River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1895-04-18
RIVER FALLS, WISCONSIN, THURSDAY APRIL is. 1895.
Assessment and Tnxatinu.

Assessment and Taxation.
Among all of the many laws upon
I the statute books of the state of
! Wisconsin none are more universally
/ diSregarded by officers sworn TO obey
them than are the assessment laws.
and none are more unjustly discrimin-
ating than are those providing for
1 taxation.
These laws affect directly every resi-
/ dent of the state who has property
not exempt from taxation and yet
public sentiment endorses an almost
| If not quite universal violation of tine
assessment laws, while the money
power thwarts every attempt made by
the legislature TO adjust the unjust
discrimination of the taxation laws.
The tendency of the people TO approve
/ the action of the assessor in ignoring
| that provision in the assessment law
! for the assessment of property at its
actual cash value is based upon the
popular error that a lower assessment
| brings "A lighter tax. Nothing is more
absurd than this when the assessment
| is properly cqualiZed, and yet the
great mass of taxpayers do not seem
| TO grasp such an idea, if We may be
permitted to judge from the steadfast
regularity with which assessors fail TO
assess property at its actual cash
value as the statutes require. 1t
should be borne in mind that an
assessment at the actual cash value
would involve a decreased ratio but
could in no way increase the amount
! of tax TO be paid as that sum is fixed
and can neither be increased by a
| high assessment nor decreased by a
low one. So general is the illegality
with which property is assessed that
| not one tax payer in every one hundred
could be made to pay his taxes with
out reasSessment that would stand
the test of the law if he should carry il
into the courts, as the Supreme Court
of Wisconsin has repeatedly passed
upon this question.
The gross injustice seen in taxation
laws is that they require the tax
payer whose property is mortgaged to
pay taxes upon property which as a
matter of fact he does not own, and
if the mortgage is taxed as by law
required there is a double taxation to
that extent. The fact that this is I'M
just is self-evident, and the PROPOSE
ton to remedy this by eXempting the
mortgage from taxation if carried out
would be clearly robbery of the one
who gave the mortgage of taxes TO the
amount justly chargeable against the
mortgage. There is a great deal of
food for thought in the brief sugges-
tion which we have made and those of
our readers who are tax payers will do
well to reflect upon them.
In the reorganization of the Board
of Normal School Regents it looks a
little as though Superior has the
bulge on La Crosse, Eau Claire,
Chippewa Falls, and other cities covet-
ing the seventh Normal School,
Frank Ostrander, the new mem Der
of the Board from this District is a
member of the executive committee,
and whether or not Superior is a
proper place in which to locate the
school it must be admitted by the
unprejudiced that she has a strong
claim upon it, having promptly put
up the 500, 900 cash bonus required at
time when nerve was necessary TO
do ii on account of the serious finan-
cial depression. The proper time for
the Board of Regents to decide that
Superior was not the place for the
school would have been before the city
put up the bonus. BY the way. we
will here venture the assertion that
the failure of Senator WOodworth TO
secure the appointment of a River
Falls candidate 60 position upon the
Board of Regents was not d lie 50 much
to the influence of Senator Mills as to
the fact that Mr.. Ostrander, the APP
pointee, is brother-in-law of AttOr-
ney-General Mylrea who presumably
occupies seat somewhere in the
vicinity of the throne.
The flagrantly disgraceful and
criminal attribute of the Cleveland
administration toward the Republic
of Hawaii is wholly ineXcuSable, an
outrage upon the sentiment of liberty,
and not endorsed 10y the people of the
United States. The destardly manner
in which that struggling young
Republic has been treated by Cleve-
land and Gresham was prompted
solely by desire upon their part to
bring reproach upon the administra-
tion of President Harrison and was
undoubtedly inspired by Gresham
whose envy OF Mr.. Harrison knows no
bounds. No one. knows better than
does Mr.. Harrison the light calibre of
Gresham and during his Presidential
term he was compelled to take
occasion to size him up in giving
reasons why he ought not to give him
an important appointment. Ores
hams subsequent career has amply
justified the estimate placed upon
him by President Harrison and it
will be glad day for this nation when
both Cleveland and Gresham shall be
retired TO the obscuritY of private
life. If there are two men in this
country who have outlived their use
fulnesS they certainly are the ones.
An exchange notes the fact that
the enormous wheat crop raised on
the Pacific coast last year has almost
entirely gone TO China, opening up
new and important market. The
Chinese are abandoning rice for
wheaton bread, and are said to be
greatly pleased with the change, so
that the new market may prove
most important one to the American
farmer. Even an exchange of flour
for the tea consumed on this side Of
the Pacific would result in the saving
of millions of dollars to the people of
the United States.
PRESCOTT.
Peter Harris and wife were in st. Paul las
week.