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1 . ' " , , ' ' 0 , : tA- ' " " . - W. " ' . ( ' . " , , , " ' - ' . " " J' " . . . . . . . .
September 904 yl' l-J'J : : 1LL 5 l : rl Y' ' I llU U N ' ' . I ) > A . , .
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ \ . I'r'i
Something of Taxes .
I p In Richardson County
- - -
. 'l'hc following special dated
f.1 f'oll1 tIlls city appeared in last
, Sunday's State Journal and will
be of interest to all taxpayers in
ti I 1 .
this county :
; " For lack of other issues the
i fusionists in ichard1.on ' county
i , in thc state where there is less
t reason to cry about high taxcsor
fI where the issue b raised in such
spirit of bul ; faith and political
o chicancry. For the most part
thc little cliquc of professional
.
tax-dodg-crs ( who canvassed the
wealthy farmers last fall to in-
duce them to withdraw their
money from the banks , are the
same ! ones lvho - this S\1Inl11cr \ have
stirred up thc hue and cry against
thc revenue law. In this they
arc ably seconded by the , democratic -
cratic county board , and the
chorus is formed by some professional -
fcssional democratic assessors
who this year found theiroccupa-
tion g-one.
Richardson comity is one of the
oldest in the state and is located
in the most favored scction. Unaffected -
affected by thc presence of large
local market its farms are the
high priced of any in Nchrasl\a.
When any part of thc state has
any sort at a crop Richardson has
plenty , al1,1 in the drouth days
has often been the , Mecca toward
. which seed corn hunters turncd.
It is more sure of seasoablc rains
than any more western county ,
and its g-rowing-'seasons , are longer - -
er than any other river county.
Prosperity and content are ' here
in their fullest mcasurc. The
publish statement of the bank-
ing- board last November &howcd :
on deposit in Richardson county
banks a total of 51)18,24 , 01' an
'
average of $82.50 for every man ,
woman and child in thc county.
And a large part of this money
was deposited by thc tillers of :
the soil.
" -
It is plain to bc seen that no
.cuse of poverty is behind the
talk against taxation : Rich\rd- \
son county people will boast that
have finer farms , finer horses ,
better blooded cattle . and a better
strain of hogs : : than any other
locality , and they will stand
ready to make good. It is not
reasonable that such people
should raise a poverty wail , or
that they should for a moment
seek to avoid paying their just
share of the public taxcs. Be-
hind it and forming most of it is
thc howl of the professional
political agitators.
STATE ASSussMEN'rS.
Last year the assessed valuation
of all property in Richardson
county was certified up to the
state board at S3,53,25. and Ithe
county paid ill sttlte taxes S33,00
the state levy being dine and a
half ] "mills. 'l'his year the total
valuation was . $5,74,407 , and the
amoun t due for state taxes on
that at 6 ] mill ! is $34,046an increase -
crease over last year of SH ( , . Of
this increase thc railroads travers-
ing thc county conic in for $ 01.2S
co that as certified to the board
the people of Richardson county
had increased their state taxes
just $145. There was nothing to
object so in this , although it
must be acknowledged that so
small a raise in one of the very
best counties in thc state would
not bc an encouraging start to-
ward paying ofT the state dcbt.
'T ' he increase was about half a
cent apeice for the pee ) le who
had nearly two million dollars in
the banks. .
The dep.lty assessors of Richardson -
ardson counts' were honest men
and good citi.en8. : 'T ' heir ap-
poi itinents were confirmed by thc
democratic board of supervisors ,
and part of them were selected by
thc democratic mcmbers. Being
familar with land values in the
county , as shown by the frequent
sales , they presented to t hc
board what thc ' consider-
county they -
cel just \"aluations. Of course
some errors were made , and there
was thc llsmd effort on part or
some to have their values re(111C-
e(1.
ADJUS'l'ABI.I : VALN'BS.
One man whose farm of less
than a hundred acres adjoins thc
town site of Falls City on thc
growing side , , and which will
eventually bc divided up into high
priced city lots , asked for a reduc-
tion of $25 per acre. While hc
was maldng".his argumcnt .1110th-
. , er man offered him in spot cash
5200 more than 'the assessor's -
nation for his placc. Of course
lie rcfuscd. His farm is for sale
. . but at a price $8,00U higher than
the value placed by thc as esor.
Another man owning 120 acres
adjoining town asked for are :
suction although he had often
said that he lead refused an
amount double the assessed 1 u-
ation Those are two samples of
me11 who appeared to ask' for a
lower rate. Generally the land
owners were satisficd.
But the county board being
democratic , mast inject politics
into the matter. They retired
into a dark room and came to this
agrccment ; "We will make a flat
reduction ; of 10 per cent of all
land valucs. For this our party
will get thc credit among thc
farmers. ' ] 'lien the state board
( Dr. Ty1or9 ' Ophtha1mokgi ' ;
: ' , ,
, ' . . .
t : '
t -
rr h , } . :1 : fi
1 ' . ( A I
1 "
, " "
' . .
s4 r -
. i ' .
