Omaha daily bee., 1907-03-21
Railroad Cohorts Open Fight Right from
the Start and Keep it Up
'oTE STANDS FIFTY TO FoRN-THREE
Some Surprises on Both Sides WhO the
Members Line Up
COMMISSION AND PURE FOOD BILLS PASS
Reciprocal DemurraEe Measure O.
F"vorRbly Acted on by the
Senate I'm Committee of
the whole.
(rrom a stan corresponaent.l

(From a Stan Correspondent)
LINCOLN, March N.-(SpeciaL )-After de-
teaung motion by Culdce of Saline to In
definitely postpone the senate terminal tax
bill the house, in committee Of the whole
this afternoon, recommended the measure
for passage The triumph OF the pledge
keeping republicans ana those fuslonists
whom the railroads cannot control came
after the most strenuous and bitter night
Of the session. The railroads fought inch
by inch to kill the bill and they demanded
that their henchmen go to the front for
them, and they went They recruited a new
spokesman In Culdice of Saline and In
Cone Of Saunders, while the old guard, re-
liable and true, Hamer of Buffalo Ixillen
Of Gage, Hill of Chase, all stood firm 10
carry out the orders OF the railroad lobby
TO Kill the bill. Friends of the bill were re-
inforced by Barrett of Buffalo, Hamers
colleague, and by Quackenbush OF Nemaha,
both OF whom talked for the bill. Barrett
read numerous kilograms from home en-
dorsing his position and urging him to
stand pat. Hamer didn't read any or re-
ceive any, showing how the two men stood
with their own people. The railroads first
tried to kill the bill when a motion was
made to discuss 1t in committee of the
whole, they tried to ruin it by amend
ments, which were killed; then they tried
to kill it by having Culdice move to in
definitely postpone 1t; that failed, and then
Cone tried to have the committee merely
report progress and have the whole fight
over again Friday morning. That failed
1t was a slow, painful, hard fight and all
the tricks Of the railroad gang were brought
to bear to kill the measure. but the tricks
were IN vain.
The round won by the people today by no
means assures the passage Of the bill and
the end of the fight, for Hamer gave it out
cold that he intended to fight TO the last
ditch. and Hamer speaks for the railroads.
Friends of the bill believe, however that
many who today voted with the railroad
crowd will be for the bill on its final pas
| sage, because they are beginning to see
| that the railroad arguments against tho
| bill win not hold water and they will re-
fuse to go back on their pledges merely TO
drag railroad chestnuts out of the fire.
One Amendment Adopted.
AS outlined in The Bee this morning, the
measure was amended so that the state
board should assess the rolling stock and
franchise and distribute the value thereof
to the various towns and cities, while the
local assessors should assess only the tang
|
| from the provisions Of the bill the private
! car lines and leave them to the tender
mercies of the state board, which will dis
tribute the value as it does now. though
! the reports these companies are TO file are
much more thorough and contain much
! more detail. Another amendment which
J Cone proposed, and which Clarke agreed to
accept, provided that all railroad property
not on the right-of-way, and therefore as
/ sessed locally, should be distributed as the
Iight-of-way property Is now distributed.
This amendment means that the shops In
/ the various towns now assessed locally
will be distributed over the state, and thus
changes the present law governing the as
! sessment of this property.
After the house had finished bills on third
reading Clarke of Douglas moved that it
go into committee of the whole to consider
S. F. 26l, the terminal tax bill Hamer at
once moved as a substitute that the bill be
indefinitely postponed. "The bill is prac-
tically identical with the house bill, and
make the motion believing the action OF the
house on the measure will be unfavorabls.
| make 1t so the house can dispose Of the
bill and begin consideration of other meas
ures."
| Clarke Defends Bill.
This measure has been before the legis-
llature for the last four years." said Clarke
in answer "The people are becoming so
we'll educated on the question that It formed
part OF the platform Of one party and
came very near getting into the platform
OF another party AS / made clear to you
the other day, only "a few small towns on
the main line Of the Union Pacific will lose
a cent Even the governor, the secretary
OF state and the secretary OF the State
Board Of Assessment say all OF the towns
will gain under this bill. This bill is a
question Of right. The railroads come in
and take our property and pay no city
taxes They tell you the bill will take
from the farmers II won't do it. II won't
even take from the towns The railroads
get fire and police protection and all the
ADVANTAGES Of the towns and cities and they
should pay for II. The railroads have
taken some OF you up 20 the top Of a high
mountain and pointed to Omaha and Lin
coin and told you II you will not compel
them to pay a tax on their city property,
they will give you One-tenth Of the prop
erty located there. While they talk to you
they have their hands in your side pockets
! II Omaha were TO be destroyed by a big
fire you would gladly come TO our assist
ance. From the farm and towns you would
pour in help Now give us justice. We
, ask not for charity. II the railroads Of
fered you a bribe you would spurn H. yet
they tell you If you let them escape taxes
they will help your town Along the Bur
UnRton, 1900 a mile Is distributed, or $500
for assessment purposes. How much does
that amount to in your towns? s. and SIG,
all according TO your levy. We are abso-
Ilutely square on this proposition and prom
ise you. you will not lose There was a
{ question OF the local assessor placing a
value on the franchise. We have stricken
that out and left II to the state board 20
r assess the franchise and distribute the
value. Former Chief Justice Sullivan says
+ this is legal. Let us try this bill for one
year II IL don't do as We say, We will
help you repeal It,"
+ f. p. Brown Of Lancaster spoke against
? the Hamer motion. He wanted the bill
discussed IN committee OF the whole
r Quackenbush came out squarely for the
bin as a matter 0f justice after discover