The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1914-05-01
MCKINLEY PLANNED
loontlnned from pnse onel

odore Cook OF Cincinnati, and the
writer to look after the interests OF
the farmers.
The commission held meetings In
many parts of the state and thus got
the opinions OF the leading fnanciers
! jurists and farmers OF the state. The
writer does not recall a single man
who did not believe that nothing but
a radical change in the taxation laws
Of the state would cure the present
conditions, What did we find? A
variety of laws passed by each legis.
lature since the constitution was
adopted in 1857, These laws we're In
consistent with each other and yer.
liable patchwork from first 10 last
We found equalization Sszzrus 10
equalize property carelessly valued,
but no board to equalize live stock be.
tween the different counties, AS a
result, while most counties valued
property at 60 per cent Of real value.
because, as 1t was alleged, banks val
ued this property on this basis, other
counties valued at 40 per cent Of real
value, and one county as low as 25
per cent OF real value. We further
found that tangible property of the
farmer that could not be hidden and
real estate in the country and city
and the national banks practically
paid all the taxes, that money loaned
on deposit paid a very small per cent
he Itta sfu "
in the state, in the form of public
utilities and franchises, practically
paid nothing.
For instance, railroads we're pay.
ing on a valuation of their rolling
stock and 80 many miles of rails by
men with a pocketful of free passes
Dining cars, parlor oars, streetcars,
telegraph lines, telephone lines, ex.
press companies, pipe lines, each hav.
ing the right of eminent domain and
having the right to make charges for
their services according to their own
sweet WILL" paid practically nothing.
Each of the above public utilities
hid behind article u, section of the
constitution of 1857, which required
"all property to be listed at its true
value in money" And the contention,
which the early decisions of the gu
preme court seemed to favor, was, to
ascertain true Value. 1t must be some
thing tangible. But as the needs of
the state increased and the utilities
and franchises and corporations
came into existence and began to
grow, the courts gave a more liberal
construction to the above-named arti-
Gle. It remained for Judge Thompson
of our commission to assert that arti-
Gle 12, section 2, was meant to apply
TO tangible property alone and direct.
ed how it should be taxed but did .
not prohibit the taxing of other kinds
of property. The reasoning was so
conclusive that the Nichols bill, tax
ing railroads, the constituNonality of
which was on it's way to the supreme
court, was quickly affirmed, The same
is true of all the above-named utili.
ties; they are all on the tax duplicate
as the commission recommended, and
It is a source of regret to the writer
that his associates of the commission
did not live to see the enactment into
law of their recommendations.
At the end of six months our re-
port was filed with the governor, who
it very highly and sent
It to the legislature for enactment
INTO law. Il recall that this contra.
1icts the statement of one of your
AS Governor Nc.
Kinley was not an aggressive man,
he matter drifted along the legisla.
ure only repeating the Mergenthaler
aw, which the commission advised.
Then big Business" got in the sad.
lie until Governor Harmon took the
'eins in hand and had passed a law
,mbodying the main features of the
aw recommended by the commission.
Then Governor Cox and his legisla.
ure amended and improved said law,
md he is now enforcing it. He im.
,Toved the commissions law by max
ng the appointments Hereunder non
and then, to avoid the
harge of building up a political ma.
hine, he placed the appointments un-
er the civil service.
ut is the hit bird that flutters." So,
yhen the Warnes law was first
assed the farmers, under the lead of
esigning politicians, concluded it was
mother plan to "hit" them, and they
egan to "futter" all over the state.
.ater, when the assessing began,
hey learned that the system of as
essing was for their relief and for
ne relief of every honest man in the
tate. Then the "fluttering" was on
ne other fellow. And when the farm
RS find their taxes cut in two, which
ill be the result if county commits
toner's, city councils and township
'ustees are economical in their
.vies, then Governor Cox will be the
lost popular man in the state.
Another result of the Warnes law
ill be that in the future taxes will
e seen to be so low that few men
ill take the risk Of perjury for the
nall amount of taxes saved