The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-02-10
ALL OWN Way.
Bale Waggener and Senator
Smith Run Things.
Show the Tax Committees How
TO Agree.
ONLY ONE VOTE TAKEN.
That Was on Taxation Of Hort
cages.
ONLY ONE VOTE TAKEN.
Atchison Democrat Scored
Another Victory.

taxation committee last night over the
proposition to strike out the exemption
OF notes and mortgages from taxation.
The exemption was made last week af-
ter fight for it had been made by Mr..
Waggener The whole thing was thresh-
ed over again last night. and Waggener
finally won again by a vote of Il to 13,
and the proposition to exempt notes and
mortgages still remains in the tax bill.
Many of the members declare that
Waggener's eloquence can never get it
through both branches of the Iegisla-
ture in this shape, although he is able to
control the tax committee. They say
the legislature cannot afford to pass
such q law.
This was the only question referred to
the committee last night. The balance
of the amendments to the tax bill Smith
and Waggener fixed up between them
selves, and as they agreed there was no
necessity for the committee to act on it.
Mr. Waggener would get up and re-
mark:
Here is an amendment to section
SO-and-so, which wish to offer Sena-
tor Smith and agree on it, 50 there is
no use in taking time to read it,"
As a rule these were amendments
which had previously been tacitly
agreed on, but it sounded peculiar TO
hear Waggener and Smith do the whole
thing, while 80 or more other men sat
around and listened.
The only question referred to the COM
mittee by Smith and Waggener was on
the subject of taxing notes and mort
cages. When the amendment was
adopted last week exempting these in
struments, Smith did not oppose it. In
stead he seemed to favor it. Smith af-
forwards explained to some of his
friends that he did not want 10 start a
fight on that proposition until he got
some other things irOned out.
The question came up last night on
motion by Smith to strike out the ex-
emptiOn of notes and mortgages, and at
the same time he submitted amendment
which he should propose to take its place
His amendment provided not only that
notes and mortgages should be taxed
but that no judgment should be entered
for their collection until it had been
shown that they had been listed for
taxation and the taxes paid on them
Smiths first motion, however. included
only the proposition to strike out the
exemption proposition
Under this proposition to exempt
notes and mortgages, began Senator
Smith. If 1 had hundred dollars and
loaned it to Mr.. Waggener just as an
accommodation to him to pay his board
bill it would be taxable; but if I
should loan him the money as an in
vestment and get interest on it, it
would not be taxable
IF / put thousand dollars in
bank it would be taxable; but if I
should take a time certificate bearing
interest, it would not be taxable, be-
cause it would be an evidence of in
debtedness.
IF I should loan Mr.. Waggener a
thousand dollars on his home and take
a mortgage on it, it would not be tax
able; but if I were a carpenter and
had to take a mechanics lien on it, it
would be taxable. That's the way this
thing works.
Senator Smith defended Mr.. Wag-
gner against the accusation that he
is playing horse" with the committee
and trying to load the tax bill up with
amendments for the purpose of defeat
ing it.
Mr.. Waggener made a great many
valuable suggestions to the tax COM
mission" said Senator Smith. and we
adopted many of them. But there is
one trouble with Mr.. Waggener. He
has spent thirty years of his life in
AtchiSOn, an old town with rich inhab-
itants- Mr.. Waggener himself has told
us of two men over there who have
$500 600 loaned out, and they don't pay
interest on hardly any of it. All his
professional life Mr.. Waggener has
been brought in contact with that
class. He knows what they want but
he doesn't know what the people out
on the farms want
There is nothing startling in this
proposed exemption of notes and mort
CAGES a nunDGT OF WI,1iI are known
as tax experts advocate this same idea.
but most of them do not advocate it
because they think it is equitable, but
because they say it is not possible to
collect such taxes, and they prefer to
exempt them openly than to have peo-
pie be tax dodgers
There is a way to catch these notes
and mortgages. and that IS to tax them
where they are recorded-to consider
the mortgages as an interest in the
real estate on which they are placed
and tax them as interest in that real
estate. Under our present law we are
supposed to tax mortgages, but only a
few conscientious persons, like widows
who are lOaning their husbands life
insurance, ever list them, while the
wealthy men with 100000 escape entire
~ and throw that much more burden on
the few who do report
The other night we haggled here for
Ions time over the question of ex-
empting two horses, a COW or two and
few bushels of grain to each family,
which would have resulted in an ex-
emption of or 10 million dollars in IA
vor Of the poorer people of the state
but we decided that we couldn't afford
even that. But by single stroke, IN
der the hypnotizing influence of Mr.
Waggener's eloquence. we wiped out 400
millions belonging to the money lenders,
and place just that much more burden
on the poor people
Mr.. Waggener argues that to tax
notes and mortgages will be to raise
interest to the borrowers OF the state
Suppose for the sake of argument that
is true. The great majority of the peo-
/ pie are not borrowers For the sake Of
those who borrow Mr.. Waggener would
exempt 400 millions of property from
/ taxation and throw that much more
burden on those who are fore handed
enough to do business on their own
capital instead of borrowing it.
But maintain that taxing notes and
/ mortgages viii not raise interest IA ties.
The country is already full of money
seeking investment Hundreds of lhous-
ands Of dollars are lying idle in the
/ east money is being. sent to England and
France and Germany for investment
With this condition of affairs. do you
suppose that interest viii lbe raised2
This law which we propose is no ex-
pertinent Massachusetts has declared
for twenty-five years that a mortgage