The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1913-01-10


lief of the poorer neighbor."
"In 1911 there was some uncer-
tainty as to how much special schoo!
taxes should be voted or levied in the
various district, and many of them
provided too little. There was doubt
as to whether it was mandatory to
vote the five mill special tax, and in
this county it was not levied The
supreme court passed upon the ques-
tion and said it must be levied. In
1912 people remembered now they
had been short of school FUNDS and
they voted the limit of fifteen mills.
In 1911 we lost $4,000 that should
have been collected for schools, and
in 1912 we went to the other extre-
ME. For every exemption that has
been made, somebody else had TO
pay more, and if exemptions apply to
part of a mans property, he has to
pay higher on the rest of property
because it comes within the scope
! of taxation in that channel. The
money has to come from somewhere.
and this very laudable legislation
enacted for the purpose of equalizing
the burden as between the rich and
the poor, or between the well-to do
and the moderately poor has been
put into practice in this county IN
as strict conformance to the statute
as we could do it. 1t gives people a
taste of the proposed income tax in
way, only it happens that there are
no Rockefellers and J. Pierpont
Morgans in this county just now al
though we may all be ambitious in
that direction"
"The only thing the special ses-
sion of the legislature accomplished
which | can discover, is that it re-
uuired the assessors to note on each
mans tax notice if there was any
delinquency from by-gone years, and
1t gives people chance to clear up
their titles. All the rest that was
done amounted to nothing worthy of
notice. 1t was merely changes,
that's all"
"The special session provided for
paying half the tax at the first of
the year and the rest the following
June, but that affords no relief to
anybody but the heavy taxpayers
I have noticed that nearly all the
poor people take the view that as
their income does not provide them
with ready cash in June they might
as we'll pay in the fall while they
have some money, and they do. But
the big fellows and the Oregon Short
Line take advantage of this and use
the money another six months. 1t
is an example Of trying to help the
poor and only relieving the rich. 1t
is like the corporation tax law enact
ed few years ago at Boise. The
bill was aimed at the wild cat mining
corporations, and by the time 1t got
through the legislature 1t was amend
ed until it hit every kind of corpor-
alton but the wildcat mining COM
panies."
II regret that our stat board Of
equalization Disseminated I'M favor
of the public utilities. County boards
have no jurisdiction in those matters,
and when the state board fixed the
valuation on the railroad holdings
objected The Aberdeen branch, for
instance, was fixed at $1,000 mile.
They said it was a new road and was
probably not paying expenses, and
that it was the policy of the BOARD to
encourage infant industries that
were benefit to the country. I gave
them another example of "infant in
dustries" along the Aberdeen branch.
l told them of being out assessing,
and l found a man with his family
on a farm by the side Of the tracks,
starting to make home. There
were about a dozen children. and
that family was living in the wagon
box. The man was clearing sage to
put in crop, and on investigation
found that his land was listed at
precisely the same price as the a.
jacent railroad land with no allow
ance made for the ties and the steel
the fences, the rolling stock, the
yards, the depots, and terminals.
put it up to the board to define in
fant Industries" and not let it apply
to that poor man grubbing sage by
the tracks, but they wouldn't fare
the question and the poor man with
the big family and no house over
their heads had to pay his share and
part of what should have been paid
by the road"
"We have collected about $780,
900, in taxes this year, and the de-
linquent list will be small. People