Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1906-04-20

W
crowd when it comes to railroad
assessment, and herewith we publish
an article from the Lead Daily Call
which explains the system by which
bosses contribution or corporation
favOrS. The political bosses in this
state, and in every state, have to
make good to the corporations for
their help and support and the only
way the bosses can pay the corpora
tiOnS is by undervaluatiOn Of corpora
tion and trust property and thus skin
the farmer, the merchant and the
labOrer. When you read this expos
ure of the methods of the machine
bosses and how nicely they skin the
honest tax payers of the state to
make good the Northwestern and
Burlington taxes over in the Black
Hills, you will not wonder why these
roads desire to keep Boss Martin and
Boss Kittredge in place and in power.
If the railroads in this state were
assessed the same as the railroads in
North Dakota, our farmers and buSl-
ness men would save over $3OO,O a
year, and if assessed as in Nebraska
our people would save over 100000 a
year, but read the Call article. 1t
tells of other robber methods by the
machine. There are no sidctfdckS in
this state. or depOtS or engines or
nothing but main tracks.
Now Mr.. Taxpayer, what do you
Your COW, horse, dog, and furniture
are made to pay a part of this enorm-
Gus amount the railroads ought to
pay but don't, thanks to a Martin, a
kittredge and an Elrod, who stand
to skin the honest taxpayers in order
that the railroads may escape honest
taxation.
Every citizen of the state who sup
ports the machine gang faVors q cen
of this Infamous system.
Every farmer. business man or
laborer who votes the machine ticket
on caucus day next month, votes to
be robbed in order that the corpora
tions may fatten and boss heelers of
the machine remain in power.
Every voter in the state knows
what the conditions have been in a
general way, but this assessment
trick is just getting out among the
people, and they are thinking as they
never thought before. They are
learning why the corporations are so
anxious to retain Kit and the other
machine men in power, and in thus
studying the conditions which have
robbed them in the past, are now
determined that corporation domina-
tion in state business must cease.
This system of tax robbery in favor
Of the corporations has been going on
since statehood. 1t is an infamous
condition of affairs, and the sO-called
stands for continual
tion of this system.
Don't forget your duty you honest
lax payer when you go to the caucuses
next month.
Don't forget that the machine ele-
ment stands to help the corporations
out at your expense, and don't forget
to elect delegates for Crawford and
Gamble and the machine jobbery will
cease.
Read the following article from the
Lead Daily Call and you will realize
how nicely you have been skinned:
The taxes received from all the
railroads in the state last year was
the sum of $239, ,339. 10.
If we had assessed at the same rate
that Wyoming does, we should have
received $425, 900. At the same rate
that North Dakota does, $64O,00O, or
at the same rate that Nebraska does,
81 900. 900. The state auditors report
of both North Dakota and Nebraska
show side tracks and other railway
property carefully scheduled and
assessed. The auditors report for
South Dakota, does not show a single
side track, locomotive, car, depot, or
any other property but the main
track. And we have the spectacle of
railroad companies falsely calling
main track side track, to dodge taxes,
and by this device the trick is done.
In 1900 the G. B. & q. and the O. u
N. W. both ran their main lines into
Lead. But to avoid paying taxes
they call their main lines into Lead
side tracks, make no return thereon
and pay no taxes. For four years the
CITY has not received dollar of taxes
from either of these roads except a
nom inal tax from the trolley line.
These roads should have paid 3d.
900 annually into the city treasury Of
Lead which it has been cheated out
of.
South Dakota has railroad COM
empowered by law to make
both passenger and freight maximum
rates and also to make freight claSsifi-
cation. 1t is burlesque on the
name it bears. Among other things
the law requires it to publish these
rates in two newspapers of the state.
one in Lawrence and one In Mime
haha county. Have you ever seen
any of these schedules published in
any Lawrence county paper? | guess
rot.
The low grade ores of the Black
Hills must have cheap coal to De
mined and treated. Here is the diff