Omaha daily bee., 1902-08-01
cHAsrER ON FREAK rAxAr RON.

- 1AAaA nv tN A1aHH
II may be a taking proposition for a
demagogue to advocate the overtaxing Of
railroad companies aud thereby working a
hardship against them that would not ac-
crue to other lines Of property within the
state. but It would be an advertisement
that would pass through the whole United
States. proclaiming that the people Of Ne
braska did not intend to be as fair with
capital as other states Of the union.
. . The railroads up to the present time
have not earned an undue amount on the
Investment made. For a series OF years
there was no profit derived as an invest
ment. on the whole for Nebraska railroads,
and while during 1900 two Of the rail-
roads paid a fair dividend on the capital,
the investment for many OF the railroads
in the state failed to render any return
whatever to their owners. Will It pay to
attempt freak taxation Tax Bureau
Bulletin No. 2s.
In the spring Of 1895 the carriers of
The Bee made a careful inventory Of the
vacant store buildings and dwellings
within the city limits Of Omaha, with
the following result:
Vacant stores and warehouses..."..... 1874
Vacant dwelling houses 1857
Several hundred of these buildings re-
mained vacant for years, but under a
freak Of taxation the owners Of each Of
these properties were compelled to pay
taxes on them as II they were rented
and earning interest on the Investment
Hundreds Of homecoming wage work
ers in Omaha lost their homes by fore
closure and tax sales, but no lawyer APP
peared in court on their behalf to plead
exemption from taxation because Of the
terrible depression and distress.
In 1872 the Union Pacific bridge,
erected at a cost Of $1,20o,000, was
bonded for $2,6O0,O00. with 8 per cent
gold interest, payable semi-annually,
guaranteed by the Union Pacific Rail-
road company. BY exorbitant exactions
levied as bridge toll, the earnings of the
bridge were made to exceed $4,000 a
year, but by a freak Of taxation it's earn
ing power was not taken into account
by the assessors. BY 1885 all but 1885,
600 Of the bridge bonds, representing at
least $1,250,O00 of water, on which the
commerce Of Omaha, Nebraska and the
whole country was paying exorbitant
tolls, had been redeemed and the bridge
was reconstructed and a new lot of
bonds, amounting to ST. 8 600, payable
In 1915, were issued. The bridge is re-
puted to be earning a thousand dollars a
day at this time, but by a freak Of taxa
ton the one-half of this gold mine is as
1 $1,000 81, &o-okl.. ~ 81 BnO L. Ma
braska, and, according to Auditor Wes-
ton, was dumped into the railroad pool
and distributed without increasing the
aggregate assessment one penny. A
freak of taxation is it2
The ~bureaucrats point to Wisconsin,
Minnesota and Michigan, where rail
roads are taxed on their earnings, to
show that a few Jimcrow branch rail-
roads in Nebraska that are not earning
dividends at this time are enormously
overtaxed. The bureau fog distributors
seem to forget that by a freak Of taxa
ton the railroads in Minnesota, Michi-
gan and Wisconsin are taxed on their
gross earnings. In other words, II a
railroad In those states takes In a mil
lion dollars for freight and passenger
charges and pays out two millions for
operating expenses, it is still taxed at
per cent on the gross receipts, just the
same, as were the owners of the drouth.
stricken lands, vacant town lots and
vacant buildings In Nebraska, regardless
Of their ability to earn income for the
owner. Several years ago n of the rail
roads in Nebraska condemned right-of'
way and graded several miles Of a stub
line, which is not yet in operation, YET
by a freak of taxation the dead piece Of
railroad has not been returned for taxa
ton, although the dead land adjacent
has paid taxes all the same. A few
more instances of freak taxation could
be cited, but this will suffice for one
chapter.