The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1908-08-14

Did you not join in the report OF
the State Tax Commission for the
period ending November 1st, 1906,
on page los thereof that Farm lands
are uniformly assessed at greater
proportion of their market values than
valuable coal and timber lands" and
that Public service corporations are
inadeuuately taxed?" Did you not in
the face of this insist before the As
SCISSORS convention of the state that
the assessment OF farm lands be raised
and did not Assessor R. H. Duff, OF
Whitman county in an interview in
the Spokesman Review Of April 18th
1908, specifically state that you had
Demanded that he raise the valu-
alton of farm lands in Whitman
county?" Further, did you not also,
as a member of the State Board Of
Equalization, participate in lowering
the uackage assessment of railroads
1888, 102 in 1905; $3,662,183 in
1905; and S5,o55,232 in 1907?
Does not the statute Of 1907, page
1877, Sec. 7 provide that the Board Of
Tax Commissioners, of which you are
president, should complete the work
of ascertaining and fixing the valuation
of all railroad property in the state, for
the purposes of taxation, before the 1st
day of June in each year? Is it not
fact that you and your board totally
neglected to perform this responsible
and important work? Did you not
state in an interview in the Spokes-
man Review of June 5th 1908, when
the time limited by law for the per
Torrance Of this work had already ex-
PRED, that the State Tax Commission
will begin early next week to do this
work? And is it not also true that
this work is not completed yet, August
4th? What was your purpose and
motive in failing to perform this duty
as required by law?
I noticed it reported in the press
that you charge that 1 took to the
woods four years ago when the real
railroad fight was on. 1 do not know
what you mean by this. l have never
hesitated, either publicly or privately,
to express my views upon that question.
l was in favor of the appointment
OF State Railroad Commission, though
l am not now enthusiastic over the re-
suit of that measure, nor sure that its
accomplishments have justified its ex-
pense. Furthermore, there never has
been and is not now, so far as l am
concerned, any fight upon the railroads.
They are entitled in every respect to
the equal protection of the laws. I
am and always have been unequiv-
ocally opposed to political railroads
and to railroad domination of politics.
I believe that on account of the i'm
portance of the issues involved,
directly affecting railroads, public
officials who are to decide these issues
should not be special representatives
of railroad interests. believe that if
railroad employees or the travelling
public have need of reasonable reg
ulation for the protection Of lives and
health they are entitled to fair hear
ing in such matters by disinterested
Legislature, state, national or munich
pal.
have always been opposed to dis
elimination by public service corpo-
rations between different communi-
ties and different individuals. I am
in favor of paying too railroads ample
compensation to preserve reasonable
wages to railroad employees, efficient
service to the public, and a reasonable
return upon the private funds actually
invested; and if it is necessary in order
to accomplish these results, and at the
same time to abolish the unfair and
indefensible differentials imposed upon
the Inland Empire, to raise rates in
some places while lowering them in
others, it would be far better than that
discrimination should be practised,
even though some extra clerks would
have to be employed to readjust the
Schedule