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of calling a mass meeting and denounci*# the situation, the facts and did something sfcaut if. . c . tv Wi’ IN Thurston County, In Iyf | northwestern Nebraska, jet' B where I live, we have (olirif l a way to cut our • ylSj&Zgf' local taxes. It is a very simply plan, and one that W you can easily apply In y your own community. ' When the depression of *“ 11 ¥ 1920-ill hit us we were In In just about the same tax situation as any other county in the Middle West. We were really worse oIT because in 1920 our county suffered a cloudburst and scores of bridges were destroyed and bad to be rebuilt and paid for. Be fore I blegin to tell about the remedy for - the "tax disease” let ine show right here at the start what the remedy accomplished: It saved the county, around si>o,ooo ori the one item of bridges alone. It. secured cuts of from 8. to 20 per cent in the local taxes in individual precincts. It increased tiie amount of property returned from 12 to 20 per cent in years when the valuations were gen erally falling, thereby reducing taxes for the man who had always been honest in making his return. Best of nil, the net result was a feel ing of confidence and general satisfac tion, instead of mistrust, unrest and suspicion. Here is how it was done: During the year or so that the de pression lasted in earnest, people tend ed to become radical. But being radi cal Is more or less a state of mind. When we began to get radical about our taxes, it simply meant that we didn’t know where our money was go ing, and consequently didn’t know how to stop the money from going. A farmer would see the school ma’am spinning along in her jitney. “Well, looky there,” he would exclaim, “that’s where all our taxes go!” Another farmer a few miles further on would see the road graders at work. “Hump!” h> would exclaim, “I’ll bet that’s tak ing all our taxes!” It all depended on which way a fellow looked as to what he blamed his taxes on. 2t£e fact was that most people didn’t know. Ignorance of where our money went tired suspicion and suspicion bred radicalism. A few people were already making themselves heard, when it was suggested that the farm bureau might take a look into the matter. William Wingett, president of the county farm bureau, and a little group on the tax committee were handed the Job. Some people were for calling a county-wide meeting to protest vigorously and nois ily against all manner of taxes. Kilt before we had a public meeting It was considered proper for someone to find out where our money did go. So we went over to the county offices and went through the books and deter mined just what our money was being Spent for. And a little la er we did this for every school district in the county. On this page Is reproduced the poster we got out showing what every man paid on SI,OOO actual valua tion In School District No. 13. There was not any hedging or guess ing, here was everything in black and white: $3.30 for state taxes, $4.90 for county tuxes, $45.50 for sctiool district No. 13, and $0.50 for the village of Walthlll. And each of these was subdivided off to show even somewhat minor ex penditures. At the first public meet ing there were around 150 farmers and a few busi ness men present. We began to hold meetings all over the county, and at every meeting we passed around circulars that showed where the money went In that school dis trict. We had wall charts and maps. The upshot of all this was that for the first time It suddenly dawned on people that most of the tax expenditures were for things directly under their control. Politicians had sometimes talked as if t lie state capitol, the state government, the university and normal schools, the state institutions for de pendents, state roads —ns if these things were tak ing tlve money. But if we had out out all of these things altogether whore 1 lived, it would have de creased our tax bill only about 10 per cent. The largest expenditures were concentrated right down in By H. L.KEEFE frc*s/dc?nt of J/ate farm fureau federation in an in ter y/ey/ witii ff. Crswford in farm fireside ■& "Cf the attendance at the annual meet ings of the school districts increased from four to live persons to forty or fifty. In some districts it was found that things had not been managed efficiently. In some cases it was found advisable to cut down on one teacher where she was teaching ouly a very few pupils and increase the size of classes for other teachers —al- though in some cases the salaries of these other teachers had to be raised. In most cases there was also a dis position to economize on other mat ters, such as the purchase of coal at the time of year when it was cheapest, etc. In this way cuts varying from 8 to 20 per cent were effected in the taxes of individual districts. The next big thing was to discover hidden property