The Mena weekly star., 1911-09-14
PETITION FILED 10
 REFER TAX BILL
More Than f2,00O People Ask to Vote on Turner-Jacobson Reve- nue Measure Under Initiative
 and Referendum Amendment

Little Rock, Sept. 6.-Senator +
 F. Friedell of Miller county. wh
 has been one of the leaders in tn
 fight against the Turner-Jacobsol revenue bill, arrived last night witI
 a suit case full of referendum pc
 titions. These and many other from other sections of the state art to be filed with the secretary O state by Thursday, September : which allows one day of grace be- fore the act becomes effective un- der the contention that it is not al- ready in effect. There are over i2.- GOO names on the petitions submit ted by Senator Friedell, and only 7,500 are required to refer it to the people at the next general election.
 Those who are opposing the bill will have another chance at in the courts on September IS, when At torney General NorwoOd will argue his motion to dismiss the suit of the tax commission to compel the Pu- laski county officials to assess the Little Rock street railway company at $i,200000 instead of S800,0O0. Many think the act will be declared invalid by the courts, and that there will be stoppage i'll transit before it reaches the people in the general election of 1912.
 Governor Assumes Responsibility.
 On the other hand, Gov. Donaghey who has been an advocate of the measure from the first, come out strongly for the bill, and declares that upon it he will stand or fall. He says that between now and the general election there will be such an educational campaign conducted in the state that the people will be properly informed where they are now being misled; they will be shown that the act was designed primarily to lift from their shoul- ders the burden of taxation wrong
  ing corporations. His Labor Day speech, elaborated, is to be pub lished later and scattered broadcast over the state.
 'I do not shirk any responsibility for the Turner-Jacobso bill" says the governor. When l was elected governor it was admitted by all that our revenue laws were inefficient and ineffective, and this act is the result of two years hard work and study of conditions prevalent i'll other states. It is not claimed that 1t is the acme of perfection, but i'll the main it's principles and pro- visions are a vast improvement on OUT old revenue system. Upon this declaration I am willing to stake my past and present judgment as gover- nor, and upon it am perfectly will- ing to chance any political for tunes. The people now are only misinformed, and they will be all right when they understand it. The Turner-Jacobson bill, as a whole, | will reduce the taxation of the poor man just as the rich men are profit ing most by the present slip-shod system.
 T had watched the fight waged for nearly 10 years by Tom John son of Cleveland against the all- powerful Mark Hanna crowd, for equalizing the burdens of taxation. had also watched the fight of Jud- son Harmon, who took up the same cause inaugurated by Tom Johnson, and who carried it to successful op- eration. After studying the subject for months, 1 concluded that 1t was necessary for Arkansas to follow the lead of dozens of other pro- gressive states, in the employment of a board of tax commissioners to look after this question of taxation the most important department or function of the state government.
 We have been going along for over 90 years paying taxes on a per centage basis, believing that we were dealing justly with the people while doing it. But such system is so unfair to the state, which is nothing but it's citizens, that it looks unreasonable that it would have been permitted under any conditions. It was evidently with this possible injustice in mind that the framers of our constitution and statutes provided that all property should be assessed uniformly and at it's true value.
 But under existing conditions, backed by an old decision of the su- preme court, we are not able to en- force either uniformity or a full rendition i'll assessments. Many taxpayers of the state are today as- sessing their property at it's true value, while others are not assess ing theirs at 10 per cent of it's true value. The fact is, as everybody knows, that we are assessing in any old way
 .Iill Benefit Poor Man.
 "Tn this connection I wish to chal-