The Wichita daily eagle., 1896-12-12

Fred w Bentley went out to Saratoga
last night with immense quantities OF
red blood In his eyes.
Saratoga is in Pratt county, or rather
was there some years ago, but now there
Is nothing there but big empty school
house. the railroad depot, some tan nu-
tritious grass and the home Of one lone
widow woman. Saratoga used 10 be a
city of some pretensiors. 1t had a may
or, council. city clerk and other i'm
portant personages, such as an Oldest
inhabitant, a town story teller, killer
and above and beyond ala city mar
shall II had saloons and gambling hous-
es, general stores and rackets. churches
and hotels, hack lines and bus lines and,
in fact, everything that was deemed nee
essary to win for it the county seat. lis
glory has long since departed. Its popu-
iation has been scattered to the four
winds Of heaven and especially that part
Of heaven that hangs deep and blue and
genial over Oklahoma Its churches, its
hotels, its town wells, its gambling hous
es, and its everything have vanished.
Nothing remains to illustrate its depart
ed greatness, but a magnificent and ev-
er accumulating public indebtedness. Its
Inhabitants were public spirited-that
was the exact expression at the time
and they reached out and voted bonds
for everything in sight, and some things
that were out Of sight. Pay day has
come, the interest is due; and alas, moth
Ing is ls;t to pay it but the half mile Of
Wichita and Western track and the de-
pot. OF course the lone widow is there
but her home was sold for taxes long
asxy.1a I,,x, iD md Ia
poor lady is now living in it, rent free.
Taxes. taxes, that magic word that
conjures up the fiend in man; that word
that boreS down TO the uttermost depths
Of an indignant soul and taps undiscov-
cred fountains Of profanity; that word
that stands alone with death an unsur-
mountahle barrier to the wild and vain
thoughts that there is no such word
as certain" is what took Mr.. Bentley TO
Saratoga last night. He had been ad-
vised that the day of tax-paying was
near at hand and that he great nav of
the county was open wide TO swallow
UP the depot and half of mile of strong
steel to satisfy its hunger. 1t was TO
stop this that Mr.. Bentley went to Sara
toga and this morning bright and early
he will present an injunction against the
county treasurer OF said Pratt county
restraining him from collecting the taxes
against the Wichita and Western rail-
road. His plea is that the taxes against
the road is robbery-absolute, bold, dar-
ing, hold-you-up-in-the- -the-middle-of-the-
road-robbery.
Great Scott and Caesars ghost" said
Mr.. Bentley TO reporter for the Ea-
gle last night. Just think of it. In
agine $40 mills taxes for one year on S100.
II is inco1nprehensible. Just think Of it,
"a per cent. Just imagine our forefath-
ers kicking UP a row IN Boston harbor
over a little taxes that, in Pratt county,
would be considered as nothing. And
here we are asked to surrender tamely to
something ten thousand times more out
rageous and enormous than a tax on tea.
II seems from the story told by Mr.
Bentley that the assessed valuation of
the property. of the company in Saratoga
Is only $4,000, and the annual taxes
amounts TO 81 ,00e.
why don't they hop onto the real Sc
tate in the township"
'.It is worth nothing and the county
owns most of it anyway for defaulted
taxes. The trouble with us is that ours
is personal property and whenever we
default the sheriff is liable TO hop onto
the first engine and train that go along
there, chain them up and sell them for
the taxes. All we can dc is to rely on
the sense of justice of the judicial pow
ers to protect US from robbery. We are
not kicking against reasonable taxation;
We are simply protecting ourselves
against practical confiScation.''