Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-05-11
RAILROAD HEARING NOW on
Northwestern Representatives, Explain Dis
ospsuOisS in Two Reports.
COVER DIFFERENT PERIODS OF TIME
Nissouri Psciac Asks a Reduetios On
POrt,ou OF tie Line which g
Alleges Does Not Pay
Expenses.


LINCOLN. May .0-(Special. Frank p
craudon. tax commissioner OF the North
western. and Ben White. attorney for the
ssnie corporation. appeared before the
State Board OF Assessment this afternoon
to explain the inquiry made by Mr.. Nor
Jensen as TO an apparent discrepancy Of
some ti3OO0.OOo. az shown by the report TO
the stockholders and the report to the
state board.
Mr. Crandon said the report TO the stock
holders was made March 81, 1905. and the
report to the board covered the situation
existing June 90 1905. and many changes
might be made IN that time.
Bonds to the amount OF s.. 81, 900 had been
retired. he said, while Ss,soO.Oo0 bonds had
been issued 90 buy the stock OF the Chi
csgo. st. Paul. Minneapolis 4 Omaha. S2,Oeo
debenture bonds had been paid. which made
w the discrepancy Of s1S,Ooo,oOo. The re-
port 10 the stockholders showed securities
to the amount OF Sl5sOoO.OOO I'm round num-
bsra and TO the board SlS9.OoOOoo.
M Mortensen wanted to know why the
81 100 900 held IN the sinking fund was not
a'l asset 10 be assessed Mr.. Crandon
assured the board these bonds had been
placed in the sinking fund and could not be
used by the oficers. II was merely case.
he said. OF buying up ones own securities
and. therefore, they should not be assessed.
This brought on a lengthy argument in
which Mortensen maintained the securities
held In the sinking fund constituted an
investment and saved the company from
paying interest at least.
Mortensen wanted 10 know further why
the bonds were not cancelled II they could
not he used. Crandon. however. said this
hn httf hA hal
until the proper time came to pay them on.
Both stuck to their positions. Mortensen,
that the sinking fund is an investment and
should be assessed. while crsndon main
tanned such was not the case
One Line Does got Pay.
At the morning session Of the board Tax
Commissioner Highleyman OF the Missouri
Pacific. in that gentle. easy way Of his.
explained why II was the Pacific railway
ia Nebraska. which is a branch OF the
Missouri Pacific. should be assessed at
little or nothing The man from Missouri
began by telling the board he thought his
system had been we'll treated by the as
sesslng powers OF the state and. though
no doubt he had been assessed too high.
there would be no complaint. Except. OF
course. he said. the Pacific railway. This
line runs for seventy-One miles, from su-
perior to the neighborhood Of Hastings.
This road was operated at a loss of
$4,000 last year. explained the speaker.
1T .is a dead weight on our hands, and
the ofIicinls have figured and figured how
60 make II paying investment. but they
seem unable 10 do il. I suppose u there
was any way to get rid OF II the officials
would gladly do IT,"
y suppose It brings a good deal of
freight to your main line. though" inter-
posed Mr.. Mortensen."
oh, yes Il handles some freight But
as a matter Of fact the entire system OF
the Missouri Pacific has been a losing
proposition this year. The yellow fever
; in the south knocked us out OF business
for ninety days and recently cut near
Jefferson City slid In on us and we were
compelled TO send the passenger trains
around Jefferson City. and we had to let
the freight stack up for fifteen days. All
OF these things have put us In bad shape
In New York IT is asserted by some OF
the financial journals that the reason the
Missouri Pacific Is not making money Is
due 10 bad management. As to that do
not know. but think the management Is
doing as good as any other management
could do. We even had to borrow money
last year to pay dividends"
While Mr.. Highieyman made a neat lit
tie plea for reduction a member OF the
board recalled that both the Northwestern
and the Burlington tapped Adams county
and the same country tapped by the Pa
cine railroad and they are assessed al
about twice as much as the latter road.
MOrtenaen Makes statement.
Al the conclusion of the board meeting
Mr.. Mortensen said in regard to the appar.
ent discrepancy in the reports:
II thought this discrepancy would be
found Ia the bonds assumed by the con
roiidation OF the Northwestern. and other
roads and did not think It would be ex-
plained as IL was. I hnd ] was IN error
and hope the newspapers viii do the road
Justice and explain that was wrong.
think. however, the SssO0.OO0 held in the
sinking fund should have been returned
and l stil think this fund should b
assessed"
r. A. Polleys OF the st. Paul a Omaha
addressed the board and explained his
views on taxing railroads. Mr.. Policy
contends real estate In Nebraska. which 81