Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-08-18

Louis POst-D Dispatch. This is not
correct. The mistaken impress
sion has, in all probability, grown
out of the fact that two years ago,
in comparing the assessment of
public service corporations made
by the Missouri state board, with
like assessment made in surround
ing states, l called attention to the
ridiculously low assessment of the
st. Louis Post Dispatch.
That paper was insisting that
property in st. Louis assessed by
the local assessor was listed for
taxing purposes at 70 per cent of
its actual value, while the state
board was only assessing public
service corporations at about half
that figure. After citing the fact
that the Missouri state board as
sessed corporations in Missouri
from so to 1870 per cent higher than
in any of adjoining states, that the
st. Louis street railways at more
than three times as much as they
were assessed by the Republican
city assessor, | cited the Post Dis
pdtch's own assessment to show the
untruthfulness of the statement that
property in st. Louis was assessed
at 70 per cent.
The Joseph Pulitzer Publishing
Company, better known as the st.
Louis Post Dispatch, is capitalized
at a million dollars, fully paid up.
Its owners swear it is worth 100
cents on the dollar. AS a matter
of fact, it could not be bought at
anything like hat sum. The as
sessment for the year | wrote the
article, 1901, of this million dollar
corporation, instead of being $780,
900, as would have been the figures
had the Post-D Dispatches statement
been correct, was S25, 900. Instead,
therefore, of an assessment of 70
per cent, the POST Dispatch for the
year 1901 paid on a valuation of
2 1-2 per cent.
In commenting on the success
full effort of the Post Dispatch to
evade its just proportion of the
state and city taxes, | used this
language: 81 know of no other
taxpayer in the state, farmer, mer-
chant, laborer, mechanic, corpor-
alton, or what not his business
may be, who has attained such
colossal success as a tax dodger as
Millionaire Pulitzer's st. Louis
million dollar newspaper"
The assessment of the Post Dis
patch for the present year, | UNDER
stand, has been increased to some
thing like $4,000. This is the pa
per that is charging the Missouri
state board of equalization with
favoring public service corpora
tons.
And yet the Post Dispatch we'll
knows that the Missouri state board
assesses corporate property 4S pei
cent higher than in Illinois, so pei
cent higher than in Kansas and
1870 per cent higher than in Iowa,
The Post Dispatch knows that the
Missouri state board assessed the
street railways of St. Louis 200 pei
cent more than the assessment
} made by the last Republican city
assessor. The Post Dispatch knows
t that the present state board in the
, last three years has increased the
: assessments of steam railroads
= more than $4,000 per mile, and tina
, no other state in the union show
3 a greater increase in corporate as
; sessment. The Post Dispatch fur
: Their knows that if it's own assess
ment was made on the same basil
as that governing the state boart
: of equalization in fixing the valu'
I of public service corporations, tina
r instead of paying taxes on $1,000
, it would pay on not less thai
S350,O00.
call attention to these facts t.
S correct the impression that tn
state board of equalization is re
! sponsible for the ridiculously loy
assessment of the Post Dispatch
and also to expose the dishonest,
of that papers warfare on Demo
cratic rule in Missouri.
SAM B. Cook.