Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1906-08-30
COMMUNICATIONS.


On one of these rainy days i happened
TO get the Reporter and Farmer of May
3, 1906. in my hands, and seeing the
words: THAT Railroad Tax" read
the article When read il in May,
admired it, and now, letting those
knocks at the World drop out, it seemed
to me that you were entitled to my
thanks for it. which are hereby ten
dered. II is the best article that has
been in the Reporter and Farmer since
the capital fight. 1t is an educator and
an eye-opener. Yes, il most convinced
the Hon. Nels Lindgren that the rail
road tax is not now collected and dis
bursed under the laws Of the Territory
of Dakota.
Mr.. Editor, you prove conclusively
that mile of railroad is of greater value
than COW, and therefore pays larger
amount of tax. But it looks to me that
your comparisons do not go quite far
enough, and with your permission l
shall extend il little further. Now let
us look at the paying of that tax. The
man that pays for the cows takes the
money from his own pocket. The rail
road company, on the other hand, digs
into every bushel of grain farmer
brings to the elevator, and every animal
shipped in or out of the country, as well
as every lot of lumber, pound of coal,
machinery and other merchandise has
TO pay a certain amount to the railroad
company before the railroad company
pays the tax to the county treasurer.
According to a statement of the Webs
ter World of July IL, 1906. that from
Sept. 1, 1905, to April 80, 1905, there
have been shipped out of the county
$3.50 car loads of farm produce. With
these figures before US we can safely
say that thefarmers of Day county have
paid about three fourths of the taxes
which the railroad company has paid
into the Day county treasury.
Your article further shows that the
Milwaukee railroad has paid over 5000
in taxes for its main line in Day county
and that this amount has been divided
between eight townships. And it looks
TO be a very unjust divisian, when we
know that every township in the county
has helped to pay the railroad company.
And il we compare the different locali-
ties it will look still worse. II we take
Il. G. Toy, of Andover township, as one.
He can very easy take 100 bushels of
wheat from his farm aud put it into an
elevator at Andover in one day, and
have his team cared for by six or seven
o'clock In the evening. Now, let us look
ut Ingebret Nelson, of Nutley township.
He has to be up at four or five o'clock in
the morning to get fifty bushels of
wheat loaded, and, il the roads are
good, he may get 10 Webster by one or
two o'clock. aud by hurrying he may be
able to start home by four, or half past
and get home by nine or ten and have
his team cared for by eleven o'clock,
and both man and team are unfit for a
full days work the next day. And Mr..
Nelson pays as much Of the railroad tax
for every bushel of grain delivered at
the elevator as Mr.. Toy. But Mr.. Toy
and Andover township get benefit of
over 81 900 Of the railroad tax, and Mr..
Nelson and Nutley township do not get
q cent
Now, Mr. Editor. il you, or anyone,
will show in the Reporter and Farmer
the business of law that compels such
collections and allows such distribution,
will be very much obliged. AS to me,
il looks to very unjust and ought to be
repealed. Just look at il. Andover get
ting over $1,000, Pennington nothing,
Bristol over 81 400, Lynn nothing, Webs
ter over u 200, Rusk and Raritan moth
ing, Waubay over 81 600, Granville
nothing. and the Same for the outside
townships. Now, my friends, II this Is
jU4t1Vcs IVA 0OA oHhC w NV give w
any more OF it, tat something else not
quite 90 bad BY the way, Mr.. Editor,
don't yon think it would be good plan
for the old republican machine this fall
to redeem the pledge given by the
republican county convhntion In 1898?
(That must have been forgotten.) That
the Day county delegation to the state
Legislature SHOULD nse all their infiu-
ence and ability to secure more just
and equal distribution Of the railroad
tax" But now that there il practically
nothing bat republicans IN Day county,
Is seems that the question may be taken
up, and that there would be no danger
81 : repetition Of those despicable acts
perpetrated by the machinists during
the 1893 campaign.
For Justice and equal rights.
Respectfully yours,
Il. J. Langeland.
Our correspondent evidently gathered
) wrong impression from the article in
49, sr<a