The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1908-06-15

assess railroad property. And al
ready the commission has committed
an error of negligence which may
.anj and possibly will invalidate the
entire assessment to be fixed by it.
THE law delegating this power to
the tax commission provides that the
commission shall do this work during
; the month of May. The month Of
May is gone and half of the month
of June as we'll, and the work is not
. yet even commenced. What becomes
of the boasts of the commission that
it would perform this service proper
ly when entrusted with the power, in
the face of this neglect to do the
work in the season provided in the
law that it shall be done, thereby en-
dangering the va!dity of the assess
ment when it shall have been made?
The voters of t slate are this year
for the first time entrusted with the
duty and priVilese of selecting their
own candidates Tor all public offices.
In selecting those candidates they
should scrutiniZe the records of all
aspirants offering themselves with a
view of ascer aiming which OF thise
candidates are the best fitted for the
\places to which they aspire and
whether they can be depended on to
look after the welfare of tGeir con-
stituents instead Of displaying an
Over-Zealous care for the welfare of
interests which are constantly seek
ing and procuring special privileges. ;"
Raps Land Commission.
Judge Poindexter's address was de-
livered at Improvement hall at the
corner of Sprague and Napa street at
a meeting arranged for by the Miles
POindeXter Congressional club. In
the course of his remarks he declared
himself as favoring the conservation
of the natural resources of the coun-
try for the benefit of all the people,
and referred to the recent action of
the state land commission in putting
up the Brewster Flat college lands
for sale on an appraised value of $40
an acre, when those lands possessed
value as shown by the prices paid
for them at the sale, of more than
three times that sum.
| The speaker also discussed the
! question of railroad rates and de-
clared that there was no basis in
justice or equity for the practice of
the railroads of charging higher
rates for shipments from eastern ter
minal points to Spokane than are
charged for shipments of a similar
character to coast cities. This is a
matter which should be regulated by
the federal government through ap-
propriate congressional legislation, -
he said, land the electors of this dis
trict should see to it tina. they send
! to congress from this district a man
who is in favor OF its regulation in
stead of one who viii be swayed from
his duty in this regard by a tender
solicitude for the interests OF the
railroads.
Il am not in favor of government
ownership of railroads. he contin-
! ued. Il do not believe it is neces-
sary. But it is absolutely necessary
that +lese powerful aggregations of
f>apital be regulated in the interests
}Of the people, and if our efforts at
regulating them fail. then it will be-
come absolutely necessary for the
: government to own them. As for
myself, | would much prefer TO see
the government own the railroads
than to hermit the railroads 70 go
on controlling the government.