The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1888-01-04

the largest and best known of the
combinations or trusts. II has re-
morselessly crushed out Its rivals
and in a brief period been able tc
divide among its incorporatore
$500. .oOO. 900. Its great success has
been infectious. A large number o.
industries-and the list is daily in
creasing have adopted It's system
of monopoly One of these indus
tries, which comes near to your OBJ
serration and interest, is that Of
lumber The lumber interest is
organized and in a measure con
solidated from the pine forests to
the local dealers in cities and vii.
lagos. Every interest in this com
is guaranteed it's profit.
The consumer pays a price which
covers their several charges The
effect has been that lumber has
advanced in. price within a brief
time from 81 to 81 per 1000 feet.
Salt, starch and barbed wire are
at this very time forming similar
combinations. 1t is becoming the
rule for the various pursuits to form
these combinations SO as
TO EXCLUDE COMPETITION
in their respective lines of business.
"The railroads are charging SO as
to collect dividends from largely
watered stock. Grain elevators
weigh in their millions of bushels
of grain by their own agent, and
it is not surprising that frequently
a large surplus remains at the end
of the year. Stock yards charge on
their supplies furnished to stock
men 100 and even greater per cent
over wholesale prices, when 10 per
cent is ample. On certain classes
of hogs they include a number, as
they say among themselves, tto
even up the trade. They call their
agent by whom this is done the
evener.' The owner of the hogs,
less polite, calls him something else. .
After enlarging on the fact that
borrowers in the rural districts pay
a higher rate of interest than do
corporations and property owners
in cities, Senator Whiting contin-
ued: 1t is conceded that the lands
of the State of Illinois constitute
more than one-half the property OF
the State. Corporations, money,
credits, and personal property con
stitute the other and perhaps larger
asset. In the working OF the rev
'enue law, lands pay in taxes 79 per
cent, while the other half enumera-
ted pays but 81 per cent. In 1873
the valuation of railroads in Illi-
MOS was s133, 100000. During the
next ten years they had nearly
doubled in value, but they declined
on the assessment roll to SAL 900, 900.
Telegraph and express companies,
next to railroads, are the great cor
porations of the State. The law
provided for the assessment of these,
but the corporations were
ENABLED TO BEAT THE STATE
in the first assessment on some tech
nicality, and escaped. They have
always mustered friends enough in
the General Assembly since TO pre-
vent the amendment of the law SO
as to bring them under assessment.
Cook county, which means Chicago,
was assessed in 1873 on $3.50, 600, 900
valuation. This was just as she had
arisen from the ashes; with popu-
iation of 100000. Since she has
doubled her population and more
than doubled her wealth; her as
sessment has declined to less than
one-half the amount named, where
it stands to-day
"Incumbered real estate, to the
extent of the mortgage, pays double
taxes. The overloaded debtor. pay
ing high rates of1nterest, is assessed
as if he owned the farm clear OF
debt. The mortgage, in law, is also
assessed on his mortgage as personal
property. If the law be thus made
to operate it is double taxation tc
the extent of the mortgage, and
that much more than the public has
a right to claim. Constant efforts
have been made for many years tc
correct this wrong. The injustice
has been recognized and removed in
Massachusetts. There the mortga,
ger and mortgage are treated al
joint owners. But one tax is levied
on the land and ratably divided be
tween them. AT the last session o
the General Assembly this principl.
was made to apply to the loan com
panies in cities, leaving the rura
districts under the unjust and ruin
GUS system of double taxation. Al