The Seattle Republican. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1???-1915, 1910-05-20
CAYTON PUBLISHING COMPANY
PHONE MAIN 305
rs 1T GOOD CITIZENSHIP

County Treasurer Matt H. Gormley caught the Sc
attic Electric Company mapping and forced 1t to pay
it's taxes and the Northern Pacific and Great Northern
railroads proting by the experience OF the Seattle
Electric Company rushed into the Federal Court and
sued out writ of injunction to prevent the county
treasurer from applying the drastic measures to
those companies that had been administered to the Sc
attic Electric Company, and thereby throw another
stumbling block in the way of the tax collector to pre-
vent the honest taxes of those companies from being
collected Having the money to employ the most tai
ented lawyers the country boasts OF and at salaries
that the average lawyer looks upon as fabulous these
gigantic corporations able to dodge paying their
honest taxes by going from court to court and by qub
bling and splitting hairs every damnphoo technl
cality until they get the case completely nol-prossed
But after ALL is it fair? These railroad companies re-
ceived gigantic land grants from the general govern
ment to build their roads. They have received un-
reasonable concessions from the various state
mens They have received favors in the way OF fran
chses from the various municipalities through which
they pass that are we'll worth multiplied millions OF
dollars and for these they have paid little or nothing
to the municipalities and but few paltry dollars to
the councmen's corruption fund for voting away the
peoples rights In spite of all these favors Eese rail-
road companies form combinations to rob the general
for the carrying of her mails and to rob
the citizens of the various states for hauling them and
their necessities of life to and from the market CEN
ters forgetting in toto the multiplied number OF favors
the representatives of the people in the legislatures
and city councils have granted to them Not satisfied
with this the representatives of those corporations in
struct their attorneys to every means known to
the legal jugger to keep them from having to pay
their state and county taxes the same as the farmer
and the wage Garner who has to pay eXorbtant rates
for every pound of freight that is brought to them
We always understood that corporations made up
of human beings the are farmers, but in the
light of the systematic tax lodging that has been 60
ing on in the state of Washington in general and King
county in particular if human beings at all they are
damn poor specimens. In spite of the fact that
these companies lodging their just and honest taxes
they will have obbies before the coming legislature to
have vicious legislation passed in their favor The
city council of Seattle will be asked to grant robber
franchise for one or both of these companies before
three months of the present year will have eaps-
ed Is such actions on the square and IN the open?
How far short of highway robbery are such moves as
these? These corporations should be forced to pay
every cent of their taxes both principle and accrued
interest and the people should order the courts to
keep hands off and if not it would be hands on Let
every tub stand upon it's bottom and every hoop
bear it's own burden Let the rich and the poor stand
equal before the law.