Omaha daily bee., 1902-06-01
ASSESSORS AND STATISTICS
information for Labor Bureau to Be
Gathered a. Usual.
no CHANGE IN METHODS THIS YEAR
Deputy Commissioners watson Decides
the Customary Questions Will
Bring Him All He wants to
Know at Present.

About twenty Of the ~twenty-nine as
SCISSORS OF Douglas county assembled at
the oface OF the county clerk yester-
day to learn what to do in the matter Of
collecting statistics for the State Labor
bureau In connection with their work of
assessing. Deputy Labor Commissioned c.
e. Watson OF Lincoln was called by tele-
phone and the discovery was made that he
wants this year nothing more than the
assessors are already securing. A deputy
county attorney told them that he thought
1t would be sufficient for them to secure
that much, regardless Of what the law SAYS.
and the conference came to an end without
any change being made In the present
plan.
The controversy seems TO have been a
result Of the deputy commissioner having
failed to make himself clearly understood.
The county clerk thought he wanted a bill
of particulars for everybody in the county
who works, or pretends to, but Mr.. Watson
explained Saturday morning that he Will
not make such requirement until next
year, contenting himself this year with
answers to the questions in the book fur
nished by the assessors.
In these books the assessors list the name
Of the occupant Of each farm April 1, the
number Of acres in the farm, the number
In cultivation, in orchard and in timber
report Of the acres sown and cultivated in
various grains. hay, vegetables, hemp, fax,
broom corn, millet, sorghum and sugar
beets, the yield in former years, the num-
Der of various kinds Of farm animals, the
number Of deaths among them from disease;
the names Of the various manufacturing es-
Adjustments, the location Of each, its kind
Of product, the number Of its male and its
female employees.
willing to Do the Work.
In speaking of the matter Chris Boyer.
the Oldest in service Of the county's as
SCISSORS, said: I'VE have been COLLECTING
this much information for the state bureau
for each OF several years, and l think all
the assessors have been doing it this year
without regard to the possibility Of the SUI
preme court sustaining the contention OF
the Lancaster assessor that the law requir-
ing us to do this is unconstitutional. 1t Ii
not hard TO collect these statistics, while
on our round, and we will, 1 believe, have
the work all done by June 8, when we are
required to turn in our books"
What will be the assessed valuation this
year," was asked.
II am not certain, but I think It will be
higher. / believe the litigation in which
the council was involved so long had its
effect on the county assessors. l do moi
believe there will be much of an increase
In realty and l think there ought to be q
cut, for it's too high, but the people seen
to feel that personal property, particularly
that OF the larger firms such as the large
stores, as well as the corporations, should
be raised, and l suppose they will be.
haven't any in my district, as most all are
little fellows. Where the assessment
amounts to less than s25 I don't believe Il
wise to include the person at all. as II
costs more to carry that class on the books
than the tax amounts to. 1 hope sometime
to see a plan adopted whereby there will bt
created an ONCE of assessors advisor
whose work 1t shall be to counsel all the
assessors with a view to equallzing the as.
sessments as much as possible before the
returns are made to the board"