The Boise citizen. (Boise, Idaho) 1906-1910, 1907-02-15
RhILROhD
ThXhTI0N
fire Favored Blu Board
OF EQUALIZATION
ONLY PAY ON ONE fHLF VALUE
Republican Paper Calls Attention
to Serious hbese

The Paris (Bear Lake County, Post
makes the following solar plexus blow
at railroad domination in Idaho affairs:
"The following resolution was intro
duced in the Wyoming legislature:
"Be it resolved by the house of rep
Section 1.-That a committee of three
members be appointed by the speaker
to investigate into the matter of taxa
ton by the state board of equaliza-
ton; to investigate how railroad and
other assessments were arrived at, what
information, if any, was before the state
board of equalization at the time of
assessment, and to obtain all other in
formation relevant thereto. Said COM
mittee shall have power to summon state
officers and other persons before it to
give testimony, examine such public
documents that it deems advisable, and
do all other things which in its judg-
ment shall seem proper and expedient'
Wyoming and Idaho have the low
est railroad assessments of any states
in the Union. 1t may safely be said that
those two states have been under the
control of the railroads these many
years. The board of equalization have
been completely in the hands of the
railroads, and these corporations have
dictated on every occasion what the
assessment of the railroads should be.
The consequence has been that the rail-
ways in Idaho and Wyoming have been
assessed at about one-tenth their ac-
tual value, while real estate livestock
and other property in Idaho is
being assessed at about so per cent
its actual valuation, for instance sheep
at $3.50 per head, and cows at $40 per
head What justice is there in this ?
And who reaps the benefits, and who
is to blame for this condition of af-
fairs? The stockholders of the railroad
reap the main benefit by raking in their
dividends, which reaches the millions
every year on all the roads passing
through these two states. The boards
OF equalization of these two states also
reap benefits We would not like to
say that they actually receive cash for
their subserviency in being plant tools
of the railroads, but we do say that they
are benehciaries in other ways. For in
stance they have free transportation for
themselves and families and for their
friends by the score, and these perqui
sites the people have to pay for in an
unjust proportion of taxes, and the rail-
roads are thus allowed to defraud the
state by paying only a very small per-
centage of what they ought to pay, and
the balance of what belongs to the
state goes into the Golfers of the mil
lionaire stockholders of the companies.
1t is full time that the legislatures of
these two states should take the matter
up and investigate how the equalization
boards allow such an unjust assessment.
But we fail to see that our Idaho legis-
lature is taking any step of this kind,
and we would certainly be much sur
prised if they did seeing that they are
nearly all under obligations to the rail-
roads for free transportation So long
as the railroads can buy equalization
boards and members of the legislature
with free rides, just SO long will these
evils continue. No wonder that the
railroad commission bill, and the anti
pass bill are subjected to the waste
basket in the Idaho legislature. No
wonder that those members who desire
the passage of just measures for the
general good of the people have to break
away from party ties and join with
the Democrats in order to pass these
measures which the people and the party
platforms of both parties absolutely de-
mand"