ll,713

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two pieces of property in which the exact situations were

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identical in all other respects except that the owner of

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one was one whose usual vocation was that of a farmer whereas

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in the other the owner was a person whose vocation was other

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than a farmer, would the Legislature under 8.03 be justified

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in authorizing a separate classification?"

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And on page 7203 the committee spokesman said,

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"I would argue most strenuously that it could not,"

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Now, if our objective is to help the bona fide

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farmer, T say let us help the bona fide farmer. Let us not

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help the land speculator. Let us not help the person who

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is buying up farms and as a matter of fact is forcing

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farming prematurely into decline in this state because the

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tax situation permits him to buy that farm far ahead of the

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time when he would normally buy it because under the tax

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law he can hold it until it is really ripe for development

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and for purchase which is the time that he ought to be buying

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the farm so what happens under the law as it would stand

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now or under the Barrick amendment or I think even under

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the committee proposal, we not only lose the taxes but we

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also lose the farms, so we are not achieving our objective.