The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-11-13
]. Y. A. LAUNCH
TAX lie. FIGHT
STATE FLOODED WITH FALSE
PROPAGANDA In EFFORT
TO DECEIVE FARMERS


PROPAGANDA In EFFORT
TO DECEIVE FARMERS
Brazen falsehoods, misleading state
ments and concealed facts and figures
characterize tax stories with which the
/. v. A. organs are flooding the state
in a last desperate effort to discredit
the League and stampede the farmers.
Every opposition paper in the state
has simultaneously begun a barrage
on this question. Everyday alleged tax
bills Of farmers" are published cum
ningly designed to deceive the people
and create disgust with the present ad-
ministration. .t
In these cases all factors are ig-
nDred or concealed that have contrib
uted to increase taxes in these local
titles and state, county, road, school,
city and other local taxes are Jumped
:. together and the impression is delib-
exately Implanted that the League ad-
nninistration is responsible for all
taese taxes, whereas the League is
Responsible for the state tax only,
IssWhich is one af the smallest items.
lust what state tax increases are
IS never told in these I. v. A. screeds.
An Example of Deception
A case in point is that of Henry
Gretter Of Bell township, Cass county,
as told by the Fargo Forum. The For
um reports Gretter as saying that his
taxes have been increased from $685.
81 of last year to $509.61 this year.
The impression is then implanted that
the Nonpartisan League adnninistra-
tion in Bismarck is solely responsible
for this and that these enormous in
crease of taxes are disgusting farm
ers and driving them from the League.
The Forum is careful not to give away
the fact that the I. v. A. gang runs
Cass county and that it is responsible
for most Of this tax increase paid by
this farmer. .
How the gang is determined to con-
zeal these facts is illustrated by the
conduct of the county officials Of
Cass county when an effort was made
by League paper to get the itemized
figures of Grettefs taxes and find out
how much the. state was responsible
for this increasey THE OFFICIALS
TOLD THE LEAGUE REPORTER
THAT THEY COULD NOT GIVE
THE STATE TAX IN .GRETTER'S
CASE AS THEY HAD NOT ITEM
lied 1T YET. The reporter was un-
able to secure this public information
which is supposed to always be avail
able to the public.
State Increase Small Item
As matter of fact, last years rec
srds show that Gretter paid $285.S7
or 31.7 mills on the valuation for that
year. Of this 31.7 mills, the states
share was only 4.3 mills or 137s per
cent, or $36.80. According to the semi
official estimates of taxes this year,
the proportion of state taxes to the
total tax is practically the same as
last year. In that case Gretter would
pay $68.80 in state taxes this year or
an increase Of 5000 instead of $223.-
"a as the Forum tried to make it's
readers believe.
What proportion of the total taxes
the state tax will be this year is in
dicated by q report of the tax levy in
jamestown this year.
Some jamestown Figures
In jamestown this year the distri-
button of the 1919 levy is as follows:
For state purposes 2.98 mills or 8
per cent.
For county purposes $50 mills or 20
per cent.
For jamestown municipality 1910
mills or 80 per cent.
For jamestown schools 1910 mills
Or 38 per cent.
Which shows that the same ratio
holds good and only nine per cent Of
the money paid in for taxes this year
80 to the state while 81 per cent will
80 for county and city purposes.
With the state proportion Of the to-
tai tax so small the whole lying cam
paign Of the /. v. "A. falls to the
ground. The counties are largely run
by I. ". A. gangsters, and If they
have the fixing Of 81 per cent Of the
taxes, they are to blame whenever lo-
cal taxes show an unusual increase
FORESTRY NORMAL NOTES
The following program is to be Civ
en- by the English Club at the Forestry
Normal Auditorium on Thursday ev-
on =