Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1884-08-29

The mistaken custom Of asssasiag prop.
erty At one third or oue-lsalf OF any pos-
lion less than its real and full vslue ID
one that the Alert has frequently alluded
to and shown to be bad policy without .
single redeemlng feature. Il cannot help
bnt result In gross inequality Of aassa-
ment for one to assess at thIrd another
at half and 80 on I'll the way freu
mere nominal to the full value. Ts show
how this plan works We will cite . few
samples from the assessment returns Of
the several counties. Down in Mianaha.
ha county the average sseessed value Of
horaes Is 42.ss, and in Bsnsoa county it
is $50. L. thsre any resson xhy go hsese
in Bensoa county should b worth Ssur In
Minnehahs ceuntys The carsess nas
ket prjce aoes not make such dl0w-
encs. In Besdle county the svesses -.
sessed vslue Of mules u go, while IN
Pembina county the average il 11lO. Il
there any reason Why mule in Pembins
county b worth nearly i've mules in Bes-
die county, In Mcpherson county the
assessed value OF . hog is 30 cents while in
Mclean the hog u aassassd at >s. The
same ridiculous difference n shown in
the assessment Of cattle and sheep. The
disparity in the assessmsnt Of land IA not
so great but it d bad enough these TO 30
ridiculous upon the face. II b Eus the
board of equalization reduces and aAds 70
ustil they restore the squality % far .
they can by guessing, but not 70 lncrsass
or diminish the aggregate amount, and
then it goes on the record and into Tie
statist,cs - the wealth Of the territory
and We ore not permitted 70 discrsd,t our
own witnesses but must let it % stand
without dispute. The statistics Of 1884
will show the wealth Of Dskots to b
about eighty millions whsn any one whe
takes INTO consideration the manner OF
'sssessins psopsrty knows il ahoQld b q
least two hundred millions. The tssTite-
ry is thereby made to show ar . dlsadvsn-
tage in financial standing before the
"OIlO. A1uG tuAS - AOs VIC WOlSt AeOSUIes
1t makes our taxes appear high. We
wonld not be required to pay cent more
tax with valuation of two hundred mil
lions than with an assessment of eighty
millions. Suppose, for example, that the
territory required an aggregate tax of
81, ,4OO, 600. That would be just three per
cent upon our assessed valuation. The
investor would cry "your taxes are too
high, there is three per cent off the profits
OF an investment in taxes" Now sup
pose the property had been assessed at Its
real value, two hundred millions, the ag-
gregate tax required would still be the
same, g., 400, 900, but the rate would only
be one and two tenths per cent. 1t is q
mistaken idea some people have that by
property low they will have less
taxes to pay. The next legislature ought
to take this matter in hand and nip this
thing in the bud. There is just as much
and good reason for assessing property at
double its value as half, and either or any
rate other than the real value Is decer-
ton an a fraud upon the statistics Of the
1t gives the lie to the otherwise
we'll established claims of the press and
board of trade circulars sent out showing
the wealth and development Of our terri
tory