The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-09-05
MAYOR tom runs
STATE CONVENTION
Choosing Of Canddates is Quickly Completed,
Rev. Herbert BigaoW Nominated by ACCIa-
nation for Secretary Of State.

in two national campaigns brilliantly
led us against the Republican party
and it's allied hosts of non-partisan
n,onopolists. . ~. ~.
Having done that, 1t is our duty to
turn to the affairs of Our own state.
Let us be fair to our adversaries.
They are in the majority in the legisla-
ture, and at The last session Of that
body they passed hhe Longworth bill
which makes it easier in the future
to amend the state constitution. I'm
der that law we of Ohio shall no lon
ger be tied down by the ideas of half
a century ago. The dead hand has
been lifted. This is probably the best
law that has been put on the statute
books Of our state in the last thirty
years.
Put on me whole that same Re-
publican leg stature has lent itself to
the service of the monopoly corpora
tions. Most of it's members carried
railroad passes in their pockets while
They buried the bill to reduce railroas
fares to the people; and they sup
pressed the bill to tax steam railroads
on. the same basis of valuation as
homes and farms. The board of equal
iZaion for railroads, all Republicans,
had decided that the present laws arc
SO defective that steam railroads cam
not be assessed for taxation as high
as homes and farms. The supreme
counb had sustained them In that d.
rection. Every supreme court Judge is
a Republican, and some of them were
railroad attorneys. Respect for the
court precludes our suggestion that 1t
was influenced by hese facts though
We all know how difficult It is for any
man even though he be a Judge, to
escape the influences Of association.
But notwithstanding the defect in ehe
tax laws, the legislative committee
gave but scanI1 consideration to the
proposed remedy and the measure was
not allowed to come to a vote.
Nov note what this Republican
legislature did to cover its tracks. 1t
redTced state taxes ON real estate and
personal property more than ote-hali.
But how did it make up mott OF the
consequent loss to the state revenues?
By taxing monopolies? No. BY tau
ing theii interests Ehat were paying
less than their share? No. 1t did Il
principally by taxing the stock of err
porations thar have no monopoly
privileges but do competitive bust
ness. This stock Is owned almost en-
tirely within the state. Ar the same
time the legislature exempted corpo-
rations owning rich monopoly fran
chises in Ohio, the stock of which Is
held almos. entirely outside Of the
state. The Ohio stockholders in a saw
mill company, doing business in Ohio,
are to nay taxes, called license fees,
on their capital stock; but stockhold-
ers in monopoly corporations, who live
in New York. are exempted from THAT
form Of taxation. Nor is that al.
There are gross determinations he
tween the owners of stock in Ohio
business corporations. And these dis
ordinations favor the rich. Whether
stock is worth $40 a share or $500
share, it must pay the same tax per
share. So the former must pay high
er taxes than the latter, in proportion
to value, by eighty times-or nearly
5000 rer cent.
"If the legislature had taxed steam
railroads and other public service co..
porations fairly. it could have abolish
ed the state tax ON real and personal
property altogether, without taxing
the stock of competitive business cor
porations at all. But the Republican
leaders could not consent to that.
They had made bargain with the
steam railroads to permit no hostile
legislation IL the railroads would sub
nit to slight increase of taxes. Pur-
suant to that bargain, the governor
proposed and the legislature adopted
a law increasing the tax on steam
railroads $400, 900 year. That is less
than ten per cent of what the increase
would be IL -stean railroads were tax
ed as much in p' oportion to the value
of their Ohio property as Ohio farm
ers and home owners are. A fair pro-
portion of the steam railroads would
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