The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1901-01-11

possible out Of the corporation, and
is favored by almost nobody
The Wisconsin tax commission is
understood to have devoted itself
largely to this matter Of railroad tax
alton. 1t has done so in a conserva-
tive spirit. with no desire to protect
or opnress these great corporations,
whose welfare is so entwined with
the Welfare of all citizens 1t will
rather remove a cause of friction, amt
it is fully in the interest of railroads
to have the issue determined Real
estate pays 5-6th of the taxes in Wis
consin. and if the rate of the valua
ton Of the real estate could be deter
mined the first step would he taken
toward taxing railroads proportionate-
~ with other property. In Michigan
at cost of $4,000 the value of rail
road properties was determined
through an army of assessors. who
added up the value Of every rail. ev
cry station and every freight truck
This seems absolutely silly. AS for
the real estate of Wisconsin. in some
taxing districts it is assessed on q val
uatiOn as low as One-third of its value
and in others as high as Is to so per
cent There is no uniformity as ev
erybody knows. but it would lie pos
sible to find the average rate of valu-
alton, as all sales of real estate are
listed. It would be a tremendous cal
culation There are some 1.400 taxing
districts. most of them township divi
sions But from these. from the reg
lister of deeds and the secretary Of
state, a full record of real estate
transfers where there was a genuine
consideration could be made. If the
sales were compared with the as
sessed value. the result would be sug
gestiye, as to how realty and how cor
poration property is taxed It is IN
derstood that the commission has
worked on some such line as this.
Edward scofield, Ex-Governor
| Well, we inaugurated the state Off
GERS yesterday, and now it is Govern
or LaFollette, while Edward Scofield
retires into private life. He has
made noteworthy governor and the
administration will be we'll spoken Of
by posterity. y plain business man,
he has conducted the administrator
on business principles, and left his
marks, especially on the bookkeeping
methods of the state. The money is
better accounted for than before Gov
ernor Scofeld applied his sawmill de-
tail and accuracy to the common
wealth TILL He has been dignified
executive: neat dresser, quiet man
nered. an unaffected speaker whether
on a train bound for Ashland or
whether jostling greatness in the lob
by of the Fifth avenue hotel Scofield
has done Wisconsin credit There
was nothing shifty in his makeup: no
| one could conceive of him doing any
thing dishonorable. It was not given
| him to figure as Slashing refOrmer,
and he was in no hurry for even some
| Of the enactments brought about in
! his time. but an examination Of his
| administration will reveal an amaz-
| ing amount of solid achievement.
| Veteran observers of life learn to
! tie up to what is known as the cav
| erage man." He accomplishes more,
wears better and is easier to live with
| than phenomenons. This applies to
| business men, to wives and to part
ners at croquet. Scofield was glori
! Gus prota gonist of the average man.
Economies Under Scofeld.
! Senator Elect Mosher of New Rich
mond is reported to have retrench-
ment and reform up his sleeve. and
the capitol force as the object of his
rehabilitation.
Whatever he may find elsewhere
! it is fact that he opens up on the
state superintendent of public property
| at the very time when that depart
ment is getting many congratulations
| for good service Moreover the last
report oct. 1, 1900 makes this quite
clear. The most recent report that
Senator Mosher quoted from was
some years ago.
[ called on Superintendent Scott for
| something official and he gave me
| this:
''The disbursements of the depart
ment for wages in the last eight years
are as follows:
"For the year ending Oct. I, 1893,
| S67, 800, 80; 1894, $63 800, 40; 1895, $751;
| $40. 80: 1896, 500, 714.22; 1897, $65, 943.-
As: 1898, $50, OF. SO; 1899, $6O,237. IS;
1900, S5s,5SS.O1.
During the session of 1897 the leg
islature increased the remuneration
of a large number of the employees Of
the department. The total expendi-
ture of the department for wages dur
| ing the past four years outside Of the
superintendent salary. was $242.
S413S, as compared with $246,044.52
for the four years next preceding.
whether or not the work and labor
performed in the capitol building and
park and executive grounds and man
| sion compare favnrably with that
| heretofore expended upon the same in
the same time, leave to the determiE-
alton of those who by long years OF
residence in the city of Madison have
| become perfectly familiar with such
transactions.
"By reference to my report you will
| notice that I said: 1T is gratifying
| to be able to state the general ex
penses for the four years ending Sept.
| 80, 1900. excluding all special appro-
priations made by the legislature in
each case, and the $2,113.66 unearned
| insurance. have been 500 1O294 less
than for the four years ending Sept
30. 1885,
! ''This reference was not caused by
| a decrease in the amount expended
by the department for wages. but is
due to the fact that the work around
| the capitol building and park and ex-
| -