Iron County register., 1893-01-26
AT JEFFERSON CITY

The Methods Suggested for Increasing
thc Reyenue OF tho State-The Bill In
crcasinE Dramshop License MAy Pass
HM to Enc0uraEe the BrecdlnE 81
Fine stock-The Geological RnreAu.
JEFFERSON CIrY, Mo-, Jan. 19.-- The
Question of the state revenue will here
after receive large share Of attention
The trouble just now is IN . multipii-
cation of measures. some for increasing
and some for diminishing the revenues.
and still others for reducing appropria-
t1ons. The principal methods suggestcd
Tor increasing the revenues are: The an
nuaIassessment of real estate. measure
recommended by the auditor and favor
ably reported from the house commit~
tee on ways and means to-day; taxa
ton of franchises and all evidences OF
indebtedness; an increase Of dramshop
license and reduction of criminal
costs and appropriations for state I'M
stitutions. From the auditors esti-
mates there will be sufficient revenue
collected the next two years, some-
thing over s., roo, 900. but he can
not take into account the various
ways the legislature is likely
to devise for spending money.
At all events, the lawmakers are pro-
ceeding on the theory that the revenue
will be short, and there is talk of cut
ting the appropriations for public
schools down from one-third to one-
fourth of the revenue. The bill in-
creasing state dramshop license from
$50 to 500 year is likely to become 3
law, as has been stated before. and
this of itself will cover any ordinary
deficit the legislature may cause in the
auditors estimate. But the drift of
legislation at present is not SO much
age in the revenue, as to fur.
tier exercise the taxing power.
The idea seems to prevail that corpora
tion franchises should be taxed as
separate property, and the state board
of equalization be the judges as to
what the franchises are worth. The
statement has been made by members
of the legislature that the railroad
franchises alone are worth over $780,
O00. 900, and this is not far from the
value placed upon the railroads them
selves by the board of equalization.
And then it is proposed to tax the gross
earnings of corporations and even in.
dividuals.
THE REVENUE Law.
Mr.. Moore, of Laclede, introduced
bill in the house to-day amending the
revenue law by enacting the following
new section:
The assessor shall, anything in this act or
any other act to the contrary Notwithstanding,
assess improved lands at the Same price per
acre that hs assesses unimproved lands OF
like quality, and II there shall be- any mort
cages, d eds OF trust, vendors or other liens
upon the lands of any person required to list
his property, the assessor shall deduct the
amount of the said mortgages, deeds OF trust,
vendors or other liens from the value OF the
said lands, and the remainder shall be the as
sessed value to be placed upon said lands by
the assessor.
It is also provided that the section
quoted shall not apply to domestic or
foreign corporations.
INSURANCE MEASURES.
There are two insurance bills of some
Importance pending in the house. One
amount of the policy when the building
or stock insured is completely destroyed
and the other provides that the vaca-
ton of an insured house does not inval-
idate the policy unless it contributes to
the origin of the fire. The last-named
bill was introduced by Mr.. Stuart, of
to-day.
BLOW AT GAMBLING.
Mr.. Gernez, of st. Louis, to-day in
troduced bill in the house which he
SAYS is intended to put an end to the
pretended produce and stock exchanges
which are growing SO RAPIDLY in st.
Louis and Kansas City since the pool
rooms and other gambling games have
been closed. It prescribes that it shall
be unlawful to make any pretended sale
Of stocks, petroleum. metal, cotton or
any other produce, whether delivery is
contracted for or not, whenever the
con tract price for the sale shall be gov
erned by any automatic or electric de-
vice, apparatus or machine. The ma
chimes themselves and any papers and
books may be seized, and shall be COM
petent evidence to convict anyone oper-
ating or controlling such machines.
The punishment for first offense is
b, 600, and for second offense, in nddi-
tion to such fine, imprisonment for one
year in county Jail.
FOR STOCK BREEDERS.
Mr.. Davis, of Henry county, is pre-
pairing a bill in the interest of agricul-
tural fairs and to encourage the breed
ing of fine stock. It appropriates s4O,-
200 to be disbursed as premiums by the
state board of agriculture to the ex-
hibitors at the state fairs The money
is to be divided as follows: For the cat
tie and dairy interests, $1,000; for the
interests. $4,000; hogs,
sG, 600; sheep, $4,000; poultry, $4,000;
bees, $4,000: agricultural products,
a, 900. Seaalia claims to have state
'air association. and the bill is doubt
ess in the interests of that organiza-
lion, although no locality is named.
THE GEOLOGICAL BUREAU.
There is report current that bills
will be introduced in both the senate
and house to cut down the appropria-
ton for the geological bureau and COM
meet the same with department of the
school of mines and metallurgy at Roll
IA. There has been some grumbling to
the effect that the bureau of geology
has not made adequate returns for the |
appropriation of $50, 100 made two years |
ago, and no doubt it will be attacked.
Delaware Peaches.
fI,o on1dacf her for I