The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-03-10
FOR NEV
IlX BILL
ConfereeS of the House and
Senate Get Together.
UP TO GOVERNOR BAILEY
He Will Have to Help Measure
Through House.

Topeka, March 9.-The house and sem
ate conferees haye agreed upon a tax
bill and viii report it back to both branch
es Tuesday. 1t is the bill passed by the
house, with these amendments:
The interrogaries are knocked out and
the state tax commission is authorized to
prepare some interrogaries not quite SO
searching.
The clause Of taxing grain deaers upon
he average amount of business they do
in a year was stricken out Grain deal
ers will be taxed upon their capital
stock.
The tax commissioners are to be ap-
pointed for the first two years by the
governor instead of by the executive coun-
Gil. After that, they are to be elected.
The secretary of state and state trea-
surer are made members of the state
tax commission.
Township trustees are made deputy as
SCISSORS
Property will be taxed at one-third its
true cash value.
These are the only important changes
made in the house bill by the conference
committee.
Notwithstanding the fact that the diff
ferences between the two houses have
been adjusted by the conferees, it is still
very doubtful whether the bill will go
through. The members of the house end
of the conference committee will vote
as linst the bill as agreed upon in confer
ence. They are Adams, of Butler, and
Hutcheson, of Pratt. Adams was against
the bill all the time. Hutchinson voted
against it at first and changed only for
the purpose of throwing the bill into con-
ference, so that a satisfactory measure
might possibly be fixed up.
1t is now up TO the administration to
do something. The governor took hand
in the fight a few days ago and helped to
pass the original bill through the house.
1t was charged at the time that this was
simply feint to make the people believe
that the administration really wanted
tax law and that, when the final show
down came on the adoption of the report
of the conferees the administration would
keep hands off and let the members vote
as their consciences dictated. Such
coarse would practically convict the adj
ministration of the charge made and place
it in a more embarrassing position be-
fore the people that if il had made no
attempt at all to have tax law en-
acted. The vital test comes now. The
administration must fight or confess that
it was only fooling before.
Representative Nation. the administra-
ton whip is not certain about the pas
sage of the bill as fixed up in confer
ence In fact he is just the least bit
shaky. He says that seevral members
who supported the original bill viii leave
for home before a vote is reached. He
doesn't expect to get many recruits from
the opposition. Two friends of the bill
have already gone for gOod-Friar and
Kirkpatrick Others are talking of going
tomorrow night Many members went
home last night and there is no telling
yet how many will remain there. "Of
course we can send for the absentees if
they are needed" said Nation. but in
my opinion no pressure should be brought
to bear on the members on the final vote
1t should be left to them to settle with
their consciences and their constiuens. 1t
would be cruel to force them to voc for
a bill which their constituents do not
want: Ii would simply be crucifXion and