Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-10-22

u This e Your elrthdax

" This 10 Your Birthday
Do not be too quick to give support
to the schemes OF others. 1t will be
more profitable for you to consider
proposition without prejudice and to
decide on It according to reason. re-
CARELESS of inclination. II you are en-
ployed you should be especially care
full in the near future.
Those born today will be too gen.
erous for their own welfare and their
ill-considered gifts may cause some
people to avoid them. who would 9TH
erwise be their best friends. Their
| early training should be to look to the
future and to balance generosity with
Judgment.
we were advised by Mr.. Robertson
that although he was not authorized
to make any statement. It was his hon.
est opinion from his talks with the
different members Of the board. that
they would value the public service
corporations on the same basis as they
had instructed him to advise the
county boards to value other property
throughout the county. He also as
sured us that 1t was his honest opin-
ion that the Oregon Short Line main
line would be valued at least 100000
per mile. Upon this assurance. our
board followed Mr.. Robertson's ad-
vice and valued the property over the
county at practically it's full cash value
with the result that the farm lands
| in Lincoln county was given an in
crease in 1912 of S0.CS per cent over
the value of 1911. The value of $685.
600 per mile upon the Oregon Short
Line by our state board for 1912 made
an increase in value over 1911 for that
road of only 1888 per cent" And that
is signed and sworn to by Mr. A. l..
| Speakman, chairman of the board of
county commissioners of Lincoln
county, and T.. G. Is ;nberg, assessor
and tax collector of the county. There
were some lands down there that were
assessed in 1912 for the first time and
| I don't want to be unfair to the gov
| ernor or the state board of equaliza-
ton, so l am going to tell you all of
the details about that and get 1t eX-
| actly right. In 1912 the lands of that
county were valued at $13,132,464. In
| 1911, they were valued at $l,145. 400,
or a difference of $5.9S7,05s. The lands
that were added to the assessment roll
in 1912 which were not assessed at all
| in 1911, were valued at $1,326,537
which left a net raise on the lands
valued in 1912 over the valuation Of
1911 OF $4,660,000, or an increase on
those lands of 65 per cent. while ex-
GLIDING all of the new mileage of the
| railroads, and taking the increase IN
the valuation of thu railroads that
were assessed in 1911, they raised the
valuation Of the railroads a trifle less
| than 16 per cent, so that in that
county the farm lands got raised 60
per cent and the railroads IS per cent
And they got raised in that manner,
because Mr.. Robertson told those men
down there that the Oregon Snort
Line would be valued at 100000
mile, and the board valued 1T at $685.
900 a mile. / am not criticizing Mr.
Robertson. He acted in good fam
as l believe. And in that county they
valued the Bliss cutoff. running from
Bliss over toward Minidoka, down
around through the North Side tract
at $4,000 mile, and do you know that
you couldn't buy the steel that con-
stitutes that track for less than ssooo
a mile? 1t is 90-pound steel, that grade
is a good grade; it is built by the Ore
gon Short Line for the purpose OF
double tracking that part OF its road
and today they are laying 90-pound
steel from Rupert to Minidoka. so as
to complete that and make 1t part
of a second track. to make it IA second
track to that part of their system. so
that they can detour their freight go
ing both east and west and handle II
i tIA n
as it now exists, and that line of great
value which costs not less than sSo'-
600 or $40, 900 to construct. is valued
by the state board of equalization at
$4,000 a mile. That's what they did to
Lincoln county.
I don't know what they have done
to your county because ! haven't had
a chance to look into the certitieate
| of the state auditor which Is on lie
with your county auditor. but If you
want to find out what they did to you
and don't know already. go to your
county auditors office and ask him 10
let you see the certificate which the
state auditor filed there a short while
ago showing what the state board
of equalization did to your
valuation Of your railroads. tele-
graph and telephone companies. ana
what they did to your farm lands ana
your livestock and your merchandise,
and he'll give you all the facts ana
figures.
Why Taxes Are High.
"There Is another phase to this tax
alton question. Governor Hawley IN
these letters. not only insisted that
the assessor should value the property
at full cash value but told him no
other course would be tolerated, and
the assessors took him at his word
and they valued property at prac-
tically full cash value In 1911 ana
1912 but the state board of equaliza-
ton has not brought the valuation of
the great properties of the state up
to full cash value. not by any means.
and they are away below the valua-
J ton which should be placed upon