Omaha daily bee., 1902-05-17
PERprrUATTrg THE OUTRAGE

the market value of the various elements
that go into the makeup Of a railroad
and list them for taxation. The board
is expected to ascertain first, the value
Of the right-of-way; second, the value
Of the main tracks; third, the value OF
the side tracks; fourth, the value OF
depot grounds and permanent improve.
ments thereon; fifth. the value Of the
rolling stock and equipment; and lastly
the value of the franchise.
1t is a scandal to Nebraska that not
a scrap Of paper can be found in the
auditors office that would indicate the
value placed by former assessment
boards upon each Of these respective
constituents of the railroads listed by
them for assessment. The only documents
on file in the auditors Office are the
returns made by each Of the various
railroad and telegraph companies, and
the aggregate value per mile at which
each respective board has assessed in a
lump sum on a mileage basis the rail
road tracks, the acreage of depot
grounds, depot buildings, engines, cars,
etc, apparently for the purpose of max
ing 1t impossible to determine whether
or not the appraisement of these various
elements was just and equitable, or
whether each successive board had been
simply guessing at their value, or max
ing the assessment by agreement with
the corporations as to how much they
were willing to stand.
1t is amazing that the present board In
the face of the recent earnest remon-
STRANGE, and in defiance Of public Opin-
ion, should have again repeated the
outrage annually perpetrated upon the
people of the state. The increase of the
grand total of railroad assessment for
1t is a deliberate insult to the intelli-
gence of the people Of Nebraska. There
is absolutely no excuse for such action
and there can be no %palliation for the
injustice done to the great mass Of tax
payers Of the state. To make such a
pitiful Increase in the assessment after
a two-weeks session forcibly recalls the
mountain that labored and brought forth
a mouse.
The ground on which members of the
board Justify their action is that the rail
roads are assessed as high as any other
class of property and in proof of this
they cite some instances where property
has been returned far below the ratio
set for the railroads. But these single
instances do not afford a criterion to go
by. Facts are stubborn things and facts
are against the theory on which the
board has acted in the assessment for
1902. For in~controvertible proof the
board need only take a glance at the
last biennial report of the auditor Of
| Nebraska.
The grand assessments roll for 1901 gives
the valuation of all property in Nebraska
at $174,439, O95.45. OF this amount $14S,-
O07, 363.12 represents the real and per-
sonal property of Che state exclusive of
railroads. OF the aggregate of $14S,007,
363.12 the valuation of real estate being
Sill, lY2, 56O and the valuation or personal
property $37, SO4,S O3.12. In other words
the farms and town lots in Nebraska
represent more than two-thirds of all
the property in the state, exclusive of
the railroads. If it be true that live
| stock, merchandise and other chattels
have been assessed at only one-tenth, or
one-ffteenth Of their value in some in
.4arao. IL nannof no nainsaid that the
bulk of the grand assessment roll, the
real estate, has been assessed at from
one-ffth to One-seventh of its market
value. If there are some exceptions to
this rule they are very rare indeed. We
make bold to assert that 10 percent
! of the true value is about the average
of the property returned for assessment
| all along the line. The railroads alone,
however, representing as they do one
fourth of the property value OF the
state when HONESTLY appraised, are as
sessed at about 8 per cent Of their true
value instead Of 10 per cent and no
amount Of juggling with figures and
| guesswork can make any intelligent and
impartial person believe otherwise.
1t is hardly worth while to point out
to the board of railroad assessment that
it was its imperative duty to assess the
franchises with the tangible property
| of railroad corporations. The constitu-
ton positively so instructs and while the
| statute does not enumerate franchises
among the other taxable assets of rail
roads it expressly directs the assessment
board to take nto consideration in the
| assessment Of railroads the capitaliza'
| lion and earnings Of each road. That
means in plain language, the value Of its
| franchise. Otherwise capitalization
and earnings would have no more bear
ing upon the valuation of railroad prop.
erty than the rental of a building, which
paws taxes on what 1t will sell fol
whether it is vacant or occupied
whether ii is ~moTtgaged or unencum'
bered.
MUNICIPAL sELF-PRBsERVATION.
The efforts OF Mayor Moores and his
associates fl the city government to pro