The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1873-12-11
Auditors Report.

forthcoming Report, which, as we iniimated sev
or,, -vveeks since. contains no whitewasl, bu
scores former and present Officials without mcr
cv for rascaIity and violations of the law. HI
freouently expresses ideas or uses language that
are amusing; and it is the first official report We
have ever seen, that was intersperscd with prov
ocations to laughter. While reading it, it seem
ed TO rs that Wilder, when getting it up, ocea
sionally forgot he was writing State Report
INIT imarined that lie was editing newspaper
The Report makes pamphlet of 40 pages ard Is
Allied with valuable information. We refer tC
the points he makes, in b=ief:
He qiyes a table of the bonded indebtedness OF
all the Counties, and argues against the voting
of bonds to aid corporations private enterpris
es. quoting largely from authorities aud stats
tics of other States. The entire debt of Kansas
including State, County, Municipal, and School
District Bonds, is s13, ,529, $50. The State debt
proper, is s704,55O
He urges the repeal of the bond registra-
tive law, as tending to facilitate the voting OF
bonds He thinks, also, that the 81 fee to the
Auditor fer registering bonds, is perniciOus and
wrong He opposes paying fees to any officer,
but favors q specific and liberal salary. He says
fees make officers extortOners and bribe-takers.
Especially under Thoman, was the system a
fraud. The Budlnng bond swindle was perpetra-
ted by means of this law.
He also exposes the law got through, last
Winter, by Hutchison, of Reno authorizing un-
organized Counties to issue bonds, which is not
only illegal, but is a downright swindle.
In his remarks upon assessment he refers to
an evil that is being more and more felt year by
year-the shirking of taxes. He desires some
means by which the law requiring real estate to
he assessed at its true money value may be en-
forced, and by which personal property may be
brought TO light, and made to pay its just pro-
portion of taxes. He shows that the taxes in
Kansas, which frighten people from coming here,
ARE made necessary because of low assessments,
and the smuggling anu hiding away of capital
that ought to be taxed. If all property were
justly and fairly listed the tax rate would be
very much lower.
He argues at length against the fraud known
as the Railroad Assessment law. And even then,
while shirkiug enormous amount of taxation,
which they should justly bear, he shows that,
with two or three exceptions, the railroad Off
GERS have neglected. or refused to comply with
the requirements of the law, in the matter of fur
nishing certain information to the State Board
of Railroad Assessors. He reports the following
Railroad Companies now in default for the nom
payment of interest on their bonded debt: The
Kansas Pacific, the AtehisOn and Nebraska, the
Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston, the St.
Joseph and Denver, and the Central Branch. On
the subject of taxation of railroads, he says
Railroads are great benefit MS. The builders made
them however not from phanhrnpic motives, because
they loved the people Of Kansas hut solely make money
1t business transaction We arr TO treat it in that
huun lnrf m
any sentimentaity whatever Any eXoTbant or unjust
taxation of railroads viii inevitably uPGn in
excessive and frghts Honest and intelligent
have demanded the repeal u the raruad assessment law
ever since its enactment All that tey ask that railway
cars and wagons rails and hardware station houses
nd dwelling houses be governed by orc and the same law
in assessment the railroad have made
foolish investment, have many other in other
lines Of business If they cannot pay their taxes they
worse off than many Of US who have been in the
unfortunate condition, and who have paid fifty
per penalty the dealers in tax titles But il this
law Is allowed TO stand then need another Board nj
Railroad Assessors There street railroads in Leaven
worth and t % nnd i S r Po sszsn that tsfy 6SD
far fiction in our laws that building and the land
railway purposes personal property. the
not paid escapes the fy per cent inter
est Comment would seem to be unnecessary.
And again, on the same subject:
Some idea of the way State Is robbng
the railway companies be formed from this nice little
in arithmetic The railroads assessed at g 676
This amount at a tax rate Of three and Onehaf
cent which is high enough will bring the people reve
a%s D 70 @ Ts interest so We psT them on
these bonds probably high eight per cent Some of
able in gold: but nearly all the bonds per
cent payable semiannuay. Our bonds at eight cent
other words we pay railroads s2s5 3i932
more than We receive from them IN taxes The principal
is also to be paId Is this robbing the railroadsi
He refers to the MANNER in which the law was
violated in the payment of the Price Raid Scrip,
and how Auditor Thoman robbed some of the
claimants I'VE refer to this matter elsewhere
lie thus comments:
The Treasurer did not follow the report made by the
United States Commissioners will be by the above
statement He also paid the scrip issued for the Curtis
peditiun against the Indians although allowed
by Congress Individual spectators may get rich of
aproPrations dsHred in this way bt il is not probable
substantial benefits ont of them 1t is decentralization
fund.
He shows how a regular swindle has been kept
mp by the Auditors aud Treasurers, costing the
State thousands of dollars in aterest on warrants
which were endorsed mot paid for want of funds"
when there were funds, with which the Treasur-
er was specializing. He shows, by figures and
dates, thai day afer day, and month after month,
these warrants were so endorsed, and thus com
ments npon il:
Its fair opreshne that there SUNDAYS in that
year and also days when no warrants issued
BY locking at the Treasurers printed Report will
when he had no funds. Did the who putting
money into the Treasury never encounter the man who
money would be paid on certain dayi
In looking these pieces Of paper and reading the
tlue the back Presented but not paid for
of funds gets the impression that Kansas has been in
state af bankruptcy and that here has
ever paid any My belief however is that the words
funds have not always been truthful Money
has been used speculate with in the banks here and
here which olght have been In the Treasury The
sgsee O paying interest State warrants ought To have
beh k.nppe years ago IL not stopped until this
wear sufficient revenue might have been raised to meet
tine varisns aypTnprationS and the imprisonment of
STATE naneiI oerr wOuld have pnt end to dsObesl
erre he IspFiury and stealing.
And further on, he has the following, relative |
to the conniva ance between the Auditor aud Treas
urer and bankers:
II our public money Is placed with m1nry-changers by
the Treasurer with the connvance of the Auditor those
,iltv officers will become the slaves of the bankers He
4 fhe master who holds the unlawful secret Daring the
Panic IN Senttrnher, word sent TO by Topeka
ne- that il wuud be better not tO be about the Office
Great deal until after Tuesday. That has undoubtedly
eu the e heretofore when the banks needed the public
onsx The Aulitar has called upon the Treasurer
~ n II Is nat easy break in upon system long esab
hed destroy and replace IL by and good But
Il not lit that shud longer endure the shame of the
resent financial fashion
He then wades into State Treasurer Hayes,
bowinr that he has constantly and perSistently
iolated the law forbidding him dePosting tue
tate funds in banks, and he has disobeyed the
rdsfs of the Governor commanding him to com
" with tts law. Hundreds of thousands of dol ,