If you have headache , Nervousness , Blurring or \Vatery i : ; ' , I.
1 yes , floating specks , di'i11CSS , weak memory , etc.
. CONSULT DR. TAYLOR i " t. . " ,
: The 'cxhaustion of the nerve supply caused by eye strain :
is the cause of such troublcs. I measure the eye and its nerve
] supply by thc science of Opthalmolog-y , and can tell the I .
] amount of drain and strain on the nervous syctem , and by my : ( ' . , nr
; n methods of fitting and adjusting glasses remove thc cause and i' 1' "
, all symptoms of eye strain and nature does the rcst. If you ' :
" have glasses that do not stop such trouble they are not properly - t <
erty fit tcd. Cross Eyes straightcncd without operation or . I
\j drugs. CIIIl.DRHN'S liNns-If your boy or girl complains of headache -
ache 01' if thc teacher tell they arc hill in their studies ; many - ; j
a child has been considered dull in school whcn thc truth was .j
r that because of eye defects , blurred vision or headache it be-
ii came an agony to study. Don't blame thc child before you
.rJ Imow. Our examination tells. Consultation frce. "
. Office Hours-S : to 12 ; 1 to 6 ; 7 to (1. DH. 'rA YLOI . I
, . Over Clc\'land Bros. Storc. . ' " . 1
: i ' : l ' ' ' -1i : i'Gw ; . nq ' ' ' ' , . .
. . . ! " I
- - -
raise us Lack to the old figure ,
and thc farmers will find fault
with them. " So they did it and
among liteir riends commenced
to boast of the cute political trick
tile ) had playcd.
, 'l'hc state board unwittingly
or otherwise , walked into' thc
trap , and increased the real and
personal assessments of Richardson -
son county 10 per ccnt. While
there is much honest difference
of opinion as to thc wisdom and
legality of this action of thc
board , and the matter is one
which is to be settled in the
courts , the first blame can not be
placed upon the revenue law , but
upon the democratic members of
thc county board , who regarded
political trickery higher than
duty to their constitucnts.
WHElm 'l'm ; BURDEN LIBS.
IJcre is a comprehensive sum-
mary or the fig-urcs.
Total valuation. 1903.$3.536,925
'l'otal valuation , 190.L. _ _ . . . . 5,754,407
State taxes , 1903 _ _ _ _ _ _ . . _ _ _ u 33,600
State taxes , 190Lu.u 34,046
Increase over 1903. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . 446
State ! board increasc _ _ u _ _ " . . 3,404
So it is apparent that thc
amount "saddled upon the people
, for state taxes by the iniquitous
revenue law" is a small matter
after all. It is almost nothing
as compared to thc local school
and township tales : for which thc
people arc directly re.ponsjble }
year by Ycar when they vote the
burden P011' thcmscl Yes.
o For instance : If one precinct in
this county only three or four
r
people were interested enough to
attend a school mcp.ting. Those ;
present . through ignorance or :
through politics , voted a twenty
mill tax on the district. A man
in that district ] with a half section
of land tells mc that hs : tax this
year will be S135 because hc fail- ' , '
ed to attend school meeting and .
look after the matter. His state
taxes arc comparatively 1ig-ht.and
he has no complain itgainst thc
revenue la w. 'rhcrc are here and
in other parts of the county hun-
dreds of instances of men who
justly complain of high taxes , but
who imagine it is the fault of the
law , when it really is the fault of
themselves and their ncighbors.
An average Richardson county
family is not harmed by the 75
cents increase in state taxes , when
it is remembered that the family
has its average of S412.50 in cash
in the bank. But the twenty
mill for local school and 9 mills
for other local purposes makes
them squirm and makes some of
them willing to listen to howlers
against thc ' state tax robbery. "
'l'IIH SMAL1 INC1iEASI $ .
Hcrc are some figures on state
personal taxes , taking the. first
name on the records for the various -
ous precincts :
Val. State Val. State
1903 Tax 1904 'l'ax
1a AU5t.5 54 $ .50 $ 104 $ .62
Slllairu _ 283 2.68 330 1.98
II' Atwood 502 4,76' ' 92.3 5.53 ;
A Amos _ _ 865 8.20 1,188 7.12 . . . .
J Anderson 116 1.09 331 1.98
M Anderson : 110 1.04 203 1.21
I Allisoll. . 82 77 411 2.46 ,
G Allen _ _ . 107 1.01 136 81
L Ablutz 211 2.00 461 2.76
W AllclI. . 25 23 35 21
V Arnold _ 46 43 366 2. UI .
J Ahern. _ 2,089 19.84 4,425 26.55
G Abbott 150 1.42 92 ' 54
II ApeL u 54 SO 111 66
1' Anderson , 7 06 23 15
- - - -
$4,701 $44.53 S9,141 $54.77
( Continued 011 . last page ) "