Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 September 1914 — SUBSIDY TAX KNOCKED OUT [ARTICLE]

SUBSIDY TAX KNOCKED OUT

At Least It Will Not Be Collected Here Just at l*iesent. The matter of the $60,000 subsidy voted in Rensselaer and Marion township, for the Indiana Northwestern Traction Co., was set for trial in the circuit court Monday morning, and W. T. and Blanchard Elmore of Remington, xvho own a farm in Marion township, and are the parties who sought to enjoin the placing of this tax on the duplicate, wejre.on hand ready for trial. Both the local attorneys for the traction company were out of town, however, and after waiting until along in the afternoon and neither of the attorneys showing up, Abe Halleek appeared for the railroad company and Judge Hanley held that the prder of the county commissioners placing one per cent of this tax on the tax duplicates to be collected this year (the order of the commissioners, however, w T as really that the tax should not be collected until the said railroad company had built some of its road, although such order, it is said, could not be legally made) should he set aside, because the proposed road had not been permanently located through Marion township. This action of the court knocks out the collection, or placing on the tax duplicate of this tax for the present, and probably ends the matfor good. How r ever, should the traction company comply with the law as to permanently locating a road and demand that the ,tax be collected, then action will likely be brought to enjoin the whole proceeding. The Democrat has not believed that there was very much prospect of the Indiana Northwestern Traction Company building this road at any time, and had this one per cent of the two per cent tax voted here been placed on the duplicate, our taxes in Rensselaer would have been $5 on the SIOO valuation, instead of $4, and if the road was not constructed it would have been a hard matter to have got this money back. Mose Leopold was attorney for the Elmores in this matter and he is to be congratulated for knocking out the order placing the tax cffi the duplicate, as are also the Elmores for taking the initiative in the matter. Their action has saved every tax payer in Rensselaer and Marion tp., for the present at least, $1 on each SIOO assessed valuation.