508 TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VII 



the amount of delinquent taxes and the property advertised at tax sales. 

 This is, indeed, a most serious and alarming condition, and a sad com- 

 mentary on our boasted civilization and business efficiency. 



We cannot permit this condition to continue. Taxes must be reduced. 

 This orgy of the reckless spending of the people's money by public officials 

 must be stopped, and a sane and economic system of conducting the public 

 business be inaugurated. Under force of the most dire necessity, farmers 

 are compelled to economize and deny themselves of many of the comforts 

 of life, in order to be able to meet their taxes, while there is apparently 

 no economy or reduction in public expenses on the part of the men who 

 dispense our public funds. 



The farmers and stock men should unite their forces and stand solidly 

 together for a material reduction in their taxes, as they can not exist and 

 retain their homes if this condition continues; and I hope that a strong 

 resolution setting forth the farmers' position on this question will be 

 adopted by this convention. 



I just want to say that after writing and preparing this portion of my 

 address, I made a little investigation concerning the taxes on land within 

 the state which I should have made before. I say in this address that the 

 taxes range from $1 to $3 per acre, and I find that I was $1.50 too low — 

 that they range from $1 to $4.50 per acre right here in the state of Iowa at 

 the present time There are places in the state of Iowa where men are 

 actually paying $4.50 an acre taxes on their land. And how in the world, 

 men, are we going to endure and continue under those conditions? I tell 

 you, this is a serious thing; it is a thing that this convention should give 

 the most serious consideration to, because we as farmers and producers 

 cannot stand this sort of thing, if it is going to continue, and pay these 

 taxes with 30-cent com or 5-cent hogs or 4-cent hogs which we might have 

 we don't know, of course, we hope not, but we have had 4-cent hogs in the 

 past and might again. 



Mr. Ames: May I ask a question, Mr. Sykes? Can you tell 

 us what part of the state is payirg those high taxes? That is, 

 what section, what township or county? 



Mr. Sykes : There are some portions of Cherokee county where 

 I found this to be true, and right in my own county there was one 

 township where the township tax was $4.21 an acre. 



Mr. Ames: Is that a school district? 



Mr. Sykes : Yes, a consolidated school district. 



Mr. Ames: It is a local tax? 



Mr. Sykes : Yes. 



Mr. Ames: It is self-imposed? 



Mr. Sykes: Yes. 



Member: That doesn't include any paving? 



Mr. Sykes : Oh, no, that doesn't include paving tax at all. That 

 is the tax that is levied by the county and the state. 



