Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-10-24

uiDlLllS railroad companies from CIV
ing free passes to- members Of the
Legislature, judges and other state
officers (see oh. 486 Laws OF 1905)
Resuit-since that the people have
been able 10 get railroad legislation
in Wisconsin that is fair to all Al
so the Express, Telegraph and Tele-
phone companies in the state gave
members Of our legislature and state
officers franks by which they sent
/ their kilograms, telephone messages
and merchandise free. AS a result
the laws did not require these com
panies to pay adequate taxes, although
they owned much property in the
state. The Republicans passed a
law prohibiting such franks and
passed other laws requiring those
| companies to pay a fair tax on the
value Of their property.
ANTI-RAILRoAD TAXATION LAWS
Before the anti-pass law, the people
many times tried to get a law making
the railroad companies pay fair tax
es. The railroads then paid but a
small license fee instead Of taxes.
Several railroads had cheated the stat
out Of part of this small License fee.
The Republicans passed Law in 1898
| (ch. $3.50 requiring the railroads to
pay taxes based on the value of
their property, the same as you or
I do. The Republicans also brought
actions against the Railroad COM
panies for the unpaid license fees
that roads had cheated the state out
Of and collected them.
The Republicans also passed laws
requiring street car companies, cleo
trio railway companies, electric light
and gas companies, sleeping car com
panies to pay just taxes on their
property, the same as you or I. Be
fore that they had paid no taxes, on
| Iy small license fees.
During the last state business year
these big corporations have under
these Republican made laws paid to
the state in taxes over four million
dollars, which would, but for those
laws have been thrown on the farms
the homes and personal property of
the state and you and I Mr.. Voter
would have had to pay it.
REDUCTION OF RAILWAY RATES.
Under Republican administration
Ion
gross receipts above $35OO.0O per
mile (and that includes most of our
railroads. were compelled to reduce
| their passenger rates from 3 cents
to 2 cents per mile, saving to the
public travelling on those roads in
Wisconsin one dollar of every three
| that they would have paid under the
! old rates. (See Oh. 654, Laws of
1900.
RAILWAY COMMISSION LAW.
Our Democratic friends used to
say that railroads, express, telegraph
and telephone companies would raise
their rates to make up for this ex-
ira tax Did they? No, the Wis
consin railroad commission, which
the Republicans, by law, created,
wouldn't let them charge more than
a fair rate. Have you heard that the
railroads have increased freight
rates in Wisconsin? No.
On the contrary that commission
ordered the railroads to reduce UNI
justly high rates on many classes
of freight. And the Railroads did
as they were ordered. THE RE-
| PUBLICANS ESTABLISHED THE
RATE COMMISSION, REMEMBER
THAT.
CORRUPT PRACTICE ACTS.
Not many years ago it was com
mon practice for candidates for pub
lie office to spend large sums cam
paigning for their election Often they
spent as much as their entire SAL
AIRY would be. Much of this was
spent buying the voters good Will
with beer, whisky and cigars. They
didn't call it buying votes, but that
was what it was.
This corrupted our elections and
sometimes elected dishonest Off
GERS, who plundered the public to
make up for what they had spent
corrupting elections The Republi-
cans passed a law to prevent this
wholesale use of money to corrupt
elections (Ch SOP, Laws of 1905 and
CHI $50, Laws of 1917
AS a result elections are no long
er corrupted by the use of large sums
of money in Wisconsin.
INCOME TAX.
Formerly a man might have an in
come of many thousands of dollars
a year and not pay so much taxes as
the poor man, who worked by the day
to support his family The Republi
cans passed a graduated income tax
law. (Ch 658, Laws of 1911.
By this law the man having a small
income pays no income tax at all,
the man having a moderate income
pays d moderate income tax,
and as a mans income becomes
larger he pays a larger per cent Of
his income as taxes. This makes
the rich man pay his share of the
taxes. This year the income tax
will bring into the state treasury
more than two and one-haf million
dollars, that otherwise you and I
would have to pay.
This comes not from the poor man
not from the farmers Of moderate
means but from men of means, rich
men and corporations many of whom
We're chronic tax dodgers.
This does not increase the taxes
of the state What is raised in in
come tax will not be raised on your
farm, Mr.. Farmer or your house, Mr..