Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1870-03-10
THE RUTLAND HERALD.
THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1870.
Taxation of Railroads.
LETTER FROM HON. S NJ. DoRR.

Nothing is gained in the discussion of a
question of public interest by engaging ii
personalitica We are brought by force
Of circumstances :. to the consideration of q
question OF public poliey-one which al
Intervals during the last ten years has oc'
cupied the attention of our legislature
our eoUua;! Of rensors. our governors and
Individual ihi0kers OF less preteDsions
Bringing rhe s4mo question down To its
Legitimate consideration Ivy our own town
fad my-.lf unexpectedly broagh' into
it's diSnts.ion here. il j. subject to
proper time. aud before tho proper trl-
bunal, aud | believe in AN entirely uneT-
ceptionablr way, | expressed my opinion
upoL it, ! appeal to my record, to what L
have sFtttcu. aud what have said upon
the subject uf taxing railroad property,
10 .how that tho whole discussion so far
as / have had any connection with 1t, has
been ooqducted in a spirit ct oandor. 1
hav- no who're, made AN appeal to passlon,
or py, iudr". and have everywhere and on
1rrnt importsun' 10 our State If her Rail
Dad interest. 1t j. too late for nae now
~ loIow the lead OF Citizen and enter
,rs fald "f vile personality. II it is
.-,ugrua. - him, / shIlI not disturb
h,a. llud H. may remain master
= the sitG i.og" ! think it il true
that those who ..a most ready to
t,rGute uuwurthy motives "a others are
ia ,ss ..ut tn be guided and Influenced by
them ia .Eeir own line of condnct. To
imputo such .4otives to u Judge would
surely be damaging charge, and out OF
rt.poct 10 the cfice, if not to the man,
Spa make the application 10 "C1h2en.
Fh4 tiuc4tion Of taxing the railroad
,,nps~ty NJ thi4 State is not an impulse,
tu snrinas t.,,..l broad, deep and settled
,nyia,ian which tss been maturing for
,a,. that the railroad interest, created
,,.i protected by the people, s"...'!d con-
rnho,r ~ isll shar" to f'S support OF
y.,..rnorn,. As u uaked proposition, it
seem. ,u ,nn that it j. incontroyertible,
anI ;f his j. true. then cest4inly there
-hou.d bc no objeetion to reducing it to
Jr,o'ir"
4. Iong ago IA 1860 ut our annual
toWu ,oe"ting, Mr., Page being moderator
of the meatinV. the same question was
discussed and IL was then voted to in
struot the listers tn aassss railroad prop
,xtv the same as othor property is as
s.a-...d. aud the liSters were voted an in'
Aemnity f,r their action. A special
towr mce,inn vas subsequently, called
aud this vote was Feaeinded. In some
e,,b..auent years the listers felt it to be
sheir daty TO place this property in The
,gAnd list, aud they did 80, but when it
s,wy 60 be perfected it WAS stricken out.
The agitation Of tho s1bi~ct having
relrhed no practical resul&s, Mr.. Page,
being Governor deemed it of sufficient
general Importance to call the attention
az the Legislature to it, and in his mes
sage 10 1868 he said:
u ara unable to see any sound reason
why stockhoidags and bondholdcrs III pos
session should nos staId on the same foot
ing in this respect, or why TaisGaa oorpo-
rations should be subject to different
rulr in regard to taxation from other
c,cpsrtv holders. There can be no doubt
of your ps~er to tax the real property in
Shis State owned w corporations. 1t is
ths present rule to tax 1t CO such, except
ia the case of railroads, and by inGlpding
.ue real property of railroads under the
conceal rule, wS should reach alike the
resident and nonresident stock and bond
holders, and should work equality and JUS
!ice to all" After naming other ebsec-
iipns he says: "0ne step towards the
rcmossl of these objections is to tax the
real property Gf corporations in the sew
eral towns where such property is situ-
atsA upon its actual value, irrespective of
divideuds. By this means all the towns
on the line of the railroads, or in which
any corporate property is situated, will
receive their just proportion of the taxes.
had no agency in Introducing the
resolution of Mr.. Billings. should not
have introduced it myself, and 1 had
hepad that it might not be brought up
becadsa 7 knew that Mr.. Page was absent
and that IL was a subject to which he had
given good deal of attention, and If any
ocession existed for change of his views
we should have known it from him, as
well as the reasons for it. But when the
4abject was brought before the meeting.
and alreadyh had a public record on the
sauestion that was familiar to most of our
citizens present-when it was through
my agency that the question was brought
to the attention of the Council of Censors,
and that Council had made report to
the people, covering the whole ground
and substantially endorsing the position I
assumed, there was no course left for me
bnt to favor the adoption of the resolu-
kioa.
i understand that another town meet
eng will be called to rescind the vote al
ready passed. At this meeting presume
Mr.. Page will be present, and am sure
be will not hesitate to say why we ought
TO rescind the vote, If there is 10 his judg-
ment valid reason for II. As one OF the
managers of a road largely identified
with the interest OF the town, his We rds
will now, as always, have great influence
Very respectfully yours, &c.
AsSz0 y. d.. DoRR.
Rutland, March 9, 1870.