The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1899-03-03
DOR ones, he contends that It would

result In a great saving to the people.
The bill provides for the election in
every township and ward in the state
of a board OF Cancellation to be COM
posed of three members to whom all
personal disputes and wranges be-
tween citizens must be referred.
Can Dispose of the Disputes.
This board is to have power to dis
pose of these disputes. and in no case
Is the person considering himself ag-
grieved to have recourse to the courts
unless the board so decides For in
stance, IL a couple of neighbors get into
q quarrel over the depredations of
chickens in the garden of one of them.
and the other Is inclined to sue for
damages and all that, the case must
be referred to the board of Cancellation
of the township or ward, and unless il
consents no suit can be brought. The
idea Is to have these petty quarrels
settled out of court by neighbors who
are acquainted with all the parties and
who are thus qualified to bring about
an amicable adjustment of the diff
Guilty. 1t is authoritatively asserted
that the effect of this law in Minnesota
has been to reduce the expense of liti-
cation to the taxpayers alone, to say
nothing Of the saving to individual suit
ors, OF 40 per cent year. A similar
bill has passed one house of the legs-
lature of both North and South Da-
kota and bids fair to become a law in
each of those states. 1t does not ap-
ply to criminal proceedings, which are
left to be disposed Of by prosecuting
attorneys nor to differences In which
corporations are involved Mr.. Pack
calls II "the poor mans BILL" and he
proposes to push 1t vigorously, although
admitting that its passage would drive
many attorneys from the state.
Farmers Like wayne's Bill.
There are scores Of farmers through
out the state who will yearn for the
passage of Representative Wayne's bill
which exempts from taxation all farm
mortgages which bear interest at the
rate Of 4 per cent. or less. and it is not
unlikely that there will be found capi-
talists who will advocate the measure.
Should the bill become a law 1t would
have the effect Of bringing out of the
savings banks a vast amount of money
that is lying there drawing interest of
from 2h to 3h per cent.
Various bills proposing schemes to
equalize taxation have been introduced,
but Representative Gustin of Alpena
thinks he has evolved the one that more
nearly hits the nail on the head than
any other. His bill does away with
township boards of review and county
equalization, and seeks to solve the
much mooted problem of listing all the
property in the state and assessing it
at it's true cash value. 1t provides for
a county board Of review which shall
have full power to subpoena witnesses,
compel the production of papers, etc,
and charge any assessment so that 1t
will comply with the constitutional
provision requiring assessments to be
made at full cash value. The board
in each county is to consist Of one
member to be appointed by the gov
ernor and four to be appointed by the
board of supervisors. not two of the
members to be residents of the. same
assessing district.
Difficulty with the Law.
1.-THE difficulty with the present law"
says the introducer Of the bill, lis that
it's provisions contemplate that the
constitutional requirement that prop
erty be assessed at it's true cash value
shall not be complied with. If this were
not so there would be no necessity for
county equalization. AS a matter OF
fact the present law makes it an OBJ
ject for every assessing officer to un-
dervalue the property in his district,
In order to escape state and county
taxation to as great an extent as pos
sible, and the same object is presented
to the board of supervisors to equalize
the property of the county so that as
much state taxation as possible may be
avoided"
A most novel action so far as the
Michigan legislature is concerned was
taken by the senate a few days ago,
not, however, without a struggle. AS
is we'll known a number of bills to either
repeal or reduce the beet sugar bounty
have been introduced. These bills are
in the hands of the committees, none
having been considered even in COM
mittee meetings. In view of this fact
the reader will readily appreciate the
novelty of a resolution which declared
It to be the sense of the legislature that
the bounty be not changed at this ses-
sion. Such a resolution was offered by
Senator Brown OF Kalamazoo, who gave
as his reason for offering 1t, the fact
that the agitation of the reduction or
repeal Of the bounty had made capital
tlTnlu ana was lInpeulIlS the ploSicSS
Of the beet sugar industry in Michigan
His object was to quiet these fears as
far as possible in order that projected
factories might not be abandoned
vigorously Opposed.
The resolution was vigorously OPP
posed on the ground that it forestalled
action on the bills, as every senator vot-
ing for them would be at least morally
bound to vote against any bill which
proposes any change in the bounty.
number Of the senators were absent,
and the resolution was adopted by
vote of IL to T. 1t Is freely predicted
that the adoption of this resolution by
the senate sounds the death knell Of all
pending bills which make any change
in the present bounty. Even should
the house pass such Q bill, which does
not appear to be likely, the senate. it
Is believed. will kill 1t.
Representative Nevins' bill providing
that every person who desires to drink
intoxicating liquors as beverage shall
be required to take out a license, has
found a counterpart in bill introduced
by Representative Colby Of Detroit. The
latter provides that every person who