Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-07

| property for city taxation should also
| value railroad property within the city
Whereas, Said bill, II passed, will not
reduce the state, county or school taxes
| paid by the railroads anywhere in any
| county or school district, or in any man.
| ner or form affect the same; and,
Whereas, Said railroads own more
| than 20 per cent of the entire property
! assessed in Omaha and pay less than
per cent OF the city taxes; therefore,
| Resolved, That in the interest OF
equality of taxation, we urge the legis-
| lature to pass said bill and to pass a
| like bill for every other city and WI
| lage that may desire the same.
What old and prominent citizens termed
enc Of the most. IL not the most, repre-
sentative and enthusiastic mass meetings
ever held in Omaha for the promotion Of
any cause vitality affecting the welfare of
the city was that splendid gathering last
night in the council chambers of the city
! hall, where the issue of railroad taxation
! was exhaustively and effectively dealt with.
| The meeting was brought about through
the efforts OF the Real Estate exchange,
! and that organization exertcd no effort in
vain. The audience included several hun
| dred. 1t could not have been more repre-
sentative had committee been sent out
| to select it-except that the railroads,
! through their own volition, we're not rep
! resented.
The capitalist, the laborer, the merchant,
the manufacturer the builder or con-
tractor, the professional man in his sew
eral capacities, the politician, the office
holder-all were there and all had a voice
and used it. But the railroads, who are
maintaining the only actual opposition to
! the cause which this assemblage pro-
NOTED, were absent. The result was that
the sentiment of the meeting was unani-
nous and pronounced for what was tersely
| expressed by the chairman, T. ]. Mahoney,
| equality before the law in the matter of
taxation"
The meeting was simply forcible dem
| onstration OF that determined movement on
the part of the citizens OF Omaha to abolish
| the present method of taxing railroads in
Omaha for city purposes. This determine
tion has found expression in house roll Ill,
introduced in the present Nebraska legisla-
ture by Representative Ten Eyck OF Doug
las county. providing for the repeal Of that
clause in section 9S of the Omaha city char
ter which compels the city to accept the
mileage valuation of the state board in
stead of the fair cash value.
shows Taxpayers' stand.
II the meeting was productive OF but a
single result IT was to show beyond per-
adventure that the. taxpayers OF this city
are overwhelmingly and unequivooally be-
hind this bill. The people Of Omaha, there
fore as was conclusively shown by this
gathering, have grown tired of paying the
enormous taxes which the railroads should
pay, and demand that the law step in and
prohibit these financial giants from shrk-
ing their Just burdens and transferring
them to the shoulders of the weaker mem
1 bers Of society. Several members Of the
legislature from Omaha and Douglas county
we're present, and the one who spoke, Mr..
Ten Eyck, the introducer Of this bill.
pledged the unanimous and unwayering
support Of himself and every one of his
colleagues to the measure. The meeting
adopted informal resolutions in support OF
the Ten Eyck bill.
The speakers of the evening were ]. II.
Mcintosh w. c.. Ure, e. Rosewater, G. NJ.
Hitchcock, Herman Kountze, L. v. Guye.
William S. Poppleton. Thomas Fitzpatrick,
w. B. Ten Eyck and Robert Smith.
SIcIntOsh States Question.
Mr.. Mcintosh declared it was the best
meeting Of the kind he had ever seen held
in Omaha during a residence Of sixteen
years.
'The question before us tonight" said
Mr. Mcintosh, "is, shall the railroads with
terminals in this city have special tri-
bunal to fix their assessments, or shall
they go before the same tribunal that fixes
the assessments of every other taxpayer
in Omaha?"
He answered his own question by de-
claring:
"All we ask is that the railroads face the
same tribunal that every other Omaha tax
payer faces. Equality before the law, then,
is our only plea"
As showing the falsity and absurdity of
the values which the Union Pacific railroad
now gives for its Omaha terminals, Mr..
Mcintosh quoted from the testimony OF
former Chief Engineer Bogue of that COM
pany in the maximum rate case, where
Mr.. Bogue stated, under OATH that the
Union Pacific Omaha terminals then, in
1894, we're worth not less than $4,000, 900,
and II vacant could not be bought for
SIS, 900, 900, which, incidentally, is half the
amount John N. Baldwin now says would
be required to reproduce the company 3
entire system in Nebraska.
"If that property could not be bought
for $15, ,0OO, 900 in 1894, what must be its
value today, after these years Of unparal-
leled railroad prosperity3'' asked Mr.. Nc
Intosh.
what the Union Pacific Pays.
"Your property" continued the speaker,
worth $15,0OO.O0O will be valued for that
amount for city taxes or any other taxes.
Is, then, the Union Pacific terminal prop
erty valued at SIS, 900? Oh, no, It is
valued at the munihcent sum OF SCI, $40. 40.
And on this basis for 1903 its taxes for
city purposes will be S67649, OF less than
one-half the taxes OF the Commercial bank
building and p per cent of the taxes OF
Hayden Bros. store building. This S676. 49
is the total tax the Union Pacific pays on
it's 400 acres and more OF land in the heart
Of Omaha, equal to 1872 city blocks. in
eluding all it's terminals, its big, fine depot,
and in fact everything except its general
headquarters buildings and shops. 1t is
less than the annual salary OF single
policeman who stands at the entrance OF
the Union Pacihc's depot and protects and
guards its throngs Of passengers.
But tue Burlington is no better. II Is
worse, II possible. In 1894 In this same
rate case the Burlington officials swore to
terminal valuation in Omaha Of 81 s63 =
1920. II the present law is allowed "a
stand the Burlington win this year pay OF
these millions for city taxes In Omaha
$3.50 25."
Mr.. Mcintosh then took up the claim Of
the Union Pacific that Il is distributing
throughout the several counties through