Omaha daily bee., 1901-03-16

| lN''f anu TOT llt year SioN'N,
Whereas. The increase In the assessed
| valuation made in the year 1900 was sub
| Whereas, The Gross earnings of said rail-
| roads, as reported by them for the year
100, are So2, l8OSOO and applying the same
| result In an assessed valuation for the pres.
ent year of siS 655, ,7S2; and
| Whereas, 1t is believed that the assessed
valuation of other taxable property in the
| state will be increased as compared with
| former years: II is therefore
Resolved, That IL is the sense of the ex-
| ecutive council of the state of Iowa that
| the aggregate assessed valuation of the
| railroads of the state should be substan-
| TALLY Increased.
Railroad Man Hurt.
The state executive council has arranged
| a program for hearings on the part OF rep
resentatives of the various railroad COM
panics interested in the assessment In
accordance with this a number of railroad
attorneys appeared before the council to-
| day. The most prominent of the repre-
sentatives was W. W Baldwin of Burling-
ton, who represents the Chicago, Burling-
| ton e. Quincy company. Mr.. Baldwin
created something of sensation in the
council by declaring boldly that there
would be little need of representatives of
the railroads to come here annually and
bIStuSS lHe uutSllOH VI dSstSSHutnlSt Dul
for politics II there were a few demo-
Gratis elected to membership on the coun-
ell, he said, so as to divide responsibility
with the republicans, criticism would cease.
He recalled that some years ago, when
Iowa had a democratic governor, an Or
ganized effort was made to secure higher
assessments for the railroads. The
grangers hired General Weaver to come be-
fore the board with facts and figures. and
others also appeared, and after they had
discussed 1t before the council the prrsi-
dent of the farmers alliance declared prl-
vately to the governor that they had
learned a good deal and that they were
willing to leave the matter of assessments
to the council. he contended that the
present system of arriving at the ASSESS
able value of the railroads Is the only
proper one. Other methods have been tried
and have been abandoned He said that
railroad property in Iowa is assessed at
a higher per cent than farm property or
other property.
Others who spoke for the railroads or
appeared to present statements were: A.
c. Goodrich. for the Keokuk & Western;
George n Mills, for the Kansas City. st.
Joseph & Council Bluffs; A. f. Patten, for
| the Chicago. Burlington G. Quincy; w. l..
| Torbert for the Illinois Central; w. $.
| Millgan. for the Chicago, Milwaukee a
| st. Paul George w. Sewers. for the Iowa
| Central; Mr. Law for the Burlington &
| Northwestern; Frank p. Crandon, for the
| Chicago a. Northwestern: j. A. McManu3
for the Wabash and w. J. jeffrey. for the
| Omaha & ST. Louis. Mr. Law, who repre-
! sents a narrow gauge road which, he
| claimed, has had no net earnings for sew
eral years. was in favor Of making the
assessment on net earnings. Mr. Good
| rich said a computation had been made Ia
4 show the comparative amount OF taxes paid
by farmers in one county along the line
with the taxes paid by the railroad com,
pany. They had found that farmers pay
about 1h per cent on gross earnings and
the railroad more than 3h per cent on
gross earnings
No action was taken on the resolution
presented but il will be cons iered by
other railroad representatives from day to
day until a decision is reached.
New Militia Company.
The new militia company, Company A.
| Fiftieth regiment, Iowa National guard
mustered in at Abba. starts off well with
fine company OF men and good officers
| The officers elected were: f. ID. Everett
| captain; Corydon Ingram, first lieutenant;
George Il. Duncan, second lieutenant. All
| three of the officers were In the Philippines
with the Fifty-frst Iowa. The captain IL
county attorney for Monroe county One
member of the company was In the Philip,
pines with the First Nebraska regiment.
IL has not yet been decided where the
encampments for this year will be held
Adjutant General Byers will go to Council,
Bluffs the first of the week to see wha,
that city can offer as an inducement for
the encampment to be held in the western
part OF the state. II will be held either a,
Council Bluffs or Sioux City.
Death of Judge Hayes.
News of the death OF Judge Walter l.
Hayes of Clinton, which death occurred In
| Michigan, where he was attending tho fu.
neral OF relative, caused surprise in Iowa
where the Judge was well known. He
| served many years on the bench in eastern
Iowa and was known an exceptionally
strong lawyer. He served three terms in
congress, representing the Second Iowa dis
trict, but since his retirement from con
gress has held no public Office He was a,
one time the subject OF impeachment pro,
ceedings in the Iowa legislature on charges
affecting his integrity and personal habits
but was never tried on the charges. He
was liberal man, loved fine horses, at
tended the races. took part In all public
functions and was as well known as any
democrat in the state.
Almost Another Iowa Fire.
The state OF Iowa came perilously near
another heavy loss by fire yesterday at the
State Reform School for Boys at Eldora
The sewing-room floor on the third floor oi
the main building had been freshly oiled and
the boy who had done the work had left
quantity OF oily rags in the room. Ir
these rags fire started about o'clock while
the boys We're at supper on the first floor
The smoke was discovered by the meres
accident and the alarm given. The nre de
partment soon had the fire under contro
with small loss, but It was narrow escape
Big Suit for sInnder.
Mrs. C. b. Clark of Cedar Falls hai
brought suit against jeweley nameC