which was escaping taxation throughout the county. Our tax system lias always been so consti tuted that the man who is honest about turning in his property at its rightful value indirectly pays the tax of the man who just forgets that he is quite so well off when the tax assessor conies around. You know an assessor hates to raise a rumpus with his next door neighbor and too often a whole lot of things do not appear at all on the tax books. So the tax committee decided to give the community another shock, and something to talk about for months afterward. We hired a couple of men to go down to the county offices and copy off of the books the amount of property which each man in the coun ty had turned in. We had blanks printed where each man’s name.could lie listed with the value of ills cattle, horses, automobiles, jewelry, in fact everything that he owned, according to the figures he had given the asses sor. These, blanks were compiled with the names in alphabetical order. Then we proceeded to paste these blanks up In the postofflee, banks, stores, and other public places, right in the man's own community. You can imagine what interesting reading HOW YOUR TAXES ARE SPENT Thurston County, Nebraska Taxes Paid on $1,000.00 Actual Valuation, in School District No. 13 $30.20 STATE TAXES . 3.30 S for State Cupltol S -23 foi State Government 44 for State InNtltutlunH for Stnte It,unis, etc .88 for Education. 1.10 $ Totnl 9 3.30 COUNTY TAXES 4.90 Satt.3tM.lß* for County Genernl Fund.,..? 1.75 17.1H17.U2 for County Bridge Fund 80 8,1)83.81 for Conun’r Itoud District..,. .40 8,083.81 for Local Itond District 40 1.132.08 for Building Fund -05 1,122.08 for Mothers* Pension 05 1,122.0$ for Cos. Agricultural Society.. .05 22.430.13 for Old IndebtednesM 100 4,401.81 for Emergency Bridge 20 4,40101 for County Bond Fund 20 $110,051.01 Total 9 4.00 • 85% of the amount of Hit levied, which in the haul* named by law for InNuinit warrantSj SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 13 15.50 $11,075.41 for Teacher* $11.47 132.52 for Repair* 40 384.03 for Fuel 20 100.00 for Books 084 302.40 for Text Books 28 220.25 for Furniture 17 140.48 for All Other 11 for Bonds 3.00 $202128.08 Total $15.30 VILLAGE OF WALTHILL 6.50 Genernl -. .. , S 4.00 Bonds and interest 2-50 Totnl £ 0-50 TOTAL TAX $30.20 THE QANIELSVILLE MONITOR, DANIELSVILLE, GEORGIA. our own com munities, in mat ters over which the people had the most intimate control them selves, We found that there were wide variations in dif ferent parts of our own county, and that taxes, in individual school districts varied all the way from $10.50 to $30.20 on SI,OOO valua tion. When people began to find these things out When the farm bureau took hold of the matter there had been a rather tentative settlement on sixty completed bridges on which the total cost ap peared at $131,898.77. A reduction of $8,22(5.92 had been made from this amount and warrants to the amount of SIOI,OOO issued, leaving a balance of $22,671.85 unpaid on these particular bridges. The farm bureau appointed a com mittee of sixteen taxpayers to investi gate the matter. An engineer from the State department was secured. During five days more than eighty bridges were visited. Bolts, washers, and it might even be said spikes and nails, were counted. Then the charges made by the bridge company were carefully checked. In some cases where the bridge company appeared to have charged too little, something was added, but in most cases deduc tions were made. Here the deductions exceeded what was added by $7,665.- 50. I tear in mind that we were not finding any fault with the bridges but only with the cost. The bridge com pany agreed to tills reduction. A little later we discovered state ments for twenty incomplete bridges. We went through these in the same way and here we made a net reduc tion of $6,125.47. The bridge com pany again promptly agreed to having this reduction allowed. they made. War bulletins from the World war never proved half as in teresting. What .do you .suppose happened a year or so later? The actual returns of property in creased in the various precincts from 12 to 20 per cent, notwithstanding that it was between years when everything was supposed to be going down. This simply meant that the honest man had ceased to be penalized for being honest in turning in his property. There’s one more chapter to our story. I mentioned to you that we were un fortunate enough to have suffered a severe cloudburst in 1920 which had wiped out several score bridges in our county. Following a county-wide in sistence on replacement the commis sioners declared an emergency levy for new bridges. Here is where we saved around $30,000 and since have caused other counties to scrutinize matters of this sort more carefully. After the bridge contract had been let and the bridges were going in, there was a frequent