St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1868-03-20
Td.rafiOn OF RdiErOad Stock.

TaratiOn Of RdiIrOad Stock.
We alluded some weeks since, to the
passage by the last Legislature, of bill
taxing nonresident railroad stock i'll the
town or city where the principal office OF
the corporation i located. 1t appears
.urh Il bill passed both branches of the
..:.i,lature on the closing evening of the
session, but Gov. Page neglected to sign
81. This question has become one of
:umc Importance 10 the public. The
Inv of the State in regard 10 the taxi
ton of railroad stock Is, that whenever a
corporation divides or earns six per cent.
per annum above expenses, the clerk of
the company shall return the shares
owned by citizens of any town, to the
town clerk Of such town, and the non
resident shareholders must pay one dol
lar upon each 800 of their stock into
the State treasury. This feature of the
law, relating TO taxing nonresident
shares. is deemed unconstitutional. mas
much as it imposes unequal taxation.
The constitutional idea of taxation i,
that it must be equal Resident stock
holders pay more than one dollar upon
: 500. and the mode of taxation also is
not uniform. Indeed. we think some OF
Ihe NONRESIDENT stockholders in the Yer
mont and Ctnldl Railroad have already
obtained q decision in the l. \. Circuit
Court adverse to ti.i~ mode Of taNine
nun-rcsidcntS. and the case Is now. bv
appeal, carried to the Supreme Court OF
the United States. Their theory Is that
taxes can b. imposed only where the
holder of stock resides. ii he resides with
in the L nitcl State.
There have been decisions of the /.
:. Cour! sustaining the theory that Ger
tain kinds OF personal property is TAXA
bic only where the owner resides, IRE
spective Of its location. and we are net
at all sure the NONRESIDENT holders of the !
Vermont and Canada Railroad stock
will not obtain result in their favor.
Congress, however, has recently provid-
ed that shares of National Bank stock
shall he taxed only in the State where
the bank Is located. Should the Yer
mont and Canada shareholders. now in
court. obtain their case. the question OF
taxation of NONRESIDENT Sharchol !crs in
our railroads will he settled, and the
State and towns will be constrained 10
dismiss all claims for taxes upon such
stock. unless our present laws are amend
ed. Large amount, of stock in our rail
roads are owned by non-rcsidents, and it
Will at once be seen that it is an object
o; consequence with them to avoid town
taxation in Vermont, especially so if they
Happen to reside in Massachusetts, where
tho SAFE law requires them to pay taxes
there, even il they pay in Vermont.
Massachusetts, is the only State in New
England where TIE peoplc-holdcrs of
stocks in corporations out of the State
::rr required TO pay taxes on them when
they arc taxed in the State where the
corporation is located. Indeed, Mas>a-
clu,etts stands alone in this respect
among all the States of the Union, 50
lar a. we know.
There seems 10 us wiser mode of
taxing nonresident stocks than any we
have seen suggested. Should the courts
settle i'll rs a principlc that taxation of
personal property follows the owner. the
foreign stock in corporations within Yer
mont will all be beyond our reach under
our present mode of assessing stock as
simply personal property. The princi-
pie has been recognized, and we think
correctly, that when the property of a
corporation is of mixed character
part real and part PERSONAL distinc-
tIon should be made, separating for tax
alton that which is real estate from that
winch Is personal property. In this way
III" State would retain, for taxation. all
real estate
The major value of our railroads con-
S>t- Of roadbed, rails, bridges and build
lngs-properly real estate Let there be
a division among the towns of taxes
upon such property in proportion to the
value OF this sort of property To-
Gated in each. Here would be equality.
and an end Of all strife. Perhaps. if the
people should sometime elec: men to the
legislature most noted for wisdom. a
measure something like the one suggest
ed-provided they cannot find better
one-may be enacted
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