Omaha daily bee., 1906-08-01

the agency reports. which are connden-
tial"
Have you anything eiseT'
Yes. sir. common report"
Have you anything else7"
We'll. we know they are not assessed
high enough. II you want TO know any
thing more. why don't you send for the
Omaha merchants Ask them II they are
answered Miller.
your county assessor says Lincoln
wholesale merchants are not assessed
high enough" said Galusha- what about
that?"
We'll. send for them. I will defend
the Lincoln merchants. Let omaha mer-
chants protest then.' said Miller.
The board. acting upon the advice Of
the attorney general concluded to invite
the merchants of Omaha interested to ap-
pear Wednesday morning. having no
power to compel their attendance. The
county assessor, however, will be sum-
moned TO appear.
The letter written by Mr.. Baum to Mr..
Miller, which Governor Mickey said con-
tsined the statement that Assessor Reed
had been fixed" was finally produced. as
was also the answer by Mr.. Miller. Mr..
Baum's letter is follows:
Letter of J. Y. Baum.
OMAHA, June 80, 1865. f. Miller, Pres
ident Commercial Club, Lincoln, Neb.
Dear Sir-It is currently reported in
Omaha that your club again intends to
make a protest against the assessment Of
| stocks Of merchandise in Omaha II | am
wrongly Informed in this, then l wish to
apologize in advance for writing this let
ter, but IL l am correct | hope that my
letter win receive your serious and careful
In my opinion, the great increase in taxa
ton within the last few years on stocks
Of merchandise is due to the fact that the
railroads. who should bear large portion
OF the burden, are escaping with COM
paratively a small levy and in order to
put the various cities and counties In n
position to raise a certain amount of rev.
enue for their current expenses without
calling on the railroads for a heavy tax,
| this last revenue law was put through the
| legislature, so you and we have to thank
the railroad companies for the unfortu-
nate position that we find ourselves in.
One of the unfortunate features of this
| law is the extraordinary power given to
! the county assessors which makes II pos
sible, where an unfortunate selection is
/ made for an entire community to be
placed on a basis that Is relatively unfair
and out OF proportion to other counties.
operating under an assessor whose ideas
! are otherwise l think that 1t Is generally
admitted that Lancaster county has been
SCISSOR who has crowded the assessment
| beyond any reasonable limit and whose
| rulings are at variance with those of
other assessors operating under the same
| law
II this is true, your recourse is not
! against Douglas county or any other
] county Of the state but should be against
/ the corporation influence that enacted the
law and against the individual whose I'M
usual Interpretation OF the law throws an
II seems to me the business men of Lin
coin could better AFFORD to- direct their
| efforts toward a lowering of their own
| rather toward raising
| OF other counties.
! I recall circumstance of one OF your
/ club members appearing before the state
| board last year and testifying that the as
\ sessments Of the ---- was too low.
believe ] am absolutely correct in saying
| that this gentleman has not for three
! years boon in the establishment and has
| never at any time been beyond the office
railing and in his one or two brief calls at
| our ONCE did not enter the warehouse part
! OF our building at all and could not posi-
! bly, have seen through the walls and par
/ titions to know anything whatever about
the amount and condition of our stock.
/ Nevertheless our assessment was raised
] in an amount which increased our taxes
| several hundred dollars on this testimony
and that Of other equally vague and un-
| certain with reference to other stocks OF
merchandise in this city, the general re-
| suit being an increase Of Is per cent for
| every business man in Omaha.
l am writing you this letter personally
I because I feel that you do not realize the
| antagonism and hard feeling toward Lin.
| coin that you are creating as a club and as
an individual when you go into a transac.
| ton OF this kind. I think Lincoln and
| Omaha could better themselves by work.
| ing with each other rather than against each
| other and l have been in hopes that the
| recent visit OF our Commercial club to Lin.
| coin might be the beginning OF a more
! friendly cooperation. and was much sur.
| prised at the newspaper articles indicating
that there would be a repetition OF last
| years tax fight. l hope you will use youi
| influence to avoid anything of this kind
! Sincerely, J. f. BAUM.
Miller Indites Reply.
| LINCOLN, Neb., July dear Sir: Your
! favor OF June 30 only cav ITO my hand!
| yesterday. Some unusual 'rk had KEEP
| me away from my desk. he zee the delay.
| You address me as president of the Com
| merclal club, and a little later speak o.
! writing me personally" l am, there
| fore, in some doubt as 10 waether shoulC
| give you merely a personal reply or WRITE
! you officially as president OF the club. Al
| l did not wish to make the club responsible
| for my individual opinion or conduct
| presume 1t is better to make this lettel
| a statement OF my own position, leaving
| the club free to act as its board may de
eide. You are, perhaps, toTerably right II
your opinion that the corporations are re
| sponslble for the present revenue law and
II II is true that they are, II is a REASONABLE,
| presumption that their motive was not tn,
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