The times-herald. [volume] (Burns, Harney County, Or.) 1896-1929, 1908-04-04
POOLING THE OREGON FARMER.

amendment to the constitution of
Oregon is basing its hopes of
success on its ability to consoli-
date the farmers against the pro-
posal to exempt their houses,
their barns, their live stock, their
drains. their orchards and other
improvements from taxation.
The big papers of Oregon, repre-
senting the Big Interests, the
railroads, the real estate specu-
lators and the System in general,
are doing their utmost to per-
suade the agricultural population
that the pending amendment is
one aimed at the destruction of
the farmer by placing all the bur-
den of taxation on his land.
OF course papers like the Port
land Oregonian know perfectly
well that this representation is
false. They know that farmers
do not own land values. Farm
ers own land and sometimes much
Of it. But as a rule they own
hut little land value. Land val
ues are not found out ten or.
fifteen miles in the country.
They are not found where hay
and grain are grown, and where
cattle, sheep and hogs are raised
They are found in the centers of
population and industry. There
are single blocks of land in Port
land whose value today exceeds
that of a whole county in the re-
mote agricultural sections of the
state.
The values which farmers pos
sess are largely and sometimes
exclusively improvement values.
And these under the amendment
TO be voted on in June under the
referendum are made exempt
from taxation. If the people of
Oregon adopt the amendment ai-
most every farmer in that state
will find his tax bill less when
the next time for paying taxes
comes around. This fact can be-
demonstrated to any intelligent
man who will take the trouble to
go into the question.
Oregon has a great chance to
distinguish herself in this mat
ter. Hers is an intelligent and
progressive population. Herpeo-
pie are not hidebound. They are
not indurated with prejudice.
They have been willing TO eXper-
iment a little in government as
they have experimental in busi- .
ness, in manufactures. in agri- I
culture and in general develop
ment In all these things they .
have struck out along new lines I
and Oregon in consequence has
become an attractive community f.
drawing from all the rest of the
states the alert and the enter
prising. Her growth in popula- .
ton and wealth has been amaz- .
ing. She ranks among the mos /
progressive and the most intelli- .
gent of the newer states of the I
union and her experiments in
government are being watched
everywhere with deepening iu- .
interest.
She has already established the .
peoples rule. She has destroy I
ed the lobby. She has left the
political boss without a job, She |
has restored TO the people the |
power which was once welded
for their undoing by the rings
and the political close corpora .
tons. And, having freed her
citizenship politically, she is now .
proposing to free them economi- /
cally. She is proposing to re-
move the burdens from industry /
and to lift the oppressive load of .
taxation from the back of labor. .
She is proposing 10 free opportu- .
nifty and 10 strike down those F.
speculative barriers which have /
so long interfered with progress I
and expansion. BY exempting /.
all forms Of labor products from
taxation she proposes TO make
Oregon the most attractive state
in the union and perhaps the
most attractive community in the .
world for the toiler, By taking /
the burdens from her industry |.
she proposes TO make Oregon /.
above all other states an attract
i've field for the investment of
capital in manufactures and in T.
all modes of production and eX-
change. F
But landlordism is on the alert. .
1t understands the meaning of /.
the pending amendment. 1t
realizes that if the amendment