Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-20


drew that answer knew what they were
about; they had to put something in there
because the contrast was so great between
the frat ana second answer on the fran
chise question; something had to be said
and they had forgotten (or thought we
wouldn't hnd OUT that they had said tAat
the physical property had already been
valued. So we now come to the brief Of the
attorney general. That tacitly admits that
the franchise was not assessed or inten-
tionally assessed. Then he says, whether
It was assessed or not depends upon the
decision Of this courtl Now, even II these
franchises are not worth 5000. O00, 000-sup-
pose we say they are not worth over $780,
O0o, 0o0-4sn't It a strange thing for the at
torney general of the state to say that
whether that i1oo. 200. 900 Il assessed or
not depends upon what this court will de-
eide as a question Of lawi why, your
honors, II the franchises we're assessed 1t
must have been at the rate Of two for q
cent. for the assessment is nc higher than
in past years-lower. rather; taking the in
creased mileage, II n even lower than last
year. l believe. on a mileage basis. There
IL nc pronounced difference, such az $780,
10000 or $200, 00o. 900 must necessarily have
made in III 1t Is not there.
h truth Is these men Just followed .
rut, Notwithstanding they had been given
the law, notwithstanding they were urged
and knew better, II they knew anything;
unless they we're utter imbeciles they knew
better. and. knowing better, they did not do
their dutyi They undertook ito straddle
dutyi
/ must hurry and reach the grand as
sessrnent roll These tax commissioner,
doing the best they know how, brought In
a great many statistics as to how the rail-
roads are being treated In different places,
different states, brought in the census re-
turns and q great many statistics, which
make up the body Of these two great ar
guments-great in bulk, 1 mean. They did
not know anything about the principle that
bound the board, binds me and every citi-
zen Of the state, which will not operate
TO relieve these railroad companies be-
cauhe It will not relieve me and every
taxpayer In the state. They cannot bring
in karbled statistics (for We know that ng-
ures do he) and put all that stun before
the board and before this court except sub
tect to that principle OF Law. This prtnci-
pie clears It all oft-just as I wipe all that
stun on that table and leave q clear place.
The assessment In this state Is made by
authorised tribunals and authorised on
GERS under oath. It cannot be impeached
in any such proceeding as this. 1t binds
these rsilroad companies a. 1t binds me.
How would ! look going before the as
SCISSOR and saying. Here. there u 4 lot OF
property in Nebraska that Is not on the
assessment roll and for that reason I want
my taxes reduced or my assessment re-
ducsd? How would any taxpayer look do
Ing it?. That principle sweeps out all that
testimony, renders 1t nugatory and leaves
that board bound, as everybody else is
bound, by that principle. Right or wrong,
this assessment must be made with ref
erence to It as though 1t were right. II
II Is wrong we all suffer and we must all
suffer in common. This tax reform / hope
will relieve the people hereafter by getting
these railroads hundreds Of thousands OF
dollars In bonds, hundreds of thousands
Of acres OF land. Nc one has given me one
bond or one acre of land, In addition to
that we have given them the great trans
portation franchise which binds all OF their
property into a great mass. into a great
use, and a profitable use. a more profitable
use than any other we have in this state.
The people have given them all OF that,
those lands, those bonds. those franchises,
and they are higgling over their taxesl Two
million dollars will not cover the taxes we
have .paid in our county on their account.
These roads must take it into account that
the decisions have established this, that
they must take a great big lot OUT OF their
EARNINGS for taxes. They must not say
taxes are a side issue any more, but a real
burning issuei Do not cite TO US Iowa and
such states az that, railroad ridden as their
ileK,elatures always have been-as in Ne
braskAl They want relief over there and
they are axitating 1t there, and 50 are other
states, the same as we are here We, on
our aide, have cited Missouri, Indiana and
Kansas. They DO not say anything about
those states and their method OF assessing
this claas Of property!
Idesire to say a few words on the aver
ageS and percentages that these GENTLE
men deal In so much The Union PACING
Railroad company necessarily wants to be
averaged up with the Elkhorn and with the
Grand island 4 Montana. Now all 1 desire
to say upon the idea Of averaging the great
eat properties with the little ones Ii this;
The Union Pacific says. For heavens SAKE
look At that Rlkhorn road, see how poor It
is, and that road that goes away mp TO Mon
tans. don't you see how each is struggling
alona for existencef Haven't you any bowels
OF compassion? Why don't you be sorry for
US. lust look at these poor peopi%ook at
that Waeherwoman over there, labortns over
her tub. her children ragged and hungry!
Haven't you any bowels Of compassion when
YOU look at our property? Average US.
Average us with the washsrwomAn and
these poor lines"
Why, in Egypt. on the borders OF the
Libyan desert, is a great city, the city
OF cairo, with large properties in 1t. Now.
suppose the city property over there would
be averaged with the acreage In the LAbyan
desert. Would that be tustr You
don't hear the little roads talk about aver
gin with the Union Pacific; 1t is not help
ful to their side. But the Union Paeinc
wants to be averaged and scaled down.
This great bulk OF railroad property In
this state Is worth 1926. 900, 900 in round
numbers. That is a great property. That
is the market value. Here is his great
bulk Of property. every inch Of which Is
earning something. much or little; the
great use to which it is applied is born Of
a franchise, born of the sovereignty.
when they complain about paying 15.4 per
cent, as they claim they do pay, Of our
taxes, l say point me out 1874 Of any other
property, just as 1t averages in this state,
that has anywhere near its value, that Is
equal to so per cent Of its value. Look at
II In that way; this property. welded to-
Eether by the franchise In a mass; a fran
chise that reaches into every mans door
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