Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1920-10-01


zoe. Editor).
whereas. stringent economy and
etrtach'nent. are necessary hecau q
mere has been partial crop failu.
N thls state, (Which was not tn
case Editor)
re II enacted by the Legislative
assembly of the state of North Dako-
Is That the levies and the amour,
OF state taxes for the general fund
as determined by the board of equal
.zatlon for the year 1919 be. and the
same Is hereby reduced % per cent
thtreof, and the several county
deHSureFS IN the state are hereby
authorized and directed TO remit to
each taxpayer at time of paving such
axes 20 per cent of the amount so
ieFled and due from any taxpayer.
Now. how much did this reduce
the taxes OF Mr. Hardness On his
taH sheet was a rubber stamp nota-
ton citing the above quoted lecisla-
i've enactment. and stating that fl
compliance Herewith his taxes we're
reduced S1.14. This was a reduction
of approximately one ard one-ha,,
ner cent. And vet, the LEGISLATURE
!,
per cent and the county treasurer
'%teo on the tax sheet that it was
h@ln2 reduced that much. when tha
N''nai truth vas that it was reduced
one and ore-half per cent only
When Mr.. Hardness received his
TAX assessment Of S1o751 he was
founded at jump Of 2eo per cent
IN enc year, and wrote to n. ].
NMlth. county treasurer of Adams
county. Nor1h Dakota to know the
reason for this unprecedented raise.
me only reply he received was re
turn OF the tax sheet with this sig
nlflcant notation across its face in
Mr.. Smiths own handwriting and
signed with Smiths initials: What
Is your price on this land? N. ]. s."
This all bears out the contention
OF many that the nonpartisan league
Is a socialistic organization plan
ming ultimately to confiscate not
Only all industries. but the farm
lands as well, for impossible taxes.
reason they, will compel farmers to
sell their farms for song if such
robbery by taxation is continued
| long enough.
j. A. Buchanan, of Buchanan. n
d.. states that his 1919 taxes lacked
few cents of being double those of
1918. He says further "In 1918
1919 so much was said about tie
reckless expenditure of money in
North Dakota. the Nom partisan
league leaders assured the taxrayer
that the tax rate would be lower
than before. In order to make good
TINS statement the state board Of
equalization arbitrarily raised our
land valuations more than $50 per
cent and the tax trick was done. the
rate was cut less than so per
cent and our taxes doubled.
The average valuation of lands IL
my county. and there is a lot Of
| rough stuff, is more than s34 per
acre The county could be bought
for less. ! paid taxes on ACT acres,
three quarter sections, that bought
in March 1919 for s44 per acre.
1t is assessed at s46 per acre. The
rebate in taxes | received from the
authorized cut of 25 per cent made
by the legislature was s3.17 on this
land.
! Here is another interesting view,of
the North Dakota taxes, taken from
the Forum of the Spokesman Review,
dated Wednesday, Sept. %:
ITO the Editor of the Spokesman
Review: AS there is a great deal of
interest being taken in the Farmers
| Alliance, or third party movement, ]
thought you perhaps might be inter
ested in q letter received from a
friend of mine in Minnesota, who is
considered an expert in farm land
values. | had written to him to
make an examination of some lands
that l had in mind of negotiating and
asked him to make a careful exam
ination and advise me as to the
value of the land and the adyisabili-
ty of me negotiating Tor the deal
] quote YOU from his letter of Sent
13, 1920.
] have Just returned from my TRIP
in North Dakota in looking over the
land that you wrote me about
think it is worth between S55 and
$50 per acre. Some of the loca
men tell me that ii is worth s65 n
acre / do not think that you car
: afford to negotiate for over $35 a.
| acre, as the taxes in North Dakot
are very high and no one can affor,
to buy land there anu pay what /
is worth"
If these are the actual conditions
in the state, of North Dakota. and
believe they are. II would appea
that the farmers in that state arr
getting poor pay for their activitie
in their political capaign'
+. w. ANDERSON
Spokane.
And we could go on and fill page
and pages with like examples.
Now as to the valuation in Mort
Dakota we have the following 70
the entire state the league admins
tration hiked tax values from $500,
041,152 in 1918 to 81 ,523, 749.929 i
1919. an increase of $50 per cent
The valuation of Grand Forks count
. was raised from S16.64o ,GsS in 191
to S7O.747.435 in 1919. Ransor
county jumped from S6,sf6,5l6 i
1918 to $2S,995.300 in 1919 Cas-
county from s2S,0S0.237 in 1878 I
S111.301 .030 in 1919. Fifteen ,
the fifty-three counties of the stat
had their valuation pried up nor
than 500 per cent