The Placer herald., 1873-07-12

their just portion Of the taxes, whilA 3hUy prac
tically own the officers you are compelled X
support, and make them do their bidding
They corrupt or cauS9 your omcials to cowel
and obey them. Point 70 the ofhcial, sithsl
county or legislative, that the CoartHouse RIM
has furnished You for the last SIX years, that hal
had the manhood, courage, or disposition Il
stand up and openly fight your battles against
this great corrupting, deplsting incubus. A few
went into once boasting what they would do
put they all came out covering cravens, working
for self and the monopoly alone, and will now
undoubtedly, receive the hearty support of the
railroad and its ffunkiss for office again. There
| was given and loaned to the railroad company
BY the General Government, State, and
Placer County $l3, ,248, 900, to construct and
stock ninety-two miles of railroad in this coun-
ty, and it claims it took the whole sum, and
now when its net receipts are about $4,000 a
mile, or 81, 196, 900 for the ninety-two miles per
year, it impudently refuses to pay taxes on even
the net income of the road when it should pay
on the whole $13, ,OOO, 900. Taxed as you are it
would have paid into the County Treasury Of
Placer $12C, 900 last year, and relieved you of
more than two-thirds of your taxes. The peo-
pie gave it $141 900 a mile to construct and
equip the road, and now it refuses to pay taxes
on one twentieth. of this amount.
all this: Early in May, 1863, when the company
was asking the taxpayers Of Placer to vote
them $3.50, 900 in gold bonds, with $40O 900 in
terest on them fortwenty years, making $780,
600, it issued IN address and scattered it broad
cast all over the county. We here ,insert the
following extracts stipulating with the voters Of
Placer County
cENrRAr PACIFIC RxInnoaD.
"7o The roters Of Placer County:
You are called upon to vote your assistance
in the construction of the Pacific Railroad, and
the company in this manner desire to present to
you some of the resons why you should render
such assistance
This Work, when completed, will be the great
est OF any age or country--the great highway of
the richest commerce and most extensive travel
of the world. And, citizens of Placer, nearly one
hundred miles of it will be within your county,
and will pass directly through your county seat.
In the construction of the road there will be
pended in. your county not much il any less
than ,,ine,4nillions of dollars. and about t,oo
million of it within the trading and traffic dis
tance of your county seat. The whole Of this
ter into oil the transactiens,of business conduct
ed within the county, and into the permanent
and substantial wealth of the country, and will
then be subject and liable to tdration in the
same manner as other accumulated wealth, and
in addition to that the Railroad itself, as it is
constructed, from year to year, is subjectto the
same tarationas all other properly.
You are asked to assist us to the extent OF
$3.50, 000-let us make upan account of the cost
of such assistance You give $25O, 600 in bonds,
at eight per cent. interest for twenty years.
You will then have to provide 500 900 yearly to
meet interest and to meet principal at the end of
that time. Your rate OF taxation for county
this uNuRnalIv small thirty
cents on the one'.hundred dollars"
Yes, we wereAhen out of debt, and had $40, 900
in gold in our County. Treasury, and taxes were
payers have paid from fifteen to thirty ever
since, and will until the ring and railroad pow
ers are whipped at She polls.
Suppose the railroad alone, without
adding Any increased value of other property.
or adding any property accumulated from the
expenditures of building the road, were taxed at
the rate, go OOO, 900 at thirtyfve cents per one
hundred this will yield an income Of $31, 800,
or $11 500 per year more than the interest you
will have to pay-this annual surplus at the end
of twenty years being nearly sufficient to pay
the original bonds. Your whole taxable proper
ty for the last current year was only the sum OF
SO, 600, 600, with the road completed it will be
$12, 100000"
in this county on nine millions Of dollars, and
now if you talk of taxing at even one million
the whole Company, from its President down to
it's lowest menial is in arms and ready to swear
it is not worth even half that sum. 1t pays
them to have ring officials that can save the
$1O0,0 year taxes, and they have managed to
do it so far, and it is for you to say If the ring
is to be continued in power.
1T is the history of every raiload enterprise
that along its hne and in its neighborhood, pop
lation is very largely increased and tits a reason
able calculation thatswhen the road is completed
the population of your county will be quadru-
pied"
This road has been finished xhe,vhole length
of the county for five years; and has it paid
taxes according to the above stipulation on 3d.
900, 900 each year? Had it done so, you would
yet have retained in your pockets two-thirds OF
all the taxes you have paid in these five years.
Howldid' they escape paying taxes on, .his So
900, 900 through all these years? Through the
weakness or corruption of Placer County off,
cials, is the only answer that can be given. The
monster evidently found it cheaper to overreach
mentally or corrupt your ring Officials than to
pay their just taxes. Charity leads us to hope
it was mental weakness and nothing more that
caused all this, but to your property and money
the result was the same.
Do you doubt hut That the railroad COM
pany will labor hard and spend much money
to keep these ring officers or these they name
and control in power-as well doubt the exist
ence of yourselves. These ring leeches will be
all violent -monopolsts this Fall, and the
company will tell them to promise, and even
swear, to do everything the people want, and
when the election is over will shrive aad make
it all right with them out Of taxes saved and
enormous fares and freights collected.
Remember voters Of Placer, that while the
railroad is refusing to pay one dollar out of
twenty Of its just taxes 1T is charging ,you three
prices for every pound ofrfreisht it trcarries for