The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-03-28
ON A new PLAN.
Railroad Assessors Won't Travel
i'm State.
No Special Trains for Them
This Year.
BEGIN WORK TODAY.
Inspection of the Santa Fe Shop
District.
Tomorrow They Will Go Down
to Chanute.
BEGIN WORK TODAY.

Lieutenant Governor Fitzgerald.
State Auditor Nation and State Treas
urer Mark Tulley, members of the
state board of railroad assessors, are
making a personal investigation this
afternoon of the Santa Fe shop dis
trict in Topeka, for the purpose of
finding out for themselves what the
railroad property ought to be worth.
Tomorrow these same state officials
Will start on a trip to Chanute, Pitts
burg and Parsons, where they will in
spect railroad shops and terminals
Next week they will visit Kansas City.
Kan. and take a run down over the
Santa Fe to Emporia, Newton, Flor
ence and Wichita.
Later on they will go out over some
of the Missouri Pacific and Union Pa
cific branch lines, for the purpose of
finding out whether these branch
lines are assessed in proportion to their
value. compared with the main lines
These trips will not be made in spe-
cial trains, or even in special cars
I'VE will travel just as ordinary citi-
zens travel" said Lieutenant Cover
nor Fitzgerald today. The railroads
offered US any facilities we might re-
quest for inspecting the lines, but We
prefer not to have any special favors
except a man detailed to show US
around the property when we are
ready to inspect it. We don't want to
be taken up as brass thieves, or any
think like that.
This inspection trip won't be much
like the old time ''junkets" which IN
former years used to disgrace the
state board of railroad assessors THESE
''junkets'' have been unfaShiona bic or
late years, and the railroad assessors
have made their guess on the value OF
railroad property by sitting in their
offices and reading figures. Now the
personal inspection feature IS revived
but ii isn't a junket-or at any rate
II is a very much dehorned Junket.
1t used to be the custom for the
railroads to furnish special train or
Pullmans, with a well stocked amer
and buffet, to the board of railway as
SCISSORS for their inspection trip The
board invited all their friends, and the
excursion was grand season or mer-
rvna king. After being -lavishly en-
tertafned at the expense of the rail-
roads the board would come back
TO Topeka in calm and judicial frame
of mind to determine how much tax
the railroads would have to pay.
This new board of railway asses
sors'' said Mr.. Fitzgerald, feels that
it should have a little personal know
ledge of railway terminals and rail-
way buildings. We want to see what
these buildings listed by the railways
look like. Only one member OF the
board has ever done any of this work
before. We want to arrive at fair
valuation of railroad property, and
then assess 1t upon the same basis of
vaIuatio which prevails in the local
ity where the property is located. The
people of Kansas are getting tired of
the system of Juggling railroad values,
and jockeying the railroad assess
lnents. The people have discovered
that there has been a good deal of
that going on in the past, and they
are tired of it..
Lists have been prepared of all the
railroad buildings listed by the rail-
road companies in their reports at the
various terminals. The inspection trip
of the board will serve to show
whether the buildings are really |
there. and whether the full list has
been submitted.