Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-18
RAILROAD TAXATION In COURT
Continued from Seventh Page,

they must have one-sixth Of all OF the prop
erty In this state and that is not true and
no one believes 1t.
A large part of the r~elators' brief con-
tains charges and in language that 1 will
not repeat to this court, but / think the
court ought to read It. Such language
never appeared In any brief. in any court
that / have ,practiced before during my
twenty-five years experience in the differ
emit courts of this country. / am compelled,
however, to allude to one portion Of 1t, and
that is where the direct charge is made of
dishonesty" "~dlsloyalty." "inidelity,"
''malfeasance" and ''misfeasance" and
fraud upon the part of all the state
officers, who have had anything to do with
the assessment Of railroads In the state
Of Nebraska since March 1, 1857, without
exception. deny that, and I appeal to
the records for proof. They performed
we'll their part, and / think that these
sneers. these hearty giggles and uproarious
laughter on the part Of the REALTORS and
counsel, even before this tribunal, when
referring to these officers, should be con-
demned, n that, when that brief has
received the scorn and condemnation OF all
good. pure, right-thinking men and the
brothers of our profession, that 1t will go
like the "withered rubbish in the meeting
of the winds" I mean Just what ! state,
and 1 am amazed at the enrontery OF
counsel when they repeat these things In
the face of this court, and laugh as II they
were before q justice of the peace. / say
that I can show by this record here that
they performed well their part. and 1t es-
| tablishes the integrity of the conduct OF
the present board In making this assess
ment. ! am not one of its citizens, but
am q citizen OF the republic, and l am
proud to perform a part OF my professional
labor in the state, and / take here the
privilege OF resenting this charge and de-
nominating 1t as untrue.
How will you Judge Of the conduct of
the officers OF this great state OF Nebraska
as to whether they have been "farmed," or
| whether they have been converted into
the servants Of the railroads." as they
say2 How does the performance Of their
| duty compare with the surrounding states
What is the condition Of the assessment
Of railroads in Nebraska, and what is Il
rs compared with Iowa. Kansas, Minnesota
Kansas and Missouri? All states SINH
iarly situated, Of like products. of like in
~terests, industry and farming. What II
the result? II shows the integrity Of this
assessment A. well as giving eondemnine
evidence in disproof Of the charge that theJ
have not performed their duty. There will
be a time come when such things and such
charges will receive their proper condem
nation. / only allude to that here because
It seems to me It becomes Al essential par
Of my argument in showing the effect o.
these findings Of the board, n If ! wal
4 citizen of the state ! would a k add
tional pride ln calling attention TO It
There. are no politics in this. because theI
have been Of all political faiths, this boart
tor,the- last twenty-five years, republican
popuIist and democrat
Let us see. The per cent OF railroad taxa
tions are as follows as paid by the rail
roads OF the total tax OF the state; Ne
brAska, 1910 per cent Minnesota. sst pc
cent; Missouri. 100 per cent; Iowa. s4
per cent; Illinois. SIS per cent Nebraski
on an average u 5 per cent more than an!
Of these surrounding states. Have the!
performed well their duty or mott Shout
this attack be made upon the integrity an'
conduct OF the officials OF the state OF he
braska' In this high-handed mannerf Thu
interstate Commerce commission repor
here says that the railroads paid for take
per mile in Nebraska In 1890, t19s.se; 1
1891, 32oS.15; the average tar for all STATE
west Of ths Mississippi river in 1900 wa
tiT1.45 per mile; the average IN seven o