Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1899-01-27
TAXES N WARRANTS.

The Deadwood Independent declares
that Senator Cooper's bill providing
toat warrants may be accepted for tax
es only when presented by the original
holder of the warrant would be a detri-
ment to the people instead of a benefit.
That paper declares that the warrants
of that county would drop back to fifty
cents if that bill should become u law.
We should like to have the 1ndepend-
ent give light Oh this subject, since it
seems to have such positive knowledge
as to the effects of such a law. The
warrants of that county, under the
present law, at one time we're down to
a very low ebb, but through pretty
good f%inancering and a general improv-
ment in the county, have come up
close to par-not because people could
use them in the payment Of taxes, how
ever. by the present law, under which
warrants are accepted for taxes, the
price of warrants has been completely
demoraliZed; they have no fixed value.
their price being regulated by whatev-
er warrant brokers may caro- to offer
sometimes paying 30 cents and occa-
sionaiiy so cents. Under this method
no one will buy warrants expecting to
hold them until their payment, salts
lies, to make u little profit by getting
them at u little less than par and draw
ing Z per cent on the face value
of the warrants. We're the
present law changed so that warrants
we're not Unfortunately received for
t .xes there would be an actual invest
ment value in warrants, for the time
of their payment might be estimated
with some accurateness-at least the
time of their payment would not be
absolutely indefinite, for instead of
the last ones issued being picked up
cheap by warrant dealers and turned
in for taxes, the older ones would be
paid off first, together with interest,
and money loaners would soon find
that they were good collateral to hold.
Seven per cent interest is big interest
to eastern capitalists, and if We can as
sure them that a warrant issued is 1899
will be paid in 1900 or 1905-or within
a reasonable period-they would be
anxious to procure them and pay close
to par for them. Their value would
not be fixed by the local market, for
there would be sale for them to the
larger capitalists all over the country.
1t seems to us that no better proof of
this claim need be cited than that pri-
or to 1887 the Black Hills was excepted
by the law permitting taxes to be paid
with warrants, and up to that time
warrants of the Black Hills counties
sold quickly at almost par. Immedi-
ately after this law was changed and
warrants could be used in payment of
taxes, down went their value; their
price was fixed by local brokers, and
they could not be sold to outside cap
italists. We believe Senator Cooper's
bill is all right, and will accomplish
the object straightforward we are not
sure but it would be better to permit
the acceptance of warrants for taxes of
the year in which the warrants are is
sued, rather than as Senator Cooper
has it. Either way. however, we be-
lieve will tend to raise the price of
warrants.
The Independents hurrah that ''if a
populist or democrat had introduced
a bill in the senate of South Dakota
! like Senator Cooper's, "there would he
a howl go up from the gold bug repub-
licans that would be heard all over the
%state," is III u par with other state
ments made by that paper in this con-
n%ection. A similar bill WAS introduced
by u fusion senator and u fusion repre-
sentative two years ago, and passed
the house and lacked but one vote of
passing the senate. So now!