tho railroads desire to avoid is the regula tion of express charges by law and it has occurred to them that if they can get that business generally made a part of the postal service they will then avoid supervision by legislation. It makes no difference what rates are fixed by the government, the railroads are not compelled to perform that ser-. vice for those rates. As far as they are concerned it is a matter of contract between them and the government and they have a long line of adjudications by courts of last resort, that their property cannot be taken from them, in the matter of fixing rates as com-" pensation for ' their services, without adequate compensation. That propo sition has been declared in the maxi mum rate case from our own state and whatever we may think of the in justice of the decision. It must be re membered by practical men that; It is the law. The courts have decided that they are the arbitrators as to what shall be reasonable charges and not the legislative branch of the govern ment. So then the postofflce depart ment would have to pay them a rate which ultimately met the views of the court. As the railroads now receive about one-third of the appropriations for the postal service, they are satis fied with their present contract. The deficit in our postal system is brought about by the cost of carrying the malls and the money is made up from the general fund. And to supply the gen eral fund an excuse would be made for all kinds of excessive taxation even to invading the legitimate objects of taxation by a state and thereby creat ing a sentiment in the states for the reneal of certain kind3 of taxation on the ground of double taxation. Starve out local government and feed fat a central government. The railroads no doubt reason that as, so far the well paying service of carrying the mails has not got them into court or been any particular bother to them, why not increase the classification, especially as .it would bring to them a business