The Chandler News. (Chandler, Okla.), Vol. 10, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 28, 1901 Page: 1 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Oklahoma Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Okia. //Ut. Society
The Chandler News.
FIRST PAPER PUBLISHED IN LINCOLN COUNTY.-H. B. GILSTRAP, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER.
TENTH YEAR.
CHANDLER, OKLAHOMA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1901.
NUMBER 24.
Money and Labor Invested .in Road Improvement Will Pay Large Dividends
• , •
THIS matter of. a correct and complete ; TT IS, perhaps, taking up a time-worn sub-
assessment means a great deal to this j A ject to talk about the trade that Chandler
TOMORROW, is the day when the person
who owns property which under the
laws of Oklahoma is taxable is supposed to
lake an inventory of such property prepara-
tory to receiving the annual
visit from the assessor
GET READY
FOR
ASSESSMENT.
which is the beginning-
point of the year's taxes.
Under the law it is supposed that a m-an's
county and to the individual taxpayers. By loses on account of the poor roads which
a little carelessness or willful negligence on lead into town from some directions, and it
the part of the assessor or' may not do any particular
the taxpayers in the listing | WHAT good to keep up the discus-
of property it is not a difti-1 D0NE sion of a theme where the
cult matter for the valuation | ' ' argument is all on one side,
WHERE
THE COUNTY
LOSES..
of a township to fall short of what it should
taxes will bear a direct ratio to the property' be by *10,000. The average rate of taxation
which he owns on the first day of March, but
in actual practice it is found that this de-
pends more nearly upon the property that
he and his neighbors give in to the assessor
but we do not mean to let our readers forget
very long at a time that this is one of the
very important matters which demands the
attention of all who are interested in Chan-
last year, for all purposes, was 4.5 per cent.
If'eveti so little as #10,000 worth of property
to a precinct should fail to be listed it would j dler's growth and welfare. There is not*very
mean nearly $300,000 in the whole county, j much that can be said on the subject that
and the values at which it is listed. There and the amount of taxes lost to the county , has not already been"sdid, but sometimes it
are a great many men who have an imperfect would be nearly $13,000. But the levy for , is a good thing to keep saying a thing over
memory, and who will not be able to remem-; the year will be made up after the valuation and over again until it begins to make
ber when the assessof comes around in a few I has been determined, and so, in order to
weeks just what they did have on the first of1 raise the*necessary amount of revenue, and
March. Most persons who are afflicted with i by reason of this amount of property not
such forgetfulness are inclined to give them-1 being listed, the property that is listed must
selves the benelit of the doubt as to what j bear $ 1.3,000 more than its just proportion of
taxable property they possessed-and to not the burden of furnishing the necessary
list the property concerning which their
recollections are indistinct. Such persons-
should make a list of their property tomor-
row and have it ready when the assessor
comes, for, while they may have forgotten; should be. A similar loss to the county and
the fact, the3r will have to take the following a similar injustice to the taxpayer occurs
oath after tfiey have given in their property | through property that is listed for assess-
to the assessor:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I
have listed above and within all the lands,
town,and city lots, personal property,
money and credits, subject by law to tax-
ation, and owned, used, possessed or
controlled by me, or by law required to
be listed by me for any other person or
persons as guardian, husband, parent,
trustee, executor, administrator, receiv-
er, accounting officer, partner, factor,
baiTee, or agent, according to the best of
my knowledge, so help me God. "
amount of revenue for territorial,, county,
and school district pnrposes. This makes
the taxes of the individual who honestly gives
in all his property higher than they justly
ment being valued too low. With these in-
i equalities on every side 'it would seem to be
!impossible to get an absolutely correct and
iequitable assessment, but this very fact is
j the strongest possible reason why every
| good citizen should do all his power to correct
Jinaccuracies and eliminate injustices. The
I man who willfully evades the payment of his
sufficient impression to move somebody to
action. This is not a matter in which
Chandler alone is interested, but it is a
matter in which some enterprise and effort
on the part of the friends of Chandler would
accomplish a great deal of good for the town.
Bad roads are altogether too common in this
county, but they are certainly less excus-
able and more detrimental when they make
it so difficult to get to the county seat and
the principal business point of the county.
This is especially-true of the roads from*the
south. The country south of the Deep Pork
is shut off from Chandler commercially to
almost the same extent as though it were
three times as distant. Nearly half the
county lies south of the Deep Fork and
this country includes some of the best
in the county. . The greater part of
it would be tributary to Chandler
in a business sense if the roads were in good
j just share of the expenses of government is condition across Deep Fork bottom, but as
no better than the man who would steal pub- it is the greater part of it goes to Shawnee,
lie funds after they have been raised, and | and Shawnee is being built up quite largely
A careful study of this oath will show that the assessor or other official who will aid a by the business that goes therefrom Lincoln
it takes in everything. A man who has j man, to avoid his duty in paying his lawful county. The people who go from this county
failed to list his property or any of it cannot proportion of the taxes is about on a par with to Shawnee to sell their cotton and to do
mke this oath without perjuring himself | the officer who will allow the treasury to be j their trading have to go just as far if not
There is no chance to dodge or evade the i robbed of the funds it contains. A good citi farther than they would travel if they came
o-ivin<? in of one's property except by swear-' /.en would certainly feel it his duty to give to Chandler, but the roads to Shawnee are a
ing falsely. Not only is one required to give! the alarm if he caught a .man in the act of great deal better, and they find that it pays
in all of his own property, but he must also j robbing the public treasury, or an official in : them to go there on that account, and no one
give in certain other property which may be | the act of permitting it to be done, and a j can blame them. In nine cases out of ten
used or controlled by him, and if he does not good citizen should consider it none the less 1 the people would rather come to Chandler if
know how far his liability extends in this re- j his duty to give information of any attempts ^ the roads were as good or anything near as
gard he should inform himself before the as- on the part of taxpayer or assessor to rob , good, for they are all sensible enough to
the county by withholding property from j prefer building up a town in their own
sessor comes around, unless he wishes to
make himself liable for punishment for per-
jury. The list of property to which each
man swears is tiled away and becomes a part
of the county records, and can be produced
at any time as evidence in case he makes a
false or incomplete return. Many people
have overlooked this fact in the past, but it
will be to"their interest to remember it this
year. The law in Illinois provides for publi-
cation of the assessment rolls—and there is
no law to prevent it in Oklahoma.
taxation or by returning false valuations.
One who does so inform need not feel that
he is meddling with the business of another,
for he cannot do less and properly protect
county to one in another county, and, be-
sides, Chandler has had the best markets
for what they have had to sell that could be
found in the territory. The road question
his own interests and the interests of the i stands in the way of getting this valuable
rest of the county. There is probably not j trade, and it will continue to stand in the
a man in Lincoln county who does not wish way until some of our people take hold and
for lower taxes, and there is no better
way of bringing about the desired change
than by seeing that all taxable property is
i properly taxed.
remove the barrier. A single good road
across the Deep Fork bottom south of town
would bring thousands of dollars' worth of
additional business to Chandler during the
coming year.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Gilstrap, H. B. The Chandler News. (Chandler, Okla.), Vol. 10, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 28, 1901, newspaper, February 28, 1901; Chandler, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc117263/m1/1/: accessed May 10, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.