THE VALENTINE DEMOCRAT

I. M RICE EDITOR

Thursday , May 10 , 1904.

Entered at th e Fostrofflce at Valentine. Cherrycounty. Nebraaka , as Second-class matte-

r.TER318

.

Subscription 51.00 per year in advance ; 31.50When not paid in advance , Single copies Gc.

Display advertlBlKg 1 inch single column 15eper issue or 0.00 a year.

Local Notice * . Obituaries , Lodge' Resolution -

\nd Socials lor Kevenue 5c per line per issue.Brands , 1X inches 4.00 per year in advance

additional space$3-00per inch peryearengravedblocks extra ; 1.00 nacb.

Parties living outside Cherry county not perBonally known are requested to pay in advance

10 per cent additional to above rates if over C

months in arrears.Notices ol losses of stock freelto brand adver ¬

tiser-

s.Tlie

.

Democratic CountyConvention.

The Democratic county conven-

tion¬

for Cherry county was heldin this village last Saturday. Ow-

ing¬

to the absence of ChairmanChristensen and Secretary Kice ,

of the County Central Committee ,

Judge JCowiie called the meetingto order. W. H. Towne was electedChairman and Hon. Frank Koth-

leutner-

was elected Secretary.The following delegations wereselected :

To the state convention.Frank Rothleutner , M. F. Clynes ,

Chas. W. Allen , A. N. Compton ,

TV. R. Towne , B. J. Hoffacker , Jr.and A. M. Morrissey.-

To.

the congressional convention.Dan Barnes , Wm. Kennedy , I.-

M.

.

. Rice , Alex Burr , Ed Volentine ,

A. M. Morrissey and BurgessHartigan.-

To

.

the senatorial convention.-J.

.

. W. Stettcr , A. H. Metzgar , Al-

Remenschneider , J. "W. Groves ,

J. A. Sparks , L. M. Hancock andW. E. Haley.-

To.

the representative convention.Frank Fischer, T. B. Irwin , J. H.Quigley , Jas. Hudson , S. L. Ellis ,

Wm. Steadman and Mark Zarr-.It

.

was decided to postpone thenomination of candidates for coun-

ty¬

officers , and acordingly the fol-

lowing¬

committees were appointedwith power to make nominationsand file certificates of nomination.

The following were named a

committee to name a candidate forcounty attorney : D. W. Hilsing-

er-

, F. H. Baumgartl , O.W.Hahn ,

Alex Bjnrr and Henry Stetter.The following were named a

committee to nominate a countycommissioner : Ed Satterlee , I-

Rothleutner\

, Herbert Greene , Wm.Butler and Ira Davis.

Martin Christensen was reelect-ed

¬

chairman , and I. M. Rice sec-

retary¬

of the County Central Com¬

mittee.The following resolutions were

unanimously adopted :

We , the Democrats of Cherrycounty , in convention assembledmake the following declaration ofprinciples :

We favor and endorse the prin-ciples

¬

of the Democratic party astaught by Jefferson , Jackson andBryan.-

We.

favor the nomination by theSt. Louis convention of men forpresident and vice president whoare in sympathy with these princi ¬

ples.Wecharge the beef trust ( which

has been fostered by the presentadministration ) with the responsi-bility

¬

for the present ruinouslylow prices for live beef, and , atthe same time exacting exhorbitantprice for dressed beef from theconsumer. And we charge thepresent administration with theresponsibility for this condition ,

because of its refusal to enforcethe anti-trust laws of the UnitedStates. Being unable to see thedifference in morals between thethief who steals a calf from therange and the trust baron , who byforcing down the price of cattleby unlawful combinations , stealsone-third the value of our herds ,

we , demand the enforcement ofcriminal statutes against all crimi-nals

¬

and law breakers , be theypetty thieves or "captains of in-

dustry.¬

."

FOUND : A ladies new black 1

kid glove. Call at L. C. Sparks ' 11t

residence.-

P.

.t

]

. Sullivan called at this office

today while in town from Merri-

man.

- ii

il

. He returned last week l

from a wint6rs visit in Goshen ,\

Oregon , and is looking well andhearty.

1 Feed grinder ,At i Slighly Used Wagon ,

2 Two= way Pumps ,

A Lot of Native Posts. fc

<

II

IN-

II Building Material | HardwareWe carry everything in the line of Building Material and Builder's Hardware ; such as

Lath , Siding , Shingles , Doors ,

Windows ,' Nails , Lime , Cement ,

/which we buy in car load lots. Call and let us figure with you on Build ing Material.

Wagons and BuggiesAlways carried in stock. We quote a few of the different makes handled by us :

New Moline , Mitchell , Fuller & Johnson. Ban-ner

¬

, Milburn , Wide and Narrow TiredSpring Wagons and Buggies.

When in need of a windmill call and ex-

amine-

the Eclipse. We have always onhand a stock of Pumps , Pipe and Stock Ta-

nks.Impk

.

