, 1870-03-16

Daily. deliEe:sa. s1adAJ EcLrnEn 80 rent. Pa weak
AaaFs. TRIBUNE oo1RAsx. 6R;
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1G, 1870.
TIE nL16o1s CENTRAL FUND.
TIE Committee On Revenue in the Con
stitutional Convention, in reporting that
"Ibe first dependence oE the State for rev
enue should be upon the Illinois Central
Railroad fund, and after that upon taxa
don7" do not appear to hare reflected that
this is equivalent to saying that the bulk Of
the State ta1es shall be levied on the people
Of the thirty.seren counties adjoining the
Illinois Central, and, when these fail, then
upon the people of the State at large. Such
position is delicate, and, possibly, dan
geruus one to take, and one which the
convention vii do well to avoid press
ing too far, lest greater latent
weaknesses may be disclosed In it
than had been suspected. The present el-
fort Of the Committee on Revenue is to fK
IN the constitution such casLi1on clause
as would prevent the State from ever max
ing just apportionment OF the taxes col
1ected from the Illinois Central to the cour-
ties On the line Of that road, to compensate
the<9aoffaae> OF those counties for the loss
they sustain bT reason Of the exemption of
the Central from local and municipal tara
ton. Thirty-seven counties are interested
in obtaining such an equitable apportio1-
ment. and, we believe, Will vote, With consid-
esable unanimitr, against any constitution
which prohibits it. Is It well to ooncen-
t1ate against any part Of the constitution
SO formidable m opposition On question
OF doubtful e1pediency and still more doubt
{u1 morals? Can any constitution be
adopted against it,
Look first at the equities Of the case.
Four-fifths Of the earnings Of the Central
are paid by the people Of these counties in
freigbts and fares. The freights and fares
have to be adjusted so as to cover the low
est possible cost Of capital, cost Of materi-
ais, cost Of labor, and taxes. AL these arc
counted as inevitable expenses. If there
remain anything over These it is profit. Il
tbess are not earned there is q loss. The
taxes, therefore, are included in the freights
and fares, and of the $500, 900 paid by the
1oad to the State, S400, 900 are paid IN in
creased cost Of traffic by the people Of the
counties along the line of the road
But this is not all nor is it this that the
people Of the thirty-seven counties on the
Central Road wish at present to oTerturn.
They are willing, if not pushed too far, to
be made, as Mr.. Hay styles it, sthe cor
ner.sto1e Of the revenue of the State" :"
But, after paying SO large share Of the
State taxes, they deem it unjust that the
property Of the company should be exempt
from local TAXATION. The effect Of such
exemption is, TINT the people Of these
counties, after paying, through the Illinois
Central, large share Of the State taxes
which would otherwise be payable by the
other counties Of the State, mnst turn
around and ta1 themselves to sustain the
local and municipal governments Of all the
cities and towns which supply the Illinois
Central Railroad with its business, and ont
Of their OWL pockets pay the cost of pro-
tecting 1he Illinois Central Railroads prop
erty. They are willing the State should
levy its ta1 Oh the Central, provided it be
not made q ground OF e1empting it from,
local taxation, or provided an amount
be deducted from the Central
fund and repaid TO the counties
in question sufficient to offset their loss by
this exemption. This demand is just. The
State may properly exempt class Of prop
erty from State taxes, IN consideration of
specified SUN, as, for instance, pez cent Of
4b> gross earnings Of railroad But upon
what principle of equity can the State, in
consideration Of sum paid to itself, exempt
property OF any Kind from taxation by a
city OF county? There would be the same
equity in charging all the other property Of
the State specified sum foz exemptiug it
from county and city ta1es- 4 considera-
ton received by the whole people OF State
cannot pay for ~ Qpgeaoa
thirty seven counties IF the 6tate.
Mr.. Church argues that the lands OF the
which they ere stuate- We answer They
belong to those counties in every sense
in which they ever belonged to the State.
Neither the State nor the county ever owned
square inch Of them, NOT does the right
= tax, whether exercised by State, county,
II, rc1uire or arise from the ownership
the fee It is an ina1ienable function Of
wernnent, necessary right Of sen-gov-
nment, and c1ings inseparably to every
subdivision into which the government
may divide itself for local purposes. 1t H.
here's IN every municipality for its oxn mu-
mcipa1 purposes, BY natural hight, which
is higher than the Constitution Of the
State, md any Infringement Of which by
the State is usu1pation. The natural right
Of liberty which men have rs individuals
includes their right, when aggregated into
towns and cities, to govern themselves,
and tax the property within their limits for
that purpose. While the State may define
and protect this natural right Of man in his
municipal capacity, it is guilty Of oppression
when 1t denies or Fthholds it. But it is
argued thRt " The road had Afforded 10 the
counties through which it passed objects Of
taxation WHICH they would never otherwise
have had> So, too, the people Of the coun-
ties have afforded the road, and, through it,
the State, revenue which it would
not have had but for them. The
favor done the people by the road running
is e1actly balanced by the favor done the
road, and, through it, the State, by the
people Of those counties riding over it.
Both are squared and the fact that man
lives on the line OF the Central Road forms
no reason why he should pay the taxes Of
the remainder Of the State, nor why he
should pay the local taxes due from the
Central itself to discharge the local police
e1penses necessary to guard its FL prop
city
Mr. Tncher favors rs with the sage
opinion that, if t'people inhabiting coun-
ties along the Ine OF this road are not sat-
isded, they can pack up and move"
This is the English argument to
wards Ireland; but we had not
supposed one set Of counties in Illinois
would be found applying it to another set,
OF recommending desolation and emigra-
ton us the appropriate cure for e1tortion-
ate taxation. Neither the Stnte Of Illinois
nor those Of its people living away from
the line Ct the Central Road ever granted
ANYTHING to that road, except its act OF H.