Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1903-01-22

If the value Of railroad property is to
be added up, it will call for expert
knowledge and the governors plan lis
to make a board of assessment by add
ing to the present three tax commits
sioners a civil (railroad) engineer and
an expert accountant Ali this is rea-
sonable, if the substitute system be
adopted.
How Citizens Feel.
I should Gather from conversation
that the railway commission project
will add to the governors new friends.
The big shippers are against tin
deed, it was they who have by united
among them support of the governor
has not recently been strong. Tie
retail business men, however, whose
freight tranGac tiOns are comparative
ly small for short distances, seem to
relish the idea of a state check on
freight rates. An effort will be made
by the railroads to limit their enthus-
iasm by the scare of more politicians
in office and there is no subject a
knot of business men can get so an
cry about as the erection f new places
for officeholders. On the other hand,
the subject of taxing mortgages has
made lots of opposition. The report Of
the tax commission is not yet in and
what the commission will do with this
matter of taxing personal property is
uncertain. 1t is a fact, however, that
many Of the student experts of the
country are boldly denying the whole
roposition-saying it is impossible,
that it leads to double taxation, and
y that the only way to head off a rich
man who owns stocks and bonds and
mortgages, is not to seek to tax these
things. but to tax his income. Eng
land has been doing this for genera
lions, and an old country knows
lots of things that younger nations
must work out by bitter experience.
Nominations by the People.
While many of us are willing now to
try primary elections on a smaller
scale than the full state area, Gov
ernor LaFollette in his message in
sists on the full programme. His rea'
soning that the state platform which,
it is true, binds the party to the aboli-
tion of all caucuses and conventions
is binding for instance, on the Madison
city district assemblyman, whose con-
stituents probably feel differently, or,
at least, look to their assemblyman to
use discretion in the scope of an initial
law-this contention of the governor
is already disputed. 1t may be that
the governor demands all in the eX-
pectation that thus he will get more of
a law than if he comedies anything.
At all events, it is like the governor,
and altogether admissible. There are
so many trimmers, so many back-fill-
and-hedge men in public life, that it
is refreshing to have a governor who
is positive, who knows exactly what
he wants. Mckinley was not that
way, but Mckinley is not the only
type of publicist. LaFollette is asre-
former, with powers and principalitfes
against him. He is a fighter and
great numbers of people relish that
vigorous policy. Only the other day
/ sent a young reporter down among
our railroad employees to gather items
of general character. 1t was just
after the message. "It's LaFollette
crowd" he reported significantly when
he returned. Ms
The Spirit of the Senate. E1:
There are thirty-three members OF
the senate, three Of them DEMOCRATS.
Generally speaking, the Quandom stall
warts have a majority in the upper
body. The gulf between the factions
is fxed-that is, a number of these
senators will never be found in the
governors personal following, except
as men may for expediency's sake
align themselves with man who wins
and who they think is going to win,
and most of them will never do that.
The present senate, with here and
there weak sister, is notable body
of men of intelligence, public virtue
and right spirit, which few states in
the Union can duplicate. And, as a
rule, the attitude of the senators to-
ward the governor, if cautious, is on
the high plane of public duty. White
head, forging his big form through the
crowd at the inaugural reception. to
pay his respects; Kreutzer, Riordan
and others repeatedly calling at the
executive office until they found the
governor in to receive them, had moth
ing Of the sycophant in it; but grim,
manly determination to do their duty
toward the executive of the state AL
though these stalwarts controlled. the
organization Of the senate, they went
out of their way to make up the COM
mittee which will consider and report
the primary election bill with ma
jority of avowed governors support
erS. M@
A Disposition TO Do Right.
Thus the session opens up auspi-
ciously, with more good feeling than
most men expected, with many men Of
ability in both houses, with an honest
governor and a disposition in what
- q ,trop11O11S Sacciop do