Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1857-05-02


HARRIsBuGe, April 25th, 1857.
The bill for the sale of the Main Line Of
the public works having passed the House of
Representatives, it will be well to recall
some of its provisions, and show what the
Commonwealth sacrifices to effect sale.
rhe point and gist of the bill may be en-
braced in few lines. Tie main line is
valued at $7.500,OO0. The purchasers are to
give bonds for the purchase money, at FIVE
por cent. interest aud no part Of the princi-
pal is to be paid until 1890, more than thirty
years hence. If the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company become the purchasers, and consen.
to give $l,500000 in addition, they are to be
released from the tonnage tax, and all other
tares, on bonds, dividends and property, and
the Harrisburg and Lancaster Company are
also to be released from the tonnage tax.
Now in case the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company purchase-and there is no use
to contemplate any other contingency-th
State Will release the following items Of tax
alton -
Tonnage Tax on Penn'a. R. S226,0ls 81
"a lIarrisb'g
and Lancaster, 23,002 81
Tax on loans of Pennsylva-
MIA Railroad, ID, 4,4S6 S3
Taxes on Corporation Stock
Penna Railroad, 42,065 SO
Total S305,573 n
No account is here taken Of the taxation
OIL property, one of the items released, be-
cause there is no means of nscertainIng pre-
cisely what it would amount to. Doubtless,
it would materially swell the total Of these
items. Without including it, or pretending
to omake any estimate of what it is, the
above figures show the release of taxation to
an amount which would pay the interest, at
five per cent, on sir millions of the State
debt, and this upon the supposition that the
tonnage tax will remain stationery. For
what consideration does the State release
this large and growing source of taxation?
For the sum of one million and half of
dollars, or rather for the interest on that
sum-
But there is another interesting view of
this question. have shown above the very
least loss that the State can sustain. Let
us look at the great gain of the Pennsylva-
MIA Railroad Company by this bill, and the
fact will be apparent, that under its provis-
ions, they will get the Main Line for moth.
ing. The tonnage tax has grown with ANA
the Pennsylvania Railroad alone, it was
nlS54, Sll2,SSO so
In 1888, l29,23O Sc
In 1856, 226,0l85l
Showing an increase of one hundred per
cent. in three years. 1t would be fair
calculation to estimate that this tax would
amount in 1859 to over $450000 or double
its present amount, for while there is an in
crease of little over ten per cent. between
the years 1854 and 1855, there is an increase
OF hot
A corresponding ratio of increase would
swell the amount to an enormous figure in
ten, twenty, or thirty years, when the first
instalment OF 10 per cent. on the purchase
money is to be paid but | do not propose
to pursue the calculation although il might
very fairly enter into the estimate Of the nd-
vantageS to the Pennsylvania Railroad Com
pany under this bill
| The Pennsylvania Railroad Company then,
are interested to an amount beyond any
other Company or Association OF individuals,
much greater than one million aud half of
dollars. Take the items above given. viz
Tonnage tax past year, $226,0l8 81
| Tax on loans, l44S6 S3
Tax on corporation stock, 42,O65 SO
$685. sc
and we have the interest on $5,600,000 in
round numbers. To this amount the Penn
| sylvania Railroad Company are interested in
| tho purchase of the Main Line above and
beyond any other Company in the State
| To put them on an equality with others, they
would have to give Sl5,000000 for it, while
! in reality they will give, under this bill, but
| S3,500,000. This calculation shows the no.
sition OF the Company in the most favorable
| light. The item OF S42,065 SO tax on cor
| poration stock was paid for the first time into
the Treasury in January last, and is most
probably hnt part due the State from this
source. The tonnage tax will double Itself
! in few years, and the tax on real estate
owned by the Company is entirely omitted.
80 it will be seen that the taxes released
would in few years amount to more than
the interest on the purchase money. (s450,-
O0O) The bill proposes nothing less than a
| gift Of the Main Line TO the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company.
| But in consideration of what this Compa-
ny has done to develope the resources of the
State. and the ability and fairness with which
! its affairs have been conducted, this measure
might be allowed to pass without much GEN.
sure, if there was not connected with it
another proposition, startling to those who
look upon a sale as the means of reducing
the State debt i allude to the project 10
appropriate three millions of the bonds given
for the principal of the purchase money TO
the Sunbury and Erie Railroad No sooner
had the NJ ain Line bill passed the House.
'han the work for dividing the proceeds com
menced, So intimately connected were they