Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-03-12

board of equalization? He is compell-
ed to pay taxes upon hundreds and
thousands of dollars worth of value
less paper. The attention of the men,
bers was called to this particular point,
but they rejected all amendments and
rushed the whole measure through
the House in its original shape.
Before leaving the question of taxa
ton [ desire to mention some of the
proposed changes in the revenue law.
Our entire revenue system is in a bad
shape and should be Strengthened out.
The House Ways and Means Commit
tee has worked day and night and has
succeeded in drafting a bill which
changes the entire chapter relating to
this subject 1t proposes to have the
assessment and col ection made dur
ing the same year. 1t also provides
that the stocks of banks and other cor
porations shall be assessed at their
face value and not their actual cash
value as the present law provides. 1t
provides further that all bonds, notes,
etc., must be listed with the assessor;
otherwise they will become uncollect-
ible. In order that all bonds and
notes may be reached the committee
has added the following brief proviso
to the section, which relates to the
enumeration of articles to be given in
to the assessor:
at is hereby made the duty Of the county
court to furnish the assessor seal with the
word assessed and the year such assess
ment is made-said seal not to cost exceed
ing 50, 10 be paid for out of the county treas
ury; and it is hereby made the duty of every
assessor to stamp bis seal on all notes and
bonds, as above specified; and any note or
bond not bearing such seal, as herein re-
quired, shall be uncollectibIe: Provided,
that no note or bond shall become uncollect
ible for lack Of the stamp of the assessors
seal, when the same did not exist at the time
provided by law for assessing such property;
and provided further, that any person or
persons having evidence at the time of as
sessment that said notes or bonds are not
solvent, may, any time thereafter, should
any such notes or bonds become solvent,
have the right to collect the same by paying
all back ia es, with penalties thereon, on
having assessors seal stamped upon said
notes or bonds"
The disposition of the legislature to
make every class of property pay an
equal share of taxes has resulted in
the suggestion of great variety of
methods. 1t seems that those most
able to pay taxes are the most persist-
ent in hiding property. From the de-
mands that have come from every Sec
ton of the State, the legislator is fore
ed to believe that the time has certain
ly come when it is necessary to estab-
lish system whereby everything
will be listed at its true value and to
enact this iron-clad legislation against
tax-dodgers. The taxes in Missouri
are not burdensome IN comparison
with other states, and no one can be
justified in Withholding properly from
the assessor and committing perjury
to accomplish such an end. 1t is,
in my opinion, perfectly proper that
the legislature should seek to tax
all classes of property equally and
impose penalties for evasions Of the
laws. This bill has already been en-
crossed and will be put upon its final
passage in few days. 1t is made up
of three separate bills-two of which
will pass the House, but I believe the
other one (the one providing for the
assessment and collection to be made
during the same year, will be defeated.
The House has sent to engrossmenta
bill requiring all foreign corporations
doing business in this State, to file
their articles of incorporation in Mis-
souri,: Also a bill imposing tax of
two per cent. of the gross earnings OF
sleeping car companies.
The House has passed bill restor-
ing the old law on the subject Of
change of venue. The present law is
very lame and allows a criminal the
privilege Tin round about way) to
select the county where he is to be
tried. The House has also passed a
bill requiring all corporations, other
than railroad, to pay their employees
every week and in lawful money.
This also applies to individuals en-
ploying more than ten men.
The Senate has passed bill provid-
ing that the Australian election law
shall apply to every voting precinct
in this State. The House will en-
deavor to amend it by making it APP
ply to primary elections.
There are several other bills that
have been ordered to engrossment in
the House, and are now ready to be
called up and passed. One of them is
bill amending the criminal C de,
leaving it entirely with the jury, in
case of a conviction of murder in the
| first degree, whether the punishment
shall be death or life imprisonment.
Should this become law, it would
perhaps result in the conviction of
many criminals, who are allowed to
go free. On the other hand the en-
actment of such a law would almost
abolish capital punishment. Also
another bill providing for bonds of all
persons holding official positions. I
shall give 1t in full as follows:
SECTION l. That all officials bonds requir-
ed by law to be given in this state may, in