Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-01-22
Railroad Taxation.

maue pledges to the people and must
redeem them in some way. Some of
the Rcformers have got into the Leg
lslature through their sworn entity
to free passes. Others have been
notorious all their lives as attorneys
or attaches of railroad corporations
Some people are determined to bring
these corporations to grief at all haz-
ards If they cannot do it by altering
their tariffs, they propose to alter the
mode of taxation" so as to compel
railroad property to bearan "equal
ourthen of taxation, as they phrase
it. They propose to tax railroad
property in the towns, cities and
counties where it is located just as
other real estate is taxed. Against
this innovation we enter our decided
protest.
In Milwaukee the value of railroad
property, consisting of depots ma.
chine shops and steamboats, belonging
to the respective railroad companies
and intended to connect their lines
with roads or canals leading to east
ern cities, amounts to millions of dol.
lars. The revenue which would flow
from the local taxation of this i'm
mense capital would enable that city
to pay her State and county taxes,
and all her taxes, without calling Oh
her citizens for cent. And so with
other cities or localities were more
than an average OF railroad property
is located. The representatives of
such localities in 1862, having the ad
vantage of majority decision of the
Supreme Court, endeavored to en-.
force upon the Legislature this mode
of taxation. Before that year the
Supreme judges, Wilton, Cole and
Smith, had unanimously decided that
the taxation on railroads by compell-
ing them to pay certain percent. of
their gross earnings was not only
constitutional mode of taxation, but
it was the only common sense mode
A railroad is machine, an unity,
and if you take away part you des-
troy the value of the whole. You
don't tax a horse by taxing his head
body and legs separately, but tax
him as complete animal. He is of
no value if you take away either head,
body or legs. Suppose you tax raiJ-
road property in the town or ward
where it is found as other real estate.
If the company does not pay the tx,
the town treasurer returns so much
of the railroad as lies within his town
as delinquent, and the county buys 1T
in and gets deed for it. What could
the county do with it's 6 or miles
Of railroad, unconnected with the
road at each end of its purchase ?
Could the county remove the iron on
it's fraction of the road or forbid the
passage of trains over it, and thus
destroy the end for which the road
was built? No part of a railroad is
of any value unconnected with The
whole, any more than the leg or neck
of q horse unc0nnected with the
whole horse. Railroads therefore
must be taxed as entire machines, and
neither Milwaukee, Madison, James,
vile, Lacrosse or any other city has
an exclusive right to the res enues
arising from the taxation of railroad
property lying within their respective
limits. The country patronizlng the
roads has made this property, not
the cities where it happens to be.
Some say that the revenues arising
lFDIu tu0 fhiiIOdu t@A ouOuAu NC GpN
Piled to ease the burthens of taxation
every where throughout the State,
not those of the localities, towns and
cities whore the road happens to run
This is just, for the people of the en-
tire State have contributed to build
and give value TO the property.
Railroads are at present taxed up
on their gross earnings, B per cent.
This goes Immediately into the State
Treasury, relieving the people Of the
entire State from that amount of tax.
alton. This mode of taxation is not
only the most equitable and cohven-
lent, but its constitutiOnality has been
more successfully vindicted than any
other mode. At first it received the
unanimous sanction of the Supreme
Court. Afterwards two young judges
got on the bench they decided to
the contrary, but on u review of
their former opinion they chose TO
back out of it, The impossibility of
applying to railroads the general law
prescribing d mode of taxing real es
tate and its sale TO pay those taxes is
evident to any who will give the
matter careful thought. The present
mode of taxation is not only consti-
tutional, but the only mode adapted
to the nature of railroad property
Whether per cent. on the gross
earnings is enough in comparison
with other property, is a question
which legislators should investigate
and decide. No advantage to the state
will be gained by increasing the tax
so as to discourage the investment of