The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1891-08-27
After That Railway People Making No
Money with Their Lines Are Heard.
The Baltimore & Ohio, in This State, Has Lit
tie to Encourage 1t and Chicago Termi-
mails Rob 1t Of Earnings.
PROTESTS FROM COUNTIES.

Cfeases IN Aneir lax Valuations.
The Tax Commissioner had the largest
audience of the season yesterday morning.
S~tanding-room was at q premium, and the
people were three and four deep around the
long table. The occasion for this increase
In the attendance was the calling of the
counties 10 show cause why their assess
ments should not be increased for the pur-
pose OF equalization. County officials were
thicker than delegates at n political con-
vention, and the Governor. in calling the
board to order, scanned the crowd over his
glasses, and remarked that he thought
each county should be limited to one wit
ness, and that witness to five minutes in
which to present his case. This was tacitly
accepted as q rule. and worked beautifully
for the first three counties. but when the
board struck Clark county away went the
limit with q celebrity that would do credit
to a first-class poker game.
Auditor Miller. of Adams county, was the
first man to take the stand. and he entered
a protest against o 10-per-cent. increase on
improved farm lands in his county, which
he thought were appraised at their full
cash value and higher than adjoining coun-
ties. The relative selling value of the land
was not as great as five years ago. Allen
and Wells counties had better land and
were not assessed higher, ana jays was
fully as good as that of Adams yet it was
appraised at only 49, 20 an acre, as against
$1,000 for Adams. He thought it would be
an injustice to the farmers of his county to
increase the assessment.
THE INCREASE IN ALLEN.
Stephen Heath, assessor of Allen county
said he was surprised to receive notice of
the contemplated increase in his county, for
he thought the appraisement sufficiently
high. If other counties were assessed
higher than was fair they should be re-
duced: but that was no reason why Allen
should be raised, as it was high enough
now. At his request the valuations on i'm
provements had been increased from Is to
bO per cent, so that an average of 1851 an
acre had been added to the assessment.
hgures as Alien county has q good deal of
waste land. He said be could conscien-
tiously ask for q Is per cent. reduction on
improvements. 1t looked as if Wells and
the improvements were taken into account
Allen was appraised considerably above
them. Commissioner Walker suggested
that the influence of a good
sized cltV ike fOrt wayne
tended to add to the value of the improve
ments and cause them to be appraised
higher. Mr.. Heath Thought that was very
likely to be the case. for some of the farm
land near Fort Wayne was assessed at 800
an acre. There was. however, considerable
swamp land appraised at Sl1.sO an acre,
and some land IN Maumee township at
S14.6l, which is over 100 per cent. higher
than it was ever valued before for taxation.
He was confident land in Allen county had
I@A- -
good deal of it was mortgaged and if taxed
excessively the owners would be doubly
taxed and suffer accordingly. The percent
age of proposed increase was 5 and the
present valuation S2307.
Auditor j. A. Mcknight, of Benton coun-
ty. said the lands there were equitably as
sessed at their real cash value. Benton. he
urged, was o new county, and its iXed
values were fully as high, relatively. as
those of the counties adjoining. which
were older aud had railroads long be-
fore 1t.
CLARK CASE.
Attorney NJ. Z. Stannard appeared for
Clark county, and said that in view of the
contemplated GO per cent. raise. and o hori-
zontal ono at that. he wanted at least ten
or fifteen minutes to present reasons why
such an increase should not be made. He
appeared merely as q spokesman for Q CON-
aAa aus hI thAo
heavy increase should not be made on
farm lands. He thought the Floyd county
assessment of S22 an acre. as against the
assessment of Clark of Sl2.s0. was the real
reason for the increase. de protested that
the HORIZONTAL raise of GO per cent. on twelve
townships in his county, in order to bring
the thirteenth up to the standard, was
radically unfair to the latter. Clark county
point of acres, and while it might be true
that the land around New Albany was no
better than land round Jacksonville, it
must be more valuable. because the former
city was twice as large as any place in
Clark county. The lands of only one
county in the Third congressional district
are valued higher than those of
Clark, namely. those OF Floyd.
COMMISSIONS Gwin pulled O statement on
the attorney showing q number of real.
estate transfers taken from the records of
Clark county which showed that inside
Jefferson township sales were recently
made aggregating over $4,000 more than
the land was appraised for, and outside
Mr.. Stannard explained a few of the cases.
but could not account for the others. JEFF
f~ersonville, he declared, was the poorest
town of its size in tho State. 1t had been
visited by two floods n an earthquake,
had lost many of its manufacturing enter
prises, and was made up very largely of
poor people.
Decatur county was represented by Judge
w. A. Moore. who objected. on behalf OF
his fellow-residents. to a 10-per-cent. in
crease. That county. he said. was assessed
at S23.sl. against S34.36 for Rush. and S34.25
for Shelby. The last two appraisements he
regarded as high. aud Decatur's as fair.
His county has 1880 acres of the better
class OF land. and 5000 acres of the poorer
class, so that two-tifths of the county was
really poor land The valuation. there
fore, which the local board put upon it was
equitable and should not be raised. Deputy
Auditor j. G.. Pulse corroborated Judge
Moore's statements relative 70 poor land.
Franklin county was represented by Z. Nj.
Alexander. who entered what he termed g
brief anu which was really n vigorous and
long ~drawn-out protest againsta 5-per-cent.
increase. He Thought franklin was over
taxed. and that while il had right smart"
OF good land IL also had considerable poor
land. The Whitewater valley is the only
part of the country where a railroad can be
built. IL is SO hilly and rocky that any
one going nine miles in one section must
cross Blue creek thlrty-seven times. Much
of the land would not produce fifteen bush
els OF corn to the acre and even when fer
tilted, as it had 10 be to grow wheat. 1t
only averaged ten bushels To the acre. The
land was largely covered by scrubby oak
known rs BLACK jack" and much of II
was not worth 81 an acre. Dir. Alexander
came pretty close to wearing ont the pa
thence of tho commissioners and when he
finally concluded the noon hour had ar
rived. and the beard. after u few moments
executive session, adjourned.
AN ICULTUR COUNT
Thomas J. Golfer opened the afternoon