Omaha daily bee., 1883-02-16
A NEW REVENUE LAW.

Inc Qemhnu IOT " OhhpRo ~ Tvs
revenue law Is general and emphatic
and every section of the state Is In
terested In the passage Of a measure
which will remedy the deficiencies oil
the present law and ~equalIze taxation
In Nebraska by distributing Its bur-
deps where they belong.
The present law Is lame In several
particulars and especially In the pro-
visions which relate to the taxa
ton of the property OF cor
p~orstions. Under Its operation
three classes Of railroad property
amounting In value to an aggregate OF
millions of dollars have escaped assess
ment every year, and the revenue
which their taxation should have
brought into the treasury has been
collected from the people Of the state.
The books Of the state auditor show
that the railroads Of Nebraska have
never paid q dollar Of taxes on their
side tracks and switches. In Douglas
county alone there are over 300 miles,
which II valued as the ought to be, at
s., 900 o mile, and assessed at the
usual discount, would give us
q half o million dollars additional Of
taxable property. A levy Of two per
cent for county purposes would add
SIC, 1000 q year to the revenues Of
Douglas county, and an equal amount
to the funds In the city treasury,
while the state would also re.
ceive its share of the taxes.
This shameful evasion of taxes can
never be remedied as long as the reve-
nue. law stands In Its present JON
dition.
A second and very important eva.
sion Of taxation by the railroads Is
the failure of the managers to list
all the raw materials In their
shops and yards for purposes of taxa
ton. Not q dollar has been paid by
any of the railroads In this state upon
the immense amounts of construction
material used In the operation of their
roads. The millions of feet of timber
and lumber, the thousands of tons of
railroad and scrap Iron, Of copper and
lead, vast stores of chemicals and oils
and supplies representing several mil
lions Of dollars, entirely escape taxa
ton. The railroad storehouses are
exempt, while the merchant who has
o bar of lead or a barrel Of oil Is com.
PEELED to return 1t for assessment.
Three years ago Sidney Dillon In
his annual statement to the directors
of the Union Pacific road returned
$3.50, 600 worth of raw material on
hand. Since that thine the quantity
has been very materially increased,
and there Is no doubt that the B. &
M. has half q million Of dollars of
stores and supplies at their various
shops and yards.
But beyond all this and above all
this, the franchises Of these corpora.
lions which the constitution expressly
requires shall te listed for taxation
have escaped without q dollar of tax.
The franchises are the extraordinary
and exceptional advantages for
conducting their business, given
to the corporations by the
people. They possess q market value
just as much as the rosdbed and rails.
And the franchises Of the railroads In
Nebraska are worth many millions Of
dollars.
The duty of the Legislature Is tc
pass q revenue law which will take all
these omissions into consideration anG
those members who pledged them
selves TO remedy the shameless v
sions of taxes Ia this state will gross
ly betray their trust If they permit
the present session to close withou,
taking every precaution necessary tc
make the railroads like private citi
Gems bear their full share Of the bur
dens Of maintaining the government