Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1907-01-10

UTVTgU WUmWgIIC.
as an interest in real estate Being as
sessed as an interest i'm real estate they
would then be assessed for taxation Dur-
poses where the land 10 and not wnere
tho mortgage lives. The value OF the
mortgage would then be deducted from
the value of the mortgaged estate and the
owner OF the real estate assessed upon
the equity he possesses.
1t is contended by many that the re-
SUIT OF such law would increase the
rate OF interest because Nebraska is not
creditor state II such is the case the
| possibility OF an Increase In the interest
rate may be avoided by permitting the
privilege of contract whereby the owner
OF the and may, If he chooses, pay the tax
on the interest OF the mortgage. He could
| AFFORD to do that and be none the worse
OF than he is at present. Certainly IL
all the domestic capital that is available
for the Investment of mortgages is driven
out OF tho state non residents may be
expected to raise the rate of interest az
they no doubt will do when there is no
longer competition by domestic capital.
During the past ten years we have been
bountfuliy blessed with good crops and
prices. rnc people of this state have been
paying OIL their Indebtedness and accum-
ulatng capital which should be invested
at home The present law discrimnatcs
against domestic capital and in my opin-
ION 1t Is forcing the residents of this
state to invest their capital in securities
and lands of other states. The present
system plainly imposes a double tax upon
mortgagCd property, when the mortgages
Isl held by u resident of this state and to
that extent 1t increases beyond measure
the tax upon that class of property. 1t
is not fair to the residents of our state
and it is against good public policy to
continue the pcrniciouS system of the
present law in this respect.
Another amendment that is needed to
the revenue law is one that viii permit
the reduction of bona fde Indebtedness.
Under the present law man VINO Is II,
debt Is taxed for all that he possesses
and for all that he owes. The debtor
class of property holders should not be
compelled to bear extraordinary burdens
Of taXation. Notwithstanding the fact
that almost every other state permits the
deduction of bona fide debts in some
form or another we are still discrtmin-
ating against the debtor class which is
neither fair, right nor just.
The cities, towns and villages of this
state in almost all instances have Il high
rate of taxation. 1t is important. there
fore, that property therein be cqutlt)y
assessed. At present the resident prop
crty holders pay much greater proper
ton of tho city, town and villages taxes
according to the value of their property.
than do the railroads which have their
terminals within the corporate limits. The
railroads receive benefits from the cities,
towns and villages and in return should
pay their proportion of the city, town and
village taxes.
1t may be a debatable question whether
the great corporations of this state have
in the past been paying their full share
of the taxes But the Union Pacific and
Burlington railroads have iefused to pay
In full the taxes which have been regu-
larly assessed and levied against them for
the years 1904 1908 and 1906 They are
already delinquent about three quarters
of a million dollars for 1904 and 1905. The
refusal to pay this years tax will place
them delinquent over one million dollars.
Their action in this respect is not fair
to the other taxpayers of the state and is
wholly unwarranted when past conditions
in the state are considered. The gov
eminent gave bountifully of it's land. and
the people of this state, in Il great many
instances voted bonds to help build these
railroads Besides this there never has
ECCn any restriction whatever upon them
In the matter of freight rate regulation.
They have always up to the present time
charged what they pleased. IT requires
patriotism at times to support and main
tain u stable government. These great
corporations, by their conduct. appar-
emily lack tn;,t noble quality. 1t is not
strange thar their conduct has veXed
patient people. No doubt they would ask
for the protection of the state If their
property We're in danger, yet they deny
the right of the state government to
assess and tax their property as it assess
es and taxes all other property. Every
thing that can be done will be done to
enforce the collection of these delinquent
-. CAKES and railroad property in the future,
so far as | am concerned, will continue
to be assessed at whatever seems to be
equitable and just.
The citizens of Nebraska can not en-
join the collection of n tax levied against
their property, because they are denied
that privilege. But railroads, being nom
residents of the state. seek relief through
the federal courts. Until congress shall
pass a law depriving them of this priv
elege they probably will continue this prac
tice. 1t is, therefore, recommended that
II joint resolution be passed memoralizing
congress to pass a law that will deprive
a on-resident from enjoining the collec-
ton of Il tax levied upon property within
the state.
The Burlington railroad for the pur-
poses of business is Il unit. But when it
comes up for taxation it is sixteen diff
ferent companies. At present this COM
pany does not give the earnings for the
different branch lines but simply gives
the earnings for the whole system within
the state. The matter of assessing such
property with the information furnished
the state board of equalization and assess
ment is difficult problem. There is no
disposition on the part of any one to
assess them unreasonably, but there is a
disposition to assess them equitably
and for what they are worth Railroads
which operate branch lines in Nebraska
should be compelled to furnish for each
and every branch line an itemized state
ment i'm detail of all the business trans
actions of the several lines, together with
the value of the stocks ana bonds of each
line and the gross and net earnings of
each. 1t is sincerely hoped that this leg
islature will amend the revenue law in
this respect.
The question of equitable taxation is "A
difficult one. uniform assessment OF
property according to its value, regard
less of it's character. is certainly to be
desired in any well governed society. All
property should bear it's just proportion
of the burden of taxation. Personality
should not be considered. 1t is neither
crime to be wealthy nor one to be poor
Let us remember that it is the property
and not the person that should be taxed.
Al amendments to the revenue law that
viii eliminate double taxation and secure
for the people of Nebraska more uniform
and just assessment of property will be
welcomed by every one that has the well
fare of the state sincerely at heart.
In the conduct and management of the
state Institutions the governor is largely
held responsible. No institution can be
properly conducted where there is friction
in it's management All the superintend-
ents and heads of the different institutions
that are appointed should be held res
ponsiEle for their conduct ana for the
management of their institutions directly
to the governor. The laws of this state
should be amended so that in case of
mismanpgcment and misconduct the gov
ernor may remove them summarily. We
have witnessed in the past at several
different times the pitable condition In
which governors OF this state have been