The Springfield herald., 1899-06-23
GOSSIP FROM DENVER
AND THE STATE CAPITOL

mory in Denver and pay off the cost II
installmcntS from moneys whih
would otherwise be paid for rent Of
halls.
A telegram received nj the offices Cf
the Colorado Fuel X Iron COMPANY
states that the mines of the COMPANY
at Coal Creek and Rockvalc. employ
ing GO men, will resume work MOI
day. The men will go back entirely on
their own volltion nj the same sc;l'
as that formerly paid. working by th'
hour. This leaves idle only two of th'
twenty-siX mines owned by the com
pany. 1t is expected that these will
soon be working again. The iron
works and all other plants of the Colo
RADIO Fuel 4 Iron company are all still
in active operation, with no signs of
trouble.
'rhe miners seem either to be againsf
The clght-hour law or fast coming to
that view. They say they never asked
for it and that if an extra session were
called would send men down here 10
Denver TO demand its repeal" said
Dairy Commissioner Munson. who re
turned from Central City Friday. Il
did not find n man favorable to the
working only nine hours before the
law came along. and some of them
were not working rs long rs that. Tile
miners We're hit hard by the law and
the act intended to help them will i'll
the long run hurt them. How it is
with the smelter men | don't know so
well. but the future may prove the law
will not be of any material benefit 10
them"
In reply to the denlnciations hurled
at him by the State Federation of
Labor. General Merriam, in an inter
view, says: 'l'he chief bitterness
that has expressed itself. originated
from the fact that the people. and
perhaps the press. fail 10 realize that
my position was subordinate entirely
1t was the governors martial law and
the governors campaign to restore
the state functions in the rebcllious
county. My function was simply to
maintain order and protect the state
authorities in the discharge of their
duty. | did not make and did not
order a single arrest, nor have | had
anything whatever to do with the
prisoners. except to guard them and
prevent their escape. Their shelter.
support and medical attendance, like
their arrest. was wholly in the CON
troll of the state authorities. The same
is true, absolutely, with reference to
the conditions fixed by the state au-
thorities for the employment of miners.
l do not now understand that any
union miner is refused II permit for
employment provided he can declare
his own innocence of the crimes
which have been committed in the
district, and the innocence of his
union"
After the attack of the assessors ON
the State Board of Equalization, be
cause of the low valuation it has
placed on railroad property. the rail
roads have voluntarily come forward
to offer assistance to the state to help
it meet the S60O.O0O deficiency. The
state levy is 1 mills on the dollar. AMI
is limited by constitutional provision
The railroads yesterday offered volun-
tarily to ignore the constitutional limi-
tation and pay mills on the dollar rs
Il state tax If the county commission
ers throughout the state agree to
make similar levy on all other prop
erty. The offer was made by Tax
Agent Pollard of the Burlington syS-
TEN, in behalf of all the Colorado
roads. Pollard is chairman of the Tax
Agents Association. If the plan is
agreed upon by the commissioners. the
increase of mills on the tax will be
more than enough to meet the def
cheney. Secretary of State Beckwith
thinks the plan can be put through.
and Governor Thomas also is hopeful.
although he says. the action is
merely voluntary and cannot be en-
forced" He seems. however, to think
that the people will agree to the in
crease in taxes to save the state from
practical bankruptcy. the condition
which now confronts it.
Three millions-not SIo.OOO,0 ,0DO-is
the amount of increase probable in the
entire valuation of state property this
year after the State Board of EqualiZa-
tion finishes its work of equalization
in September. The latter is the amount
of Increase needed in valuations to
avoid deficit. The almost daily secret
sessions of the state board are bearing
fruit, but the board considers itself
handicapped. 1t has been practically
decided by the board to cqualize all the
valuations of the state this fall. to 20
into every county so to do. But the law
provides that not more than . per
cent aggregate of Increase can be
made, and, although Arapahoe valua-
tlons Will 20 up. valuations in some of
the other counties must necessarily
come down in order TO balance the ag-
gregate. The state board realizes that
its efforts 10 make the aggregate valu-
ations larger will be handicapped by
the reduction of S1O.oOO.0OO announced
TO take place in Arapahoe county.
Railroad valuations will 90 up. They
are being forced up ON n rising scale
and ii looks like an increase of just
about S1o,OoO.0oO on railroad valua.
! tions in the state So far rs the totals
| are concerned in making Il comparison
with last year. the increased railroad
valuations will balance the Arapahoe