Seattle Municipal News, v. 19, no. 1, Jan. 5, 1929

              Seattle Municipal News
VOL. XViy.—No.   1.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, JANUARY 5, 1929
FIVE   CENTS   PER   COPY
Taxes Are Mounting In
Nearly Every
City
Every, year Mr. C. E. Rightor of
the Detroit Bureau of Governmental
Research compiles for The National
Municipal Review a statement of
comparative municipal tax rates. He
is not content to take the rates as
published in. official gazettes, $26.56
per $1,000 in the case of New York,
for example. These figures are inevitably misleading, because they are
based on assessments that may vary
greatly, not only from year to year
in a single city but in accordance
with the differing practice of several
cities/. The legal basis of assessments in New York, as in most other
cities in the nit-ed States, is 100 per
cent of cash value, but there are
cities where the legal basis is considerably less than that. In Seattle,
for •example, and in Chicago until
this year, it was 50 per cent. Everybody knows, too, that even where
the legal basis is 100 per cent of true
value the actual assessment seldom
attains that standard, and is often
far below it. The merit, of course,
also the weakness, of Mr. Rightor's
annual table is that it attempts to
give the real tax burd*en based on
true   values.
Comparative Rate Change
A New Yorker looking over the
figures for the cities of over 500,000
population will note at once that this
city has jumped from eleventh place
to fifth place in a single year. Last
(Continued  on  Page  Three)
ADVERTISING  DIRECTORY
The Seattle Municipal News re.
quests you to read the messages
of its advertisers:
Burglar and Fire Alarms
Instantaneous Alarm Co.
Page 4.
First    Mortgage    Investments    or
Real Estate Loans
Carey   Winston   at  Continental
Mortgage and Loan Co.
Page 3.
Western Optical Co.
Oculists'   Prescriptions   and   Eyeglass   Repairing
Page4.
Printing, Briefs and Stationery
White & Hitchcock Corp.
Page 4.
Title Insurance
Washington Title Insurance Co.
Page 3
Meeting, Tuesday Noon, January 8
A GENERAL DISCUSSION OF THE MERCER
ISLAND BRIDGE PROBLEM
LED BY
R. R. Montell
PROMINENT  SEATTLE  ENGINEER,  WHO  WILL  TELL
ADVANTAGES OF
"Short Franchise and Low Toll"
AND
Don W. Stuver
VICE-PRESIDENT   PUGET   SOUND   BRIDGE   AND   DREDGING
COMPANY,  WHO WILL SPEAK ON
"The Type and Need of the Mercer Island Bridge"
CHAMBER   OF  COMMERCE   BANQUET   HALL
The Public Is Invited
NEWS  NOTES
NEW  ELECTION  CODE  PROPOSED FOR CLEVELAND
13,000,000 ACRES GONE
BACK TO WEEDS
The Citizens' League of Cleveland
is compiling a new election code for
presentation to the Ohio legislature
in January. Its princip?! features
are:
a. Permanent registration. This
would make it unnecessary for the
voter to register every year as at
present, but only when he changes
his place of residence. ,
b. Changes in precincts. A reduction in the number of precincts and
a readjustment of precinct boundaries is needed;; but it should be accompanied by a simplified ballot
form.
c. Primaries. A simplication of
the nominating system and a change
in the date of the primary is generally demanded.
d. Office group form of ballot. A
single blanket ballot for candidates
and issues, as in Massachusetts and
California, on which the names of
candidates and their party designations are grouped under the title of
the. office to be filled.
e. Watchers at the polls. At present only the political parties can have
watchers at the polls, except in case
of a .referendum.
f. Recount of ballots. Under existing law the candidate is required
to  establish  a  prima facie  case  of
(Continued  on Page Three)
Declaring that 13,000,000 acres of
farm lands have reverted to idleness
in recent years as the number of farmers has decreased from 4,000,000
to 3,000,000, Delos L. James, assistant agricultural manager of the
Chamber of Commerce of the United
States, addressed the state development committee of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce recently.
Mr. James said that although there
are fewer farmers and fewer acres
under cultivation, improved methods
and implements have increased production by approximately 5 per cent.
He emphasized the interdependence of business and agr&ulture, and
expressed a belief that a high quality
of farm produce is an important factor in the farm relief problem.
THE SAN FRANCISCO VOTER'S
BURDEN
The voter in San Francisco was
confronted on election day with 21
state propositions, 32 city charter
amendments, and eight local bond
proposals in addition to voting for
presidential electors and five United States, local, and county offices
—at total of 67 expressions of
choice.
The multiplicity of propositions,
(Continued  on Page Three)
Cascade Tunnel Association Makes Much
Progress
As the New Year arrived the officers of the Cascade Tunnel Association looked back over the year
1928 with a satisfied feeling that it
had been a year of accomplishment
and with the determination that the
year 1929 will bring a reward in the
shape of a definite step toward the
building of the great tunnel.
League members will remember
that on April 3rd, Mr. Otway Pardee
reviewed the progress of the tunnel
at that time declaring his belief that
if Seattle would be a city of a million it must necessarily establish a
greater hinterland. (See the News
of April 7th, 1928, for a summary
of his address.) The president of
the League at this time appointed
a committee on the Cascade Tunnel.
Evening Meeting of October 15th
When Autumn arrived the Tunnel
Association began to hold its regular
Monday noon meetings at the Chamber of Commerce. To supplement
this, on the evening of October 15th,
a t t h e Rhododendron Apartment
Hotel another meeting was fceld,
where the history of the project and
steps of accomplishments were reviewed, and many guests including
members and prospective members of
the State Legislature were present.
At this meeting it was decided that
governmental aid, state and national,
would be desirable to bring to successful culmination the very good
work that had been thus far carried
on entirely by individual initiative.
(For a report on this meeting see
News of Oct. 20, 1928.)
State Wide Meeting Nov. 24th
At Everett, on Saturday, November 24th, members of the Association
and persons interested in this gigantic project from all parts of Washington and many from Oregon, Idaho,
and other neighboring states met in
convention to elect officers, adopt
resolutions and plan the work of the
coming year. It was thus planned
to hold a meeting at Tacoma, January 12th, to discuss means of aiding
an appropriation for a survey which
is to be asked of the coming legislature. This convention elected nine
trustees for a three year term.
Frank Spinning and Frank R.
Potter of Sumner; Rufus Woods,
Wenatchee; Joseph A. St. Peter,
state senator, and Attorney Lloyd L.
Black of Everett; J. G. Henry, Sky-
komish; John P. Hartman and Judge
Austin E. Griffiths of Seattle, and
S. A. Perkins of Tacoma.
Professor Lieb's  Address
One of the features of this convention  was  a  very  interesting  ad-
(Continued   on   Page   Two)