The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1913-02-27
. Legislative Letter.

Tor county supervision.
Educators of Iowa before a joint
session of senate and house commit
tees on schools urged the passage of
a statewide teachers pension bill,
in order to encourage teachers to
devote their time to rural schools
A hog cholera serum bill has been
reported to the house, providing 4
labratory at AmeS where not only
this serum. but toXines, vaccines and
biological products to fight animal
disease may be made and distributed
The Kingland bill which provided
a petition of majority OF abutting
property owners before a drainage
ditch could be dug was overwhelm
ingly defeated in the house.
Whitney has introduced Dill the
purpose of which is to make it a
crime for any county official to &C
a person or company in considera
tion of any public contract allowed.
Railroad commissioners are given
the power to order i'll private rail
road crossings where property own
ers and a railroad cannot agree, by
the provisions Of a bill introduced
in the house by Ring OF Linn.
There is decided inclination or
the part of some legislators to take
away the corporation tax from the
rural districts and give it TO the
state direct as revenue. This was
demonstrated in the passage by the
house of the Klay resolution provid-
ing an amendment to the constitu-
ton to permit SPECIAL assessment Of
the state On classes of property.
aSsnator Mates and Representa-
tive Iarrabee have introduced a bill
that would give the Executive Coun
Gil right to make physical valua-
ton of all corporation property for
the purpose of state taxation.
Representative Boernbrock of
Waterloo considers the introduction
OF bill that would compel a man
to sell his property at the value CIV
en- the assessor plus twenty per cent.
Bruce of Floyd has introduced a
school districts.
Men and women who camp along
highways and trade horses will be
classed legally as Migrants" if the
bill by Representative Newcomb
passes.
Representative McVicker has in
troduced bill giving directors OF
cooperative societies the right to
regulate the sale Of stock, and To
give all stockholders equal vote in
affairs of the company regardless of
the number of shares held.
Redistribution of IS per cent II
the automobile tax among the coun-
ties Of the state according to their
mileage is provided in bill
by Senator Doran.
"A permanent tax commission got
The farmers goat in Kansas, not only
but literally said Sena-
tor John L. Wilson of Almont, in
on the proposition to
create a similar commission in Iowa.
The world will probably never
know the Kansas farmers had a goat
but for this commission. 1t found
8,148 of them which it assessed at
small thing but the more
illustrat ting that the
commission taxed all the farmers
visible belongings and boosted real
while corporation taxes
have been going steadily down.
Goats is only a beginning. Since
the tax commission took the reins
the farmers hay is taxed. A valua
ton of $2,40S,502, was placed upo,.
hay in the stack in single year for
taxation. But what is worse his seed
is taxed, an assessment Of SIS ,0Ol,
having been made against what the
farmers intended to plant the next
year, more than was assessed against
all the gold watches and pianos in
the state. His grain, too, is valued
for taxation, and even his chickens
are counted. An enumeration of
hens, something yet unknown in
Iowa, was made under the tax COM
and an assessor ent levied on
$3,239,S94.
'.In 1907 when this commission
was created in Kansas the farm
lands paid 44.7S per cent OF the
total assessments and in 1912 was
Jumped to 49.43 per cent; while the
public service corporations which in
1907 were paying 1S.l6 per cent OF
the total assessment in 1872 dropped
to 1870 per cent. These are the
figures shown in the special report
of the Kansas Commission itself to
the legislature this year. now on file
in the Legislative Reference depart
ment.
Il am convinced that il the farm
ers of Iowa really understood how
this new process of taxation, urged
by a bunch of theorists, is working
to the disadvantage OF farmers in
other states, they would be up N
arms to prohibit the Iowa legislature
putting upon them here any such un-
Just discrimination
Introduction of three bills in the
Iowa legislature, purposing TO thrust
upon the farmers and rural town
ship schools, regardless of their de-
sire, a county or state uniformity of
school text books which changes the
present law Of permitting county uni
formity in any county where ma
jority of the people OF the county
wish it, But these measures pro-
pose to force this upon the counties
regardless of the wishes of the
school patrons. Chief objection be.
ing made to this is that any such
law. would be undemocratic both IN
principle and practice, robbing the
voters of the various townships and