The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1864-02-22

form part of this great national high
way, we will lose IL and oil its vast ben
eGts, while rival State viii secure it.
1t has always been the policy Of ou,
towns, cities and counties, to give ever,
encouragement to railroads, even BY levy
ing direct taxes on the people, to assist B,
taking stock In the companies, to extend
the benefits Immediately to our citizens
Shall the State. by its Legislature, re
verse this policy and seek to cripple them
on the plea of raising little additional
revenue. l cannot believe the Senator
viii take any such narrow view of the
great subject. and / trust the motion to
strike out all after the enacting clause
will prevail.
Mr.. McCrary. Of Lee. sustained Mr..
Henderson's motion. He was not the
peculiar champion Of railroads, nor was
he ready to support any aud every meas
ure that might be deemed nimical to
them. He desired that every measure
affecting any or all railroad companies
should stand on its own merits. To the
policy of the bill he was opposed. Be-
lieved it would cripple and retard rail-
road enterprise in the State. He did not
know that the people anywhere had aske d
any change in the Law taxing the receipts
Of the companies. His constituents cer-
tainly had not. The Keokuk, Fort Des
Moines and Minnesota Railroad company.
which without aid, and against great diff.
ticulues, had struggled along until 90
miles of its road was completed, would
under this bill be called upon for contri-
button OF over $4,000 to the State
This company had done more than any
other company in the State, considering
the circumstance under which it had
prosecuted its enterprise. As to the
Constitutional argument in favor Of the
bill. he could not acknowledge its force.
The constitution OF Iowa was entirely
different from that of Wisconsin, upon
which was founded the decision cited by
the gentleman from Henry yesterday
The constitution of Wiscosnin provided
that the "rule of the taxation shall be uni
form.' Our constitution, on the other
hand, only provided that the property Of
corporations should be subject to taxation
as other. The constitutional provision
had been adopted for specific purpose.
Under the old constitution it had been
held that the property of such corpora
tlons could not be tsxed-that it could be
reached only by taxing the stock holders
and this provision was adopted to render
such property subject to taxation and not
TO provide that 1t must be taxed.
I Mr.. Hunt was opposed TO the bill on
the grounds of policy. l, was simply
question Of interest TO the State and not
question of abstract right. Ii was a
question whether We should vastly en-
hance the aggregate value Of the taxable
property OF the State by encouraging rail-
road enterprises, or whether We should
cripple them. His constituents were
deeply interested in this question. They
had railroad struggling 10 it, infancy,
and they desired it should be allow
ed to struggle on. He did not ad-
yocate liberal policy toward these cor.
poratlons because he had any tenderness
for the gentlem men who had their money
invested in them, but simply because il
Ws to the interest of his constituents
and TO the people OF the whole : ate that
the railroads should be built Nor did
he suppose the railroad companies we're
missionaries going about to do good
They invested their capital for the pur-
pose OF making money But this did
not change the fact that the result was to
enhance the value OF every acre OF land
in the State, and the price of every pro-
duct Of agriculture, which was the great
interest Of the State, and without the
prosperity of which there was no pros
perity for the State.
As to the Wisconsin case read by the
gentleman from Henry On Wis. 35) he
did not give it any weight in considering
the constitutional question raised. La
the first place our constitution Was not
like the constitution of Wisconsin. Aud
the holding of the majority OF the court in
the Wisconsin case did not command his
respect. Judge Cole in that case filed a
dissenting opinion, which in his opinion,
ridded the opinion of the majority, and
Judge Cole was the Oldest and far the
ablest Judge on the bench at the time
The case referred to overruled two decis-
ions made previous to it containing much
the better law and this III Wisconsin
case had, IN it's turn, been overruled by
case in which the rule prevailed. If our
present law taxing the gross receipts Of
railroad companies was unconstitutional,
then one third Of the laws on our statute
book were unconstitutional-among them
the law giving the right to vote TO sol.
diers-the law giving the same class a
continuance of their cases in court, &c.
Committee rose, reported progress, and
asked leave to sit again.
Leave Of absence was granted to Mr..
Gray.
Nr. Parvin, from committee on enroll
ed bills, reported, &c.
Mr.. Cue presented memorial of Hon.
c. G. Cole, asking appropriations for
Soldiers Orphans Asylum, which was
read and referred to special committee on
Orphan ASYLUM.
Adjourned. 1
HOUSE.