Ripley County democrat. (Doniphan, Mo.) 1905-1920, 1912-09-27

exception Of the ofrlee or Governor,
and had charge Of the books until
1909, and during that time found the
school fund had not been looted. but
had grown from s1.6oo.OOo to s..
100000, and that the books were In
perfect balance. and We now no long.
er hear Of any charges Of wrongful
doing during all the period covered by
Democratic rule. We dlsbursed over
slO0, 100000 in managing the affairs
Of the state, and that without the loss
Of single dollar. This has been the
way Of Democratic achievement In
Missouri. 1t Is and has been q party
Of progress anG Ia In touch today
with the progressive spirit Of the age.
II established for this state q public
school system not excellea by any
state In the Union. II established q
great State University. ave normal
schools, homes for the exconfeder-
ates and federal soldiers, Ave hos.
pitfalls for the insane. schools for the
deaf and dumb and blind. homes for
the feebie.minded. industrial and re-
form schools for the waywArd youth.
sanatorium for sufferers from tuber-
culosis, q fruit experiment station
and other worthy institutions. all Of
which have been literally supported
and sustained. Such thrift and pro.
gressivs accomplishments are un.
equaled in the political history OF any
other party In this or any other state.
A public office is a public trust and
the public servant must give q strict
account Of his stewardship, The man
who has served in public life who
cannot place his hand upon some
thing accomplished for the benefit Of
the people has served in vain. As
one OF the executive officers Of the
state, wish to tell you how your
business has been transacted at the
capitol by your Democratic executive
servants.
state Board Of Equalization.
The State Board of Equalization ia
composed Of the Governor, Auditor,
Treasurer, Secretary Of State and At.
torney.General, four Democrats and
one Republican. In the discharge OF
its duties 1t has written q record Of
which It can Justly feel proud. In
eQualiEing the assessments among the
various counties In the state as to
personal property and real estate and
In assessing the properties Of the pub,
lie service corporations. 1t has endeav'
ored to and has done as near as poe.
sible equal Justice to all,
The real estate In the country ID
valued and equalized on q parity with
that Of the city. II the property In a
county 10 lower in the country than in
the city In the same county. the State
Board OF Equalization, under the law,
10 powerless TO remedy that condition,
as II has no authority TO equalize the
values Of different pieces of real
estate located In the same county. but
only to equalise the valuation In one
county, as unit, with that of the
other counties In the state. the city OF
st. Louis being taken as a county
The local condition In the county or
city can only be reached and rene.
died by the local assessor and the
local board.
The State Board Of Equalization,
under the law, assesses the public
service corporations in the state, and
during the last four years we have
increased the assessment on such
property $22.0l6.643 over the assess
ment as fixed by the Republicans in
the last year they controlled the
board. to-wit, 1908. notwithstanding
they assessed for the first time during
the years they controlled the board
s3s miles Of new road, whereas we
have had but 229 miles Of new road
The assessment Of the properties In
this state on June /, 1911, for the
taxes Of 1919, was as follows: Real
estate. t1,1s2, ,s00.552; personal prop
erty, ssss, s,s72.522; railroad. telegraph,
telephone, etc.. sls5,4ss,514 making
the grand total Of all properties ST.
736,371,5ss
The total receipts into the state
treasury to the credit Of the various
funds during the year 1911. and with
which TO meet the demands on the
various funds and the expenses and
liabilities Of the state government
were s7,5sS.Oe7.5o. OF this amour,
nearly S5.00o.o00 went TO the state
revenue fund. The revenues are am
pie and sufficient to meet all the de
mands Of the state and raise its
eleemosynary. penal and educational
institutions TO the very highest
standard and furnish 1.-The best evi
dence why the taxes Of the people oi
this state should not be doubled and
trebled merely to satisfy an appetite
for q spectacular and extravagant ad.
ministration.
In 1909 the Governor offered a sub
stitute resolution. the purport Of
which was to treble the taxes on oil
real estate, ETC.. by assuming that the
property was assessed at one-third lis
value. and by requiring the property
to be eQualized at Its full cash value,
The duties Of the State Board In
equalizing properties are fred by the
Constitution. and that provision is