The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-10-16

praised the company's taxable property alto
gether at 800, 900. But the appraisement put
upon railroad property by the State Board OF
Equalization, composed of Democratic State Of,
fcials, is the one the county auditors must place
upon the duplicate. The State board has only
the returns of the railway companies to guide
| ii, together with such inquiries as are made
of their officers Thus it appears on the county
duplicate that the taxable property OF the l., ID.
81 s. railroad in Wayne township is valued alto
| gether at $40 &c., the improvements including
the $76 900, the shop being rated at the nominal
sum of $l5. 200. The Malleable iron works, not
| whit more valuable than the l.. D. g. 8. shops,
are taxed on $4,000, figure placed upon this
property by the county Board of Equalization.
The Democrats are willing to cut railroad prop
erty down but resist, when they can, any reduc-
ton on the poor mans cottage and land. 1t is
estimated that the railroad property in
the county is assessed at only one
sixth of its true value, compared
with the valuations of other corporations and
private holdings It will be remembered that
the company favored with reduction of over
100000 from the appraisement of the Wayne
township assessor has a suit against Center
township to recover $780, 600 voted to it on con-
dition that the shops of the road would be
placed in that township The company put Its
shops at Haughville in Wayne, and then asked
Center to pay its contribution, Notwithstanding
the condition was not kept.
Assessor Quill made a special effort to ascer-
tain the value of. the taxable property OF the
Chicago. ST. Louis g Pittsburg in Center town
ship. After weeks of searching inquiry he
rated the property at a figure over $lOO, 200.
The State Board of Equalization, made up OF
Democratic officials, reduced this sum to $62,
600. difference of so per cent. in favor OF
railroads always appears between the values OF
the State board and those returned by assessors.
The young secretary Of the Democratic CEN
trail committee has not returned to the County
Commissioners the petitions supposed to have
been filled in with fraudulent names asking for
the opening of the polls at o'clock in the
morning. His receipt is on file, and has been
since Sept. Is. eff these petitions are honest,
said a wellknown lawyer, "I do no not see what
the Democratic committee can make of them.
In any event, the committee has no business
with them. and they ought to be returned to
the Commissioners office"
''They are kept away. no doubt, to prevent the
signatures being proven illegal" another gentle
man remarked.
Opening the polls at o'clock is part of Coy's
plan to perpetrate fraud. He has directed the
executive committeeman of each precinct to get
polls at that hour. The Democratic
inspectors, and there is one at each poll
except where the four Republican township
trustees serve by virtue of their Office, will be
instructed to receive every vote and, to prevent
challenging drop it into the box before protest
can be offered Quickness in handling ballots as
they come from the voters Is to be the rule OF
the inspectors AT 6 o'clock and for half hour
or an hour after a great deal of such work can
be done unless the Republicans are there as
early as Democrats and in equal force This
plan is to be carried out in precincts where the
Democrats have maiortles."
There was no overlooking in what the gentle
man said. He even did not go far enough.
possibly because he had not been informed OF
the colonization of illegal voters in places on
South Illinois street and boarding houses below
the Union Depot. But. aside from rapidly push
ing the votes of their men through at o'clock in
the morning, the inspectors, or those who will
go to that extent at the direction of Coy. can
easily, in the darkness of the hour, destroy
Republican votes, by substituting for them
Democratic tickets. This is sleighto hand
performance that requires great skill. But the
climax of contemplated fraud is to be reached,
it is expected by Coy. through the Democratic
canvassing board. He will insist upon the ad-
vantage the law gives in compelling the &C
ceptance and counting of the returns, no matter
how plain the fraud on their face may be.
"Taggarts pretension that he is a better
friend to people than Colonel Merrill" said a
leading colored man yesterday lis not going to
deceive any of us who have lived here long
enough to find out by experience who our friends
are have failed to learn yet Of anything that
Taggart ever did for the colored mer, except
employ a few of them as walters at
smaller wages than he paid white
men. Colonel Merrill, however has shown him
self to be true friend He was an Abolitionist,
and when the war broke out he was one of the
first to enlist. An incident illustrating his
friendship for our race occurred two three
years after the close of the war. A colored man,
Edward Carter, came here from the South with
his family. They were Presbyteriaus and as
there was no congregation of colored peo-
Pile belonging to that denomination they
attended services at the same church that
Colonel Merrill belonged to. Some of the
members strongly objected to this, and the mat
ter caused quite church row. Colonel Merrill
and Captain Wiles declared that they would zee
that the right of the colored people to attend
that church was not interfered with. and for a
year they each sat at one end of pew, with the
colored church attendants between them. 1t was
at about that time that Fred DOUGLASS came here
to speak, and all of the hotels refused to receive
him as guest. When Colonel Merrill heard OF
this, he asked permission to entertain Douglass
in his homo, and while the distinguished
colored man was here, he occupied the same
room that Henry Ward Beecher had been
assigned to, while guest of Colonel Merrilrs
family, only two months before.
Reference of the News to Al alleged interest
Sim Coy is taking in Joseph B. Keaings candi
dacy for prosecuting attorney is denounced by
that gentleman as statement without the
sembance of truth. Neither my friends rol
myself Mr.. Healing said, ''have anything in
common with Coy and his methods of running a
campaign. I have not seen that man for two
| months until to- day. and that was in the court
room, where he came on behalf of Anderson and
Van SLACK. The men he controls are bitterly
opposed to me, and he certainly bears me nc
good will for the part this office has taken in in
dieting his cronies Coy was not at the Danville
convention. and had he been he would have
worked against me-"
Amusement Matters.
Mr.. Mantell and his excellent company, for in
many respects it is the best seen here this sea.