Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 May 1908 — A PAINFUL DISPLAY OF IGNORANCE. [ARTICLE]

A PAINFUL DISPLAY OF IGNORANCE.

The Republican Is much distressed over The Democrat’s mention of the fact that the Dr. Hartsell estate has been put on the tax duplicate of Jasper county for $17,400 for the years 1906 and 1907, which the doctor had “forgotten” to list when giving In his property to the assessor for those years. It is a safe proposition that no hint of this omission or of the county assessor’s action in placing it on the duplicate would ever have appeared In the Republican, which again demonstrates that if the taxpayers want to know what is going on they should read The Democrat. In commenting on the matter the Republican editor says:

“We recall an exposure that followed the McCoy bank failure that showed that a certain good citizen who had always voted the democrat ticket straight had failed to list money and lots of it that he had in the McCoy bank. So the failure to do this is by no means associated solely with men who vote the reand to everyone who has the price? publican ticket straight.” Now The Democrat does not contend nor never has that such things are confined wholly to republicans. We have no doubt at all but there are some who claim to be democrats who “forget” to list all their property especially money and notes—for taxation, but we do not recollect that any democrat’s name was placed on the duplicate for omitted property which was brought out by the McCoy bank failure. We do know, however, of a few republicans who were “caught” for several thousand dollars as a result of the money they had on deposit in the McCoy bank and which they had "forgotten” all about when the assessor had made his rounds that year. One of these men was closely related to the present official head of the republican machine in Jasper county, if we remember correctly. If the lone democrat the Republican refers to had alos “forgotten,” he too should have been made to toe the mark, and the county assessor was very remiss in his duty if he was not made to do so. “

Regarding The Democrat man’s having been a tax-dodger for several years, the Republican editor shows a woeful ignorance of the facts. A republican official whom The Democrat had exposed as having mutilated some public records in his possession, out of revenge placed several hundred dollars on the tax duplicate in 1898 —for one year only—which he held we should be assessed with. It was unjust, but a republican county treasurer refused to indicate on the tax receipt when we went to pay it “paid under protest,” so that we could recover it back as erroneous tax. As a part of the, persecution to which this paper and its editor has been subjected to, a job press was levied on and the case was tried in the circuit court.

A republican jury brought in a special finding of facts precisely as we contended, but a general verdict against us. A republican judge, because of the outrageous verdict and no doubt fearing the result of a new trial, set aside the verdict and held that only a small part ofthis "should have been assessed against us. Then, as a matter of economy, this was paid, but the court left his record so that the balance still remained on the duplicate against us, whether intentionally or not we are not prepared to say. However, a change was later made in the county treasurer’s office and the amount was paid, the republican treasurer endorsing the receipt “paid under protest.” Then the claim was filed with the county commissioners and after its being continued for a term or two at Mr. Halleck’s behest, and we had threatened to sue the county unless it was paid, one member of the board of commissioners publicly stated that he “was convinced that it was a valid claim and that the county could not get out of paying it, and so far as he was concerned there would never be any lawsuit about it” Halleck wanted to continue it again, but the member referred to with the other commissioner allowed the claim and we got our money back, 114.10 (See Commissioners’ Record 12, Pages 118, 132, 134.) Now, if we had honestly owed this tax the republican commissioners did wrong in refunding the money to us, and if we did not owe it the republican official who put it on the tax duplicate—knowing we would have trouble and expense to get it off —showed the motives which actuated him in placing it there over our protests and in spite of the, same testimony that was presented to the commissioners who ordered it paid back. This is one of the painful Waterloos that the gang has suffered which it would seem the Republican editor would want to avoid mentioning, and we can only account for his having raked the matter up because of his extreme ignorance of the facts. He was not here at the time this occurred, and has no doubt drawn his “inspiration” from a source where party zeal was more in evidence than a desire to be truthful. The Democrat man’s reputation for truth and veracity, his credit or moral standing will not suffer a

particle when compared with that of either of the syndicate owners of' editors of the Republican, and an investigation of the tax records of Jasper county will show that he has listed his property at a more equitable figure than either of the active members of said syndicate, and that they have always been paid promptly and not allowed to’ go delinquent. The Republican’s attempt at presonal abuse because this paper made public the fact that the estate of one tax-dodger of the former’s political faith had been caught, will have little consideration from the public—it is too plain a case. If the Republican desires to carry the discussion of republican

tax-dodging further, we might add that one of the present owners and partners in the Republican plant bought a Junior Linotype a couple of years ago, for which he paid or was to pay—sl,soo. He paid $250 down and gave notes for $1,250, yet when the assessor came ’round—and the assessor knew nothing about the value of such machinery—he gave it in for assessment at only $100! And he still owed $1,250 on it, too. We have a number of other Instances of republican forgetfulness, also, that we might refer. to but refrain at . present, still all the tax-dodgers are not republicans—though most of the tax-dodgers in Jasper county happen to be such.