Omaha daily bee., 1903-04-26


and reference directory will continue to
advertise Omaha as the only city west
Of the Mississippi that is on the down
grade, and no amount Of explanation or
assurance that Omaha has a larger popula-
tion today than II ever had and is on a
more solid basis can remove that damag-
ing impression. Nobody has suffered more
from the padding Of the census Of 1890 than
The Bee Publishing company and the World
Herald. both directly and indirectly. 1ndi-
rectly we have been injured materially in
loss Of foreign advertising. because the
heavy advertisers do not want to pay as
much for space in papers circulating in a
town Of 100000 population as they would to
papers published in a city OF $50. 900 popu-
lation. Directly The Omaha Bee alone has
paid over s57. 900 as the penalty for the
booming Of the census. Let me explain. The
Associated Press fixes its service rates every
ten years according to the census. The AS
ISOLATED Press rates newspapers according
to the population Of the cities where they
are published and they rated The Omaha
Bee in 1891 according to the census OF 1890
and raised our tolls 800 a week and for
eleven years we paid 800 a week more
than we should have done. Fifty-two weeks
In a year and eleven years makes more
than $4,000 all told direct loss by this
Justification Of the census. And all the talk
ing l could do to the managers Of the As
ISOLATED Press I could not get them to re-
cede. They would not take anything for
granted. They said. that is hne talk, but
the census says you have a population OF
10000 and you must pay according to
that population.
Benson n = Tax RefOrmer.
"Mr. Benson now poses as the champion
OF tax reform and lie supported for mayor
on a platform pledging him to the prin-
ciples fought by the Real Estate exchange.
Now. the exchange made a very creditable
night for equitable taxation, but at no stage
In that campaign was Mr.. Benson drafted
into active service by the committee that
was hghting the battle OF the taxpayers.
BY its action the exchange showed a dis
trust Of Benson's sincerity as a champion
of equal taxation and that lie almost an in
dictment. The truth Of the matter is that
during that memorable campaign Benson
threw as much cold water on the movement
as he could and showed very little DISPOSE
ton to fight the battle OF the taxpayers
against the corporations. At one time he
even went so far as to say that the ex-
change was e~xerting itself altogether too
much in fighting the taX-shirking corpora
lions and that the exchange would &C
complish more beneficial work by devotlng
Its energies to suburban property on the
installment plan. fApplause.) II Mr.. Ben
son had had his way the tax fight would
probably have been abandoned before II had
begun.
THE gentleman who is now chairman OF
the Benson executive committee and one
Of our most prominent merchants was in
vited by the exchange to a confidential
meeting at which a proposition was being
considered for compromising the assessment
OF the franchised corporations. To my
great surprise that gentleman expressed
himself as decidedly in favor OF a com
promise and when he asked ne whether l
concurred with him l retorted and said:
my dear sir, II l had a suit in court
against you for 5000 and the final outcome
was uncertain I would be willing to com
promise, tut II l had a judgment from the
supreme court OF Nebraska for IS, 1000
against you I would not take a cent less
than the whole amount with interest. We
have a judgment that entities us to tax the
corporations on the value of their tangible
properties and their franchises on a stock
and bond value basis and II seems to me
utterly out of the question for us now
to surrender any part OF the rightful claim
for the full measure of taxes to which
Omaha is entitled
What BensOnites Forget
Nov, these are the gentlemen who are
trying to array the taxpayers against
Frank e. Moores. They seem to have for
gotten that he appointed the board of re-
view, that not only voted to sustain the
tax commissioner in his assessment OF
franchised corporations. but resisted all
corporate pressure and voted to assess the
railroads for the full value of their term
inals and properties within the city limits
of Omaha, / cannot comprehend how these
gentlemen of the exchange can consistently
20 back on the man who firmly stood by
them and made 1t possible for them to
score a substantial victory. / feel sure
the taxpayers OF Omaha will gratefully APP
p~reciate the faithful service rendered by
the last Board of Review and will not be
swayed by the appeals of the
The opponents Of Frank q. Moores have
yet to point out a single item OF corruption
and dishonesty in his municipal administra-
| ton. (Applause.) They admit that as
mayor Of Omaha he has been as economical
and prudent as the circumstances would
permit. They admit that he has vetoed any
number Of bills and claims that he con-
/ sidered excessive or unlawful and has OPP
posed every measure he deemed injurious
to the public welfare. Every intelligent
republican knows that a vote for Benson is
half a vote for Ed Howell. and the Benson
ties know 1t as we'll as you or l do. They
tell me privately that they do not care
whether Benson is elected or not, but
they want to defeat Moores. They
want to withdraw a sunicient num-
Der of votes from the republican
candidate, who is opposed by all the
corporations, to elect the democratic candi-
date, whom they know to be the choice Of
the corporations. They are not nghting the
battle Of Omaha, but most OF them are
fighting Frank e. Moores under all sorts
Of pretexts in order to get even.
Their Home Rule Record.
They tell us they favor home rule. but
they repudiated home rule when they en-
dorsed the Howell-Gilbert bill that en-
powered the governor TO appoint a water
works commission for Omaha without the
consent of it's people. This water works
board appointed by a governor who has no
interest in Omaha is to negotiate the pur-
chase Of the water works that will involve
a bond issue OF $1,000, 900 or So. 600, 900, but
the board is not answeTable for
It's acts either to the taxpayers
of Omaha OF to the governor
that appointed 1t. Does this show that the
Bensonites are sincerely in favor OF HON