allowing of county war rants on the contracts, in excess of funds on hand, and these warrants were naturally registered at 7 per cent interest. Finally these amounts grew to an excess of SIOO,OOO and people be gan to get a little alarmed. It appeared that there were no defi nite records available which showed just how things stood. Some of the county officials and taxpayers began to ask how an accounting might l>e se cured. And then we were able to secure an other reduction of sll,- 576.08, because we were able to show that the cost of material had come down since the first of the bridges was built This made a total of $33,- 593.97. Since our bridge experi ence other counties in Nebraska have been doing some checking up and we have been building some of our own bridges. Our experience shows, I think, that people in the county should take some thing more than a merely perfunctory interest in their tax affairs. You de termine your own taxes. If you check up to see what you are spending your money for, either you are going to admit that you are satisfied or you are going to find a way to make a reduction. The biggest thing that we accomplished in our county was not the saving of more than $30,000 on the bridges nor the ruts in taxes in the various school districts, nor the resurrection of much hid den property. The big gest thing was that the people found out that the question of taxes rested with themselves. English Cottage' Type of Home,. Presents Very Pleasing Picture • . • 0- HgR v . , 1 . ... 40-0 - a r* m U fP=JL_ L d= KITCHEN 7 ~( I jf X*l:o’ — | I __ HI . /CL a rj h =r: BLI7-RiA U HFINING-Rrt 7 /---.—--/- 13V "‘"'- 4 ' E II \J TtetAoi !; L.^f l ~ Hj 3 _ n B BH7-RM B= j :; J (3-i?"* - |h-| < ;; L -Tr* • TtRRAC E. RO O F N I MALL. _ o='J Btp-Rn H JJ 15V x ls'-*r p By WILLIAM A. RADFORD Mr. William A. Radford will answer questions and give advice FREE OF COST on all subjects pertaining to the subject of building, for the readers of this paper. On account of his wide experience as Editor, Author and Manufacturer, he is, without doubt, the highest authority on all these sub jects. Address all inquiries to William A. Radford. No. 1827 Prairie avenue. Chicago. 111., and only inclose two-cent stamp for reply. Acquired knowledge of generations lias contributed to form the English cottage type of house and this devel opment of years finds its expression in the beauty of the exteriors and in the livable qualities of the interiors. The home illustrated here presents a very pleasing picture with its com bination of brick, stucco and timber. The arched doorway of the vestibule, with its contrasting keystone set in the arch of brick, helps to make a pleasant panel of the vestibule with its brick front and individual gable. The terrace will prove to be comfort able and useful. The arrangement of the seven major rooms is such that they will render a maximum amount of service without demanding an extravagant amount of housekeeping. The hall, which opens from the ves tibule, houses the stairway to the sec ond floor. Provision is made in inis room for a cloak closet, which should help the housekeeper in her constant warfare to keep cloaks, wraps and bats from being strewn about the home. The living room, with the cheerful fireplace at one end, is ex ceptionally well lighted, and opening directly off this room is the dining .!> ui. • The recessed terrace, with its ' is from both the dining room and kitchen, will provide a setting for . ...nv suinme# evening meals. The First Floor Plan. •ueid jooij puooag kitchen is well lighted and arrange^ • The two bedrooms on the firs’ ' ’ with the accompanying hath, reached through a small hal 0 dining, room. Both are of' a * size arid are well supplied with An extra closet in the hall pro storage space for linens. The two bedrooms on the floor are of an interesting shape • * large enough to insure the co their occupants. The upper has two closets. The ba a |h( floor is separated by the wh hall from the bedrooms and ible from both. Demand Protection in Purchasing of Real The purchaser of a hom .® mand I hat his purchase ’ cv erj through title insurance . small item agreed upon u* tion is put in writing. l"„. vay witl protects the buyer, but uo 1 m , ts <>• any misunderstanding * 1 tin a much better connection seller and purchaser. jn ro i*c When you buy a home, k I #n# that the seller is anxmu o bnt in will satisfy your demands U sist . If there are any ’ ghall m in the home which it Is . - {bere made, put It in wnttag. ?re agrt *< certain Improvemen - •• contra ct. upon, make it P art ° absolute P r<> Title insurance is a j estaI e tection to the purchaser m „ It is a guaranty tha. Y, inco inbrnr. free and clear from ® licT . If iE unless so stated in tbe r ' ny .’ ' sunt nee is issued, the - “ t 0 t 1 one who is responsive ; pßf amount of the policy, nan, - • c hase price of the Droped