Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-06-05

UUOUCdkiOubos
For North Dakota-Unsettled wea-
Their tonight and Friday. probably
local showers; cooler in extreme west
portion tonight.
ORRIs W. ROBERTS,
Section Director.
THOSE BANK ASSESSMENTS.
A circular has been issued under
the caption of Hanna On Bank AS
sessments." While this circular was
unsigned, evidently the author or au>
thors of the same were unwilling to
assume the responsibility because of
its gross i%naccuracy and %untruthful'
ness, for it bears on the face Of it
prima facie evidence that it was pre-
pared by a certain organization with
the avowed intention of misleading
and deceiving the public.
The charge that Governor Hanna.
as chairman of the State Board Of
Equalization controlled that board and
induced the members thereof to as.
sess share of bank stock as listed in
this circular is false in every partic-
ular. Probably no member on that
board had as little to say in regard to
the assessment of this class of prop
erty as Governor Hanna, because it
was the first time that he had served
on that board. When it came to Cass
county, the governor was particular
to state that he had nothing to say
in regard to the assessment Of shares
of bank stock in that county, and fur
Their, that he owned but few shares
of stock in the banks of that county,
and he therefore left the matter en-
tirely to the other members of the
board. Any accusation that he en-
deavored to influence the board in any
way in behalf of the banks of Cass
county is m%aliciously false.
The circular states: DO you, tax
payers of this state. want an equal.
ization board that will advise and con.
suit with the tax commission, which
has superior knowledge of such meth.
DDS, and then equalize the taxes of
this state so that every man, as near.
ly as possible, bears his just amount
of the burden of the taxation of the
state?"
The tax commission is composed of
three members, and probably the ag.
gregate wealth of the entire tax com.
mission In the state OF North Dakota
will not exceed $4,000, and that is
a very liberal and probably excessive,
amount to assign to those three men,
One Of them has been a teacher, an
other a newspaper editor, while the
third has been an attorney. They
have had 10 experience whatever in
banking, and know practically moth.
ing In regard to It. except what they
have read or heard other people say.
On the State Board of Equalization
there are three men who have some
knowledge of the banking business
and have some acquaintance with its
details and the methods employed.
At the last session of the State
Board of Equalization, Mr.. Birdsell,
president of the tax commission, was
present during most of the sessions
of the State Board of Equalization,
and when a member of that board de-
sired to raise the Cass county assess.
ment on shares of bank stock, Mr..
Birdsell objected and stated it would
be unfair and unjust to increase the
assessment OF shares of bank stock
In Cass county. 1t did not take the
members of the board any great
length of time to decide that the tax
commission, through it's representa-
tive, had but little conception or
knowledge of the relative values of
property In the state of North d.
kota. By propounding questions and
listening to the answers made by the
representative of the tax commission.
1t soon became apparent to the men,
bers Of the equaliza ton board that
but little valuable Information could
be obtained from that source which
would be of any assistance to its
members. The obvious lack of gen.
eral knowledge of the conditions that
existed In the different counties or of
changes that had been made, by this
representative, was so apparent that
any light that might be derived from
that source would be ~valueless to the
board.
The facts are that the assessment
Of the shares of bank stock was pass.