Omaha daily bee., 1902-07-20
MAY APPEAL TO THE COURTS
Railroads Intimate They Will Fight Any
Assessment Considered Unfair.
ANDAls CUT TWO TELEPHONE CABLES
Exposition Commission Plans TO spend
$4,000 for a Building at the 81.
Louis Patchwork on
Army Post.

LOUIE EblE-W OEk on
Army Post.
CFrom a stan Correspondent
DIES MONIES, July 19.-(Special 1.-THE
railroad hearings closed this afternoon aud
the representatives Of the railroad COM
panies exhausted all their arguments on
the state executive council this morning.
The closing session with the attorneys was
by far the most interesting. Governor
Cummins raised a question which had to be
met. He asked the attorneys to discuss
the problem of whether or not the council
has the right to make an assessment at less
than rs per cent Of the value Of the rail-
road property, granting that the conclusion
Is reached that other assessments are less
than rs per cent. In other words, the Law
says that the valuation for taxes must be
fixed at one-fourth the actual value Of the
property. Can the council ignore this pro-
vision OF the law because Of deficiencies
in the real estate and personal property
assessments7
Attorneys for the railroads drew cuts TO
see which one should present an argument
on the case, and Judge Carr Of this city
was the one selected. He presented a par
allel case from Tennessee where the assess
ing board had fixed the assessment Of the
Louisville & Nashville at full value. where
as other property was assessed at less than
value. Judge Taft in the federal court, in
deciding the case, said that the board had
followed the exact letter Of the law, but
that the constitutional requirement OF
equality In taxation made 1t necessary for
the board to go beyond the law and compare
assessments so that 1t should not be rel
atiValv hi0hpr IN ono Glaze ~ prnnartv
than another. He asked the council to
follow this rule in Iowa and where as the
assessment is by law required to be at %
per cent Of its actual value It should be
made, in some way, to conform to the ex-
listing state of affairs by which property In
general is assessed at not to exceed 16 2-3
per cent Of its value. He contended that
1t was not only the right, but the duty Of
the council to do this.
May Appeal to Courts.
The intimation was given out, though
not fully expressed, that In case the coun-
ell makes the assessment at a figure con-
sidered by the railroads too large, resort
will be had to a court of equity to correct
the assessment and secure equality in
taxation matters, Judge Carr insisted
that the council should not shirk a duty
When IL DbCdm6 pam IudI u court VI
equity would have the power to enforce
that duty in an action brought.
In the course Of the discussion, which
| became a free-for-all talk among the law
yers and the members Of the council, Gov
! ernor Cummins rather insisted that, no
matter what might be the fact in regard
to real estate and personal property as
sessment, the fact that the council cannot
at this time remedy any defect in the
real estate assessment makes It impossi-
BILE for the council to take into consid-
! Grafton the rise in the value OF land which
has taken place in the last year and a
| half. on which the claim OF deficient as
sessment is based.
The railroad representatives agree that,
from the inslnuations given out by mem
bers Of the council and the line OF argu-
ment made necessary by questions, the
| council is certain to raise the assessment
| on railroads several million dollars. They
expect a slight increase and believe that
they have succeeded in making such a
howing as will hold the increase down
to A reasonable limit. The majority Of
the members Of the council are practically
pledged to take action that will increase
the assessment of the railroad systems as
a whole. The sole question for them to
consider is how much shall be the in
crease and how it may be distributed.
The council has before II more complete
statistics than ever before and these have
heen so carefully compiled that every
phase Of the question is familiar to the
members. The hearing which closed TO-
dav has been the most thorough ever
| known to the state.
Cut Telephone Cables.
The hrst serious act of vandalism In con-
neotion with the strike Of telephone oper-
ators occurred last night when two large
cables of the Iowa Telephone company we're
cut. The discovery was not made until
this morning. The cables run to the east
and south sides and cross the Des MONIES
river ON the Walnut street bridge. Both
are the ordinary cables which carry more
than 200 wires each. Someone climbed to
the ton of the bridge and sawed off the
cables during the night. This destroyed
the use of about 440 telephones, includ-
ing those in the east side business district
and those at the state capitol. A police
man had been assigned to watch either
end OF the bridge during the night, but
thew did not see anybody and are at a loss
m know how the cutting could have taken
Mace. The officers Of the telephone COM
many insist that the cutting must have
been done by someone who is perfectly
familiar with the lay of the wires. Work
men will be put to work at once to re-
pair the damage, but 1t will take several
DAYS and in the meantime a large number
of the subscribers will be without telephone
service. This evening the Trades and Labor
assembly held a meeting and the advisory
committee repudiated any sympathy with
the vandals who had engaged in the wire
cutting. An effort is TO be made to patrol
the city better and prevent a repetition of
the damage.
There is no change in the strike situation
here, but information received from Dav-
export is that the llnemen have gone out
on a sympathetic strike there to assist
4the linemen in Des Moines. The work OF
organizing the telephone operators is In
progress there and in Moline and Rock Is
land and organizers are to be sent 70 every
city where the Iowa Telephone company
does business.
The Retail Grocers association through
it's board Of directors has endorsed the
strike OF the telephone operators and line
men against the Iowa Telephone company.
The master plumbers OF Des Moines to-
night declared a boycott on the Iowa Tele-
phone company and decided upon taking
out all their telephones in sympathy with
the striking operators.
E-uo.E.tou Communication ~ Work-