Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1898-03-14

GAINESVILLE, March 10.-The farmers,
institute roundup last evening was
characterized by a very strong address
bv Gov. Scofield. In opening he de-
clared that the farmers lot is nap
DIV one. The story Of developing CIVIL
ization he said, bears testimony 10
the many homeIy pleasures when are
the exclusive portion o. the tlller OIL
tho soil. eff you who are engaged IN
farming do not appreciate your adVan-
t8ges. we, who are less fortunate, 40.
Continuing he said II sometimes
fear YOU neither understand nor ap-
nreciate your privileges and that tne
farming element Of this state WHICH,
rightly estimated, is the dominant ele-
ment has not exerted the influence
If should have done. The reason Tor
this is. I believe, that you have not
taken an affirmative position in the
field of politics, nor matters gener-
allv pertaining to social development.
The solidarity Of the farming interest,"
has been manifested more frequently
in an unanimity of complaint tnan
otherwise; and that is at It's best Dut
2 negative use of power The Iarn-
inc interest will never play the I'M
portant part which it might IN poll-
tics and in the development OF so-
cie+v generally while it devotes It's pest
energies to mere complaining. Il
look TO these farm institutes and the
ot1or means of education and develop
mont which are being brought to the
farmer in Wisconsin to bring about
better state Of affairs. [ expect THESE
to first of all teach the farmer q nlgn-
or respect for himself and for MS pro
fossion When he learns this ne Will
understand how much influence ne mas
and then how to use it.
"Tbe problem of taxation is serious
ono which we of Wisconsin have to
solve and YOU farmers must lend your
assistance in the solution. 90 not
fo1. one moment think that the u
enuqlities 50 apparent in our system
of taxation can be suddenly rlghteo'
even by the combination OF all classes
of industries, or the people engaged III
them But there can be much done
and an honest, intelligent effort VIII
eventually bring order out OF the I'M
favorable conditions which exist. a
tax commission was created In tnls
state little over 2, year ago anu
t7,o members of it are hard at WORK
attemnting to bring some order OUT
of orr system of assessment OF TAXES
Their task will be a futile one, now
avor If there be not cultivated a nigh
a., sense of the duties of Citizenship
and Of the obligations resting upon
every individual within this state "
nav his lust share of the expenses OF
government. wish there might be
c,7l+ivatpd such a moral sentiment as
will mi to shame the man who Will
NOT nerform his political duties ana
who. for one cause or announcer snil'0
his burden Of the expenTe OF the gov
eynnent upon others. IF you are 10
do ANYTHING toward solving this tax
problem you must first OF all get al
Intelligent understanding Of the sltua-
tion as it is, and then, without pre-
iudice. lend your aid in solving It. we
are M worse-rather better off, in fact
lin this state than the people OF other
states: but that is no particular COM
fort SO long as the inequalities OF the
system are so glazing. It is O. notorl-
ous fact that in Wisconsin by far the
greater part of personal properly es-
canes taxation entirely. M. KEENAN,
of Milwaukee. a. member Of the state
tax commission, who has devoted long
study to the question, informs me that
if is probable that at least go per cent.
in value of the personal property
owned in the state of Wiso0~
canes assessment. Thomas Brown,
tax commissioner of the city of Mil
waukee. who is an authority on the
subject, gave me as his opinion that
rs per cent. of the personal property
in the city of Milwaukee escapes taxa
ton and the balance of the state he
thinks will not differ greatly. In
corroboration of this are the figures
given of property values in Wiscon-
sin by the United States census of
1890. and a comparison of these with
the total valuation Of property in the
state. The United States census of
1890 places the total property valuation
in Wisconsin at 81, 833, sos, 533 CO. De-
Quoting from this valuation the value
of the real estat which is taxable and
the real estate which is exempt, there
is still left a balance of personal prop
erty to the amount of about $735,00O,-
600.
cit is pretty fair to assume that
while the United States census may not
be altogether correct it is more apt to
err in putting the figures below than
above the actual valuation. Our own
state reports show that the total val
uation, by assessors of all state prop
erty in Wisconsin for the year 1897,
was 1929, 735, sos. This. under
stand, includes all real estate not ex-
empt from taxation, and all personal
property. For the same year the to-