Give Your Friends A Treat And Advertise Our City

GIVE YOUR FRIENDS A TREAT AND ADVERTISE OUR CITY.

The great May Festival is near at hand, in occasion that hitherto has brought to our city throngs of people from far and near and constantly increasing numbers from year to year. This year ought to surpass all previous years in the number which should come to our beautiful city to hear this great musical treat, for the festival will this year surpass all previous years in the merit of the program offered. Ann Arbor people cannot serve the interests of the city better, or offer their friends a better treat than by inviting them here during festival week, to stay during this grand musical banquet. Ann Arbor people have the chance of enjoying so many rich things in musical and other lines that they are apt to forget, possibly, that people in many places do not have the same opportunities and consequently they do not do as much for the pleasure of their friends by inviting them here as they would, did it occur to them that they may give their friends great pleasure and spread the fame of the city by so doing. The opportunities offered here to those seeking a most attractive residence city are unsurpassed and generous advertising of the fact will help our growth while at the same time all who come on such occasions as the May Festival will feel amply repaid for the time and expense. The best kind of advertising that can be given our city is that which may be lodged in the memory of people, widely scattered, who have had the opportunity of enjoying what is in store for all who attend this festival of music.

The decision of the supreme court in the Detroit board of education case against the railroad tax Ievy as made by the state tax commission sustains the contention of the board and overthrows the tax commission's method of determining the tax rate. The reassessment which will now have to be made will increase the railroad taxation. In finding the rate of taxation the law specifies that the tax commission shall assess the enumerated corporations, railroads, telephone, telegraph and express companies' properties at the general rate paid by other property throughout the state. In other words the law makes the duty of the tax commission in this respect purely ministerial. It should simply have determined by the proper mathematical calculation what the average tax rate throughout the state is and made that the rate of railroad, telephone, telegraph and express companies' rate. But in trying to find this rate the tax commission arbitrarily added $300,000,000 to the state assessment of other property and used this sum for the divisor in getting the rate for such corporations. This, of course, very materially diminished the rate of taxation on these corporations, making their rate less than that of general property. The court holds that the commission had no right to do this and that it must follow the plain letter of the law. Therefore, by deducting the $300,000,000 added to the assessed valuation of general property, the divisor will be diminished and the quotient, which is to be the rate on the before enumerated corporate properties, will be increased, thus increasing the taxes of the same. The Detroit board of education was interested because the taxes from this source within the city go into the school fund.

Congressman Littlefield used very proper language in his address in University Hall relative to the United States senate, but it was clear to be seen that he desired to make the point plain that the senate belongs in large degree to the trusts. He instanced cases in which a word or two would be switched into pending trust legislation which would destroy its effectiveness and yet senators would frankly admit that the words ought not to be there and their presence there practically destroyed the effectiveness of the proposed legislation. Still they had no concern about the fact or the means by which these words got there. The fact is and it is well understood that the senate is notoriously the friend of the great organizations and many senators are just as completely under the direction and control of these criminal trusts as though they were actually owned by the trusts. The fact is in so far as the practical purposes of the trusts go, such senators are owned and voted by the trusts. And there is not likely to be any change until the method of electing U. S. senators is changed and they are selected by the people themselves.

Prof. Gunton, the warm friend of the trusts, is fearful of the anti-trust legislation passed by the last congress. He declares the power given the president is sufficient in the hands of an unscrupulous man to ruin any corporation that opposes the president's policy. To the average mortal it looks as though the good Professor is unnecessarily disturbed over this legislation. There appear to be no trusts that have been ruined as yet although there would be much in the ruin of some of them for the people generally to rejoice over. But they have always thus far shown remarkable ability in taking care of their own, laws or no laws. Then, we have a scrupulous president and not an unscrupulous one, and there is no danger of his using his office improperly. The trusts are awfully tender, of course, and should be kept in an incubator where the laws which individuals are obliged to obey cannot interfere with their development, still they have managed thus far to survive notwithstanding the horrible tortures suffered by Prof. Gunton on their account.

When President Roosevelt was governor of New York, he secured the passage of a law taxing franchises. Last January this law was declared unconstitutional by the appellate division of the supreme court of the state. The court held it to be unconstitutional because it provided for assessment by a state board instead of a local board of assessors. Now the New York court of appeals has reversed this decision and held the law to be all right constitutionally. This is one more important court victory for the president. The victory in the Northern Securities company case and the above are not calculated to strengthen him with Wall street, but they are right and in the interest of the people and so he should feel pretty well satisfied.