< Riding and Walking Cultivators. Riding Diska

Cultivators , Disk g Knife listed corn Cultivators. 1A

Sole agents for DEERE Implements and Hancock Disk Plows. Repairs for farm implements.

\3

UDWIG LUMBER UO.-L.

.

. C. SPARKS, Mgr.:& fl a s 5f r

AND NEBRASKA PEOPLE

, MUST FOOT THE BILL

Lincoln , Neb. , May 4. Whilethe members of the state board ofequalization and assessment arefiddling along , playing for time ,

it might be interesting to revert ,

for a moment , to the new law un-

der¬

which the board is supposed todetermine railroad valuations thisyear. It is the same law underwhich the people of Nebraska arenow being taxed , and under whichthe assessment of the average citi-zen

¬

is being doubled and trebledas compared with the assessmentsof former years.

This law was enacted by the leg-islature

¬

of 1903 , under the whipand spur of perhaps the largest ,

most persistent and most expan-sive

¬

railroad lobby ever assembledtogether in Nebraska , officered byJohn N. Baldwin , Benjamin T.White , Lee Spratlen , J. H. Agerand other efficient promoters ofcorporation legislation. The lobb.Vhad one all-important purpose inview to engineer through the leg-

islature¬

, with the assistance of "ourman Mickey , " a revenue measurethat would raise greatly increasedsums of money by taxation for therepair of the state's dilapitated fi-

nances¬

, without requiring the rail-roads

¬

to contribute any consider-able

¬

portion of the increase.-To

.

that end "house roll StW" wasdrafted and pushed through thelegislature. It is a measure clev-erly

¬

designed to make good the de-

ficit¬

in the state treasury , due torailroad tax-shirking and the ex-

travagance¬

of the railroad stateadministration , by doubling theburden of taxation placed on theshoulders of the people. It is a-

finetooth comb as applied to theproperty of the individual citizenand an open gate when applied torailroad property. It taxes thefarmer and merchant and laboring-man on everything he eats , wears ,works with , produces , owns or ev-

ei-

hopes to own ; and leaves sub-ject

¬

to condign punishment thecounty assessors who fail to en-

force¬

its rigid requirements to thelast fraction of the pound or flesh.But as to the railroads : It leavesthe matter of their taxation alto-gether

¬

in the power of the stateboard. And the state board is re-sponsible

¬

to no one , and can bepunished by no one but the rail-roads

¬

and the people.WORKED FOR CASH VALUE.

When the measure was beforethe legislature the fasion members ,knowing they would be powerlessto defeat it , concentrated their ef-

forts-

on an amendment that would'require the state board to assessrailroad property just as all other.property is assessed at its cash (

value as determined by the price itwill bring upon the open market ,

\yhich is shown by the daily quo- '

rations of its stocks and bonds. To t

this end was proposed an amend-ment

¬

, which bore the name of Mr.Caldwell , a republican representa-tive

¬

from Clay county , he and Nel-son

¬

of Douglas being the only tworepublican members of the house

| who refused to obey the demandsof their party bosses and the rail-road

¬

lobby and swallow the reve-nue

¬

bill , bloody raw.The Caldwell amendment , in

substance and effect required thestate board to assess railroad prop-erty

¬

on the average maket valueof its stocks and bonds , on thetheory that stocks and bonds beingused as the basis for the determin-ing

¬

of freight rates , as well as forthe transfer of the property , wasa good -enough basis to use for thedetermining of taxes. The resultof the adoption of the amendmentwould have been a trebling of rail-road

¬

taxes in Nebraska , whichwouJd have placed railroad prop-erty

¬

on approximately the samebasis as other property.-

Of.

course , the Caldwell amend-ment

¬

was defeated. The bill waspassed just as it came from thehands of the railroad bosses. The'provisions it makes for railroadtaxation are such that everythingdepends upon the honesty and im-

partiality¬

of the state board. A-board unswervingly determined to-do justice as between the railroadsand the people could , even under

(

this law. accomplish that result. |

Whereas , a board that is under thethumb of the railroad bosses maywilfully and defiantly disregard allthe demands of justice and assessrailroad property on the same in-equitable

¬

and partial basis as here ¬

tofore.In brief , the law requires a state-

ment-

to be made to the board byeach railroad of all its property ,

'

including right-of-way , and maintracks , sidetracks and spur tracks ,depots and other buildings , num-ber

-of ties to the mile , weight of

the rails , ballasting , rolling stock ,tools and material and bridges.JThen , in addition , each road shallreport the amount of its capital , I

stock and bonds , together with themarket value of the same , "whichvalues shall be taken into accountand be considered in arriving atthe true value of such railroadproperty and its franchises. " How"taken into account" and to whatextent , in what measure to be j

"considered" depends altogetherupon the conscience of the board. |

Then further , it is provided that astatement of gross and net earn- J-1ings and dividends declared shall ;

11-

be made "all of which "shall beMtaken into consideration in ascer-tainingand

-' fixing the value of suchroad and the franchise thereof. ";

These may be taken into consider-ation

-, " 5 cents worth or more or

less , as the board und the influen-ces

-to which it is responsive may ff-

determine. . .

