Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-02-07
Especial Correspondence

Especial Correspondence
Des Moines, Ia, Feb. 3.-Legislative
measures relative to taxation absorb
more attention than any others at ev-
cry session of the Iowa general as
sembly. Of the 800 bills already intro
duced it is thought that at least rs
per cent. relate to taxation. The most
important measure so far proposed
is that by Senator Healy, which will
eliminate the tax ferrets. A third of
the counties of the state now employ
agents to discover personal property
which has been omitted from the tax
lists during five years or less and re-
port it to the county officers, so that
taxes may be levied upon it and coll
lected for the time during which it was
withheld from assessment. Hundreds
of thousands of dollars of this kind
ofproperty have been discovered by the
ferrets. Believing that great abuses
have grown up under the ferret sys-
tenn, Senator Healy has proposed that
their work be limited to the current
year. If they do not discover omitted
property in the year in which it should
be assessed the property may not be
listed later, if his bill is passed. His
bill goes further, in that it prevents
county officers, who now have the au-
thority. from listing omitted property
except in the year in which it should
have been assessed.
New Basis Proposed,
There is some discussion of meas
ure to abolish tax ferreting altogether,
to reorganize the assessment of prop
erty on new basis and to punish Of
ficers who fail to list property for as
sessment when it is called to their at
tention. 1t is proposed, for instance,
to pay assessors 5000 or SIC, 900 year,
to give them one term of six years
and to punish them by penitentiary
sentence if they fail to list all property
of which they have cognizance. Sew
eral measures relating to the equitable
taxation of mortgages and mortgaged
property have been proposed. All of
them aim at two things: First, to
effect the assessment of mortgages by
compelling the owners to list them for
taxation, and, secondly, to relieve
mortgaged property of taxation to the
extent of the mortgage. Representa-
tive Hasselquist has proposed bill to
give every soldier an exemption of
$500, whether he owns personalty or
realty. At present the homesteads
only of soldiers are exempted to this
amount. Representative Meservey has
proposed to exempt from taxation
$1,000 of monies and credits for every
head of household.
To Increase Membership.
Perhaps the most important meas
ure of general interest which has been
proposed so far in this session is the
amendment of Representative Temple
to the constitution, giving each county
In the state one representative, and
those counties which have certain
excess population, one additional rep
resentative. On the present distribu-
ton of population this would make
the membership of the house 1Os, in
stead of 100, as atpresent, but it would
give every county one representative,
whereas under the present constitu-
contain more than one county. In
deed, under the present constitution
at least two counties are entitled to
separate representatives, but the total
membership of the house of represent
atiyes being restricted to 100, the leg
islature has been forced to make an
arbitrary apportionment which has
compelled the districting of these
counties with others. Representative
Temples amendment fixed the total
number at 115, in order to make it GER
tain that every county shall have it's
separate member, and the larger coun-
ties which are entitled to it, an extra
member. If this amendment should
carry each county in the following dis
tricts would secure single member.
Clay-Palo Alto, Lyon-O 'Brien, Hum
boldt-Pocahontas, Hancock Wright,
Osceola Emmett Dickinson, Worth
Winnebago, Ida-Monona.
For Primary Elections.
Senator Crossley expects to push his
primary election bill vigorously. He
proposes the nomination of all officers
by all parties on the First Friday in
June at an election which is to be gov
erned exactly as the general election
under the Australian ballot now is.
The primary will nominate all officers
from governor to constable, and at the
same time delegates to county, district
and state conventions will be selected.
but their sole duty will be to ratify
the action of the primaries, in order
to get the tickets on the official bal
lot under the law, and to pass resolu-
tions, adopt platforms and organize
the party machinery, and will have
nothing to do with the nomination of
candidates on any tickets, either state,
county or township.
Congressional Districts.
The first bill to redistrict the state
congressionally was introduced by
Representative Greeley and Senator
Kirkpatrick, and is bill embodying
what is called the w. o. Payne plan.
Under the nroyisions Of 4h;c ~, ao.,,.,