Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1881-02-19
RAILROAD LAW.
MOI Mansfield. but Dogberry.

EUREKA, Feb. IS, 1881.
Nh. EDITOR The mountains have beer
in labor and two small mice have beer
brought forth. 1t took but one little
week to bring forth Reflector why no
Railroad Reflector y, the legal headlight
and Truthful James the Investigator
the fellow who, like Ajax, cries for NOR,
light.
If an inquisitive person should examin,
the pockets Of f" Reflector" no doubt ht
would find in them a fee from the ''Coun.
Gil Of Ten" or should catch "Investi
gator and search him there would be
found a pass from the Railroad Company
in his boots.
1t was hardly necessary for George W.
Baker to leave his assistant, Judge Rives,
vending his way to Carson, and to come
back to Eureka in order to publish the two
lucubrations which appeared in yesterdays
SENTINEL. There shall be no reply on
the part of the undersigned to SO much OF
these communications as deals in in
situations, more or less direct, and in
charges that are manifestly false. 1t is a
pity that Investigator" wants /" Facts and
figures" Pray, what PARTICULAR figure
does he crave? This heather shall be left
in his blindness, but a word or two shall
be given to the law Of the bright luminary,
not Mansfield this time, but Dogberry, the
Reflector"
The proposition made in White Pine
county by Baker and Rives, the railroads
lawyers, is simply this No other property,
except the railroad to be built, shall ever
be taxed in that county to pay the interest
and principal which may become due on
the 5000, 600 in bonds issued for the benefit
Of the railroad company. That is to say
only a part of the taxable property Of a
county shall be assessed to pay a particu-
lar kind of county Indebtedness. Does
any person with a glimmer Of reason be-
lieve such a proposition sound? Does it
require the vision of even ar ordinary law
yer to see the illegality Of such a measure?
Can the property OF the Richmond Company
be alone taxed to build a Courthouse ?
Can an amendment be made to the revenue
law of the State which would compel the
Eureka & Palisade Railroad Company
alone to pay its taxes into a fund out Of
which the salaries Of the county officials
should be paid? Answers to these ques-
tions are apparent. The Courts in these
IuoOo NOuiu HOiQ tudb I'LL Vic piOpCily III
the county must be assessed to pay these
different kinds of county Indebtedness.
And, in regard to the proposed amend
ments, it would also be held that the part
thereof which provides that the railroad
property alone shall be taxed to pay these
bonds is unconstitutional and invalid. In
short, the whole of the taxable property of
White Pine county would finally nave to
pay for the bonds issued. That is Just
what Reflector and his advocates de-
sire, and such will be the result. if these
amendments become a law. The whole
plan is a snare and a d~elusion, and made
for no other purpose than to catch suckers.
No person has charged that the rate Of tax
alton would be different under these amend
ments, but the vice is, that only a
part, and not all of the property of the
county is taxed for a particular purpose.
Besides, who pays the State tax of 81 10?
Echo answers, who? These would appear
to be insurmountable objections to the pro-
posed amendments. However, the legal
g Reflector" disposes OF them in the fol-
lowing unique manner. Read the lumi-
nous exposition, and here it is, as copied
from the SENTINEL Of to-day
"These amendments simply provide
that all county taxes derived from the tax
alton Of said road shall go towards the
liquidation Of the bonds and interest, and
that no other county revenues shall be ap-
propriated to that end. In other words,
the amendments secure the county from
the payment Of one dollar, unless the same
shall be realized from the railroad COM
pany's property by way Of county taxes,
thus leaving that county the States portion
of revenue to be paid over to it as q clear
rain Tho ,nox44 - ha nosl a.--.lIr H.
said county towards the liquidation of said
bonds and interest is, by said amendments,
left to be determined by the amount which
shall be levied and collected from said
county by the ordinary methods Of assess
monts and collection of other taxes; and,
so far from providing any hope of a differ
ent mode Of or exemption from taxation,
the amendments only seem to offer an In
ducement to the authorities Of White Pine
county to place a valuation as high as pos
sible on the railroad company's property,
thereby enabling that county to realize the
largest amount possible from the company's
property to apply towards the extinction of
the bonds, and the sooner to secure to the
use Of the county the whole amount to
which shall be derived from taxing the
road"
Shade of the immortal Dogberry, hover
over and protect us! If the foregoing does
not close all discussion on this subject,
then pure logic is a sham. 1t sheds ineffa-
BILE light on q dark subject, and makes
everything as clear as-mud. Listen, for
instance, to this, land so far from provid-
ing any hope Of a different mode of or
exemption from taxation" etc.
A Law providing a hope Of a mode" is
good. This is what Mr.. Squeers would
call richness"
There is one thing pretty certain, n it
is this: Whoever enters one OF "Refiect-
or's" legal sentences, is like Dante entering
hell-leaves all ''hope' behind.
This legal opinion of Reflector ends
with the following gibberish. and the
sooner to secure to the use Of the county
the whole amount to which will be derived
from taxing the road"
This is altogether too much. Thepardon
of Investigator" is asked for mentioning
some time since the name Of Mansfield in
connection with the law advisers of the
new railroad-even a pardon is now begged
from Dogberry by A~NTI-SuBsIDY.