WISH OF THE LOBBY.So it will be seen at a glance ,

that a mighty power , whether for

good or evil , is lodged by this lawin the hands of the state board ofiequalization and assessment. Itwas the wish of the railroad lobbythat it might be so. For the lobbyknew that , where a shameless in-

quiry¬

is to be wrought , it is easierand safer and raises less commo-tion

¬

to have the deed done by a-

board or commission , quietly andunostentatiously , than to have itdone by the legislature itself. Itwas better to provide by law thatthe board might 4"consider" and' 'take into account" these items ofvalue than to deny the board thisright. For if the right were bold-ly

¬

denied the taxpayers wouldsurely have to be reckoned with.Whereas , if it were granted , allthe railroads need to do would be-to look to it that right kind of a-

board was always elected , a boardthat would be "safe and conserva-tive,3'

¬

and that could be trustednever to exercise this , right , savein such degree as the railroadsthemselves might direct-

.It.

is this that makes the Nebraskastate board of equalization and as-sessment

-, now sitting to assess the

value of railroad property andfranchises within the state , an -ob-ject

¬

of deep seated and wide spreadinterest interest. The board iscomposed of five members , all ofthem state officers. At its head isGovernor Mickey , who will be hisparty's nominee for governor again.this fall. The other members areState Treasurer Mortensen , whowill also be renominated , and Aud-itor

¬

Weston , Secretary of StateMarsh and Land CommissionerFollmer. Each of the latter threeis now serving his second term ,and will not be a candidate for re-nomination.

-: . ,

Railroad men who are now in:Lincoln jealously guardiug the stateboard that it may guide its course ;

aright , profess to know already ,just what the board will do. These j

Jmen laugh derisively at the popu1-larJ demand that the railroad assess-ment

¬

] be placed at a full onefifth-of< the market value of the prop-erty

¬

, just as farm land and prac-tically

¬

1 all other property is assess ¬

<ed. The law itself does not dis-criminate.

¬

< . It provided 20 per-cent( for railroad property , just asJfor other property. At presentother property is assessed at 20Jper cent and railroad property at-at about 6 per cent.

The railroad men say the railroadassessment will be increased slight-ly

¬

, and that the increase will belisted as an assessment of franchise.Whether the increase will be 10per cent of ttO per cent above thepresent figures will be figured outalong the lines of the old , 1'amilarrailroad maxim of "all the trafficwill bear. " It will be just as littleas the railroad politicians , with theirfingers on the popular pulse , de-

cide¬

the people will submit to andstill elect the republican ticket thisfall-.If

.it goes the extreme limit of 40

(Continued on next page. ) - '

VALENTINE HOUSE-

ValentineN

, Nebraska

RATES 1.00 to 125. C. D. JORDAN , Propr.

Opposite the Court House , 2-V blocks north of Depot.-

Jas.

.

. E. Pepper W. H. McBrayer Canadian Club

All the standard brands of Whiskies , domestic andimported Wines , Gordon's Dry Gin , and Cigarsof the choicest brands. Blue Ribbon Bottled Beera specialty. : : : : : : :

Oakland Hunters Rye Blue Grass Dewars Scotch Whiskey

HE OWL SALOONJAMES B. HULL-W.A.TAYLOR. .

Cf Cf Cf Sole Agents for

HERALD PURE RYE WHISKEYAle and Porter , And FRED KRUG'S BEER

Choicest Wines and Cigars ,

VALENTINE X NEBRASKA

HENRY TAYLOR. GRANT BOYER.

TAYLOR & BOYER ,Contractors and Builders , Carpentering.

All kinds of wood work done to order. Stock tanks made in all sizesfork shop in Charbonneau's blacksmith shop.

VALENTINE NEBRASKA.

Livery , Feed and Sale Stable! New Rigs Good Horses Careful Drivers

Spacious barn , conveniently located , for splendid accom-modations

¬

to the public who want to drive , or have hors-es

¬

to feed.

SHEPARD BROS.(Successors to Tracewell & Bonser. )

Valentine - - Nebraska.

ace :

HEADQUARTERS FOR

WINES , LIQUORS AND CIGARSOF THE CHOICEST BRANDS

Valentine - - Nebraska

ring Your ext

We print Letter Heads , Note Heads , Bill Heads ,Envelopes , Notes , Cards , Wedding Stationery, SaleBills , etc. , etc. , at prices that are right. All workguaranteed to suit. Our stock stands inspection.

THEValentine , Nebraska

W. T. Bishop ,

IYFEI BLE- The Wilber Barn

Your Patronage Solicited.

rum Tr r3B HE-

No.

'

. I Standard Alleys.-

A.

healthful , innocent sport.

OPEN DAILY FROM I O'CLOCK TO 1 ! 0'OLOGK P , |HI,