Omaha daily bee., 1912-05-08


to the railway commission. and the roads
tax agents were apparently not averse
to this. but they wanted this to be the
true value and then make the assessment
the same per cent Of this that was taken
OF the true value Of real estate for
assessment purposes and particularly II
the board would accept their estimate OF
real estate values. In starting out. Treas
urer George said. and the other members
concurred. that the board, in arriving at
its conclusions. would ascertain what re-
lation the assessment Of realty now being
made bore TO the figures which have
been used in the last four years. and
that while the railroad msn would be
heard, the board could not dstermine the
roads assessments until these figures
were at hand. for 1t would not be fair
TO change one class Of property and not
another. taking II for granted the ratio
In years past had been fair. and II was
the general understanding farm values
were being increased by the assessors.
Brief for Omaha Road.
7. A. Pollies OF the Omaha road pre-
sented printed brief which he read and
also made running comments on its con-
tents. Summarized he takes the stocks
and bonds, the physical valuation and the
capitalized earnings methods OF reach
ing a value. reducing these to their aver
age and reaches the conclusion that the
portion Of the companys property In Ne.
braska is worth 1920 per mile. whereas,
Il is now assessed at sl.i50 per mile.
which according to his figures is 81, 10 per
1 mile more than II is actually worth. This,
however. adds nothing for value of
franchise He insisted the law said prop
erty should be assessed At Ito actual value
but In no instance to exceed that. which
he held was the case with his road. He
asked n the assessment Of his road 10 to
stand that all other property be similarly
valued and intimated he would be on
hand when the equalization Of real estate
and other property was taken up by the
board.
Land Values.
Mr., Pollies presented some tables which
he said represented compilation Of &C.
tuai land sales In the twelve counties
through which his road runs and which
he maintained fully represented the actual
value OF lands In those counties. By
these tables II appears that farm lands
are assessed at SOS per cent of their
actual value and lots at bSs. These
tables do not include Douglas county.
where the percentages for farms are
6a72 and for lots ss.E. He insisted that
II lands and other property were finally
equalized at Is per cent or any other per
cent Of their actual value the same ratio
would be applied to his road. Representa-
tives of the other roads nodded aeduies-
cencs In the plan
II 10 apparent the roads viii maks no
effort to convince the board the value Of
their property Is less than the figures
formerly fixed. but will confine them
selves to attacking the reliability OF the
realty assessments.
Real Estate Figures.
r D. Pollard for the Burlington pre-
scented figures TO show the real estate In
the counties through which his company's
lines run was assessed at BSl5 per cent
Of its value, taking the census figures as
q basis for their real value and assuming
that the railroad was assessed At its full
value.
Mr.. ecrihnsr Of the Union Pacific fig
ured real estate In counties in which his
line operated at 500 per cent OF its
value.
J. NJ. Seibert Of the Missouri Pacific
said his road was taxed at sz7s per mile.
the Burlington at SEQ. the Omaha at 1851
and the Union Pacific at 800 HIS road
according to the statements filed. did not
earn anything on It's Nebraska lines. In
fact showed q deficit. and be asked that
,ts assessmsnt Be reduced.
Bakers Escape Certain.
II 10 now certain that Convict Edward
Baker. VINO disappeared from his usual
haunts IN the psnitentiary last week, has
escaped instead Of being bidder inside
the yards. II Is pretty conciusively shown
that he made bis escape In the stewards
wagon, which Ia driven by Convict Hend-
ley. Q trusty. Hendley stili persists he
knows nothing about him, but the prison
officials are certain he knew Of Bakers
presence in the wagon when he drove
outside the gates.
Knapp Asks Allowance.
Charles 7. Knapp. receiver for the
Farmers and Merchants Insurance COM
pauy. asks the court TO allow him some
salary for his services. He has been In
charge Of the affairs Of the company
since January. isii. and thinks 800 Per
month would be about the proper amount
He also asks that the attorneys for thu
receiver. Field. Ricketts, q Ricketts,. Be
allowed tz.0oa He now has sso.ou IN casa
and reported that the ssssts viii run
from usz1p to t7Smo with mao credit
ors, their claims sggregatins shout s4oo.-
ooa Judge ccssraye took the allowance
OF salary under atvissmsui.
Granite for Monument.
A carload Of the granite for the Lin