Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-03-16
One Per Cent. on Their Gross
Earnings is what They are
Willing to Pay.
Remarks of President Z. W. Cole
Before the House, March
10, 1875.

preHeuu Gldl come D6lOI6 YOU in = spirit,
or with a feeling, Of dictatiOn Nothing is
more foreign TO every sentiment Of my ma
ture, or 10 my purpose. L come pleading
a great interest in which your constituents
are deeply interested with me. come a.
a TenneSseean, to talk to TennesseeanS
about the States veal, about its credit and
about its taxes; and may be permitted to
say, without egOtiSm, that there is no one
in this or any other community, who pays
his Safe, county and municipal taxes
more cheerfully or more promptly than
do. l come with no feelings Of passion or
prejudice. 1 come to reason with you as
one man may reason with another. We
have nOquarrel with the State, and my best
efforts will be used 10 present a rupture.
The States interest and prosperity is our
interest and prosperity. The State has
been liberal toward her railroads, and they
in turn have conferred blessings on the
State. do not come before you to resist
taxation, but to confer with You as to an
equitable mode and rate Of taxation.
l have the honor 10 appear before You in
a representative capacity, and you will par
don me for one word IN reference to my
being here at all.
Il has been urged upon me that the bill
slya-al reasons unconstitutional, and that
al. best place TO meet it would be in the
courts. In fact, if it passed into a law, it
would be better for the railroad interest Of
tie State that it should pass in its present
firm. But 1 am satisfied that il is due
alike to YOU and myself that the subject
matter should be fully discussed, and tina.
any light in my power to shed upon It
f-T to
Legislature.
] would also remark that have the very
highest respect personally and profession
ally for its distinguished authors, and be
Hevc when all the facts are before them,
that even they viii at least pause before
4uauguTating a policy so detrimental and
r. Gus to the people of Tennessee, as well
a. destructive to all railroad interests.
The policy, which has been so suddenly
changed in Minnesota, as affecting the
farmers OF the West, would be as suddenly
changed if adopted here, for like causes
produce inevitable like results, but the ef-
feC would not pass away for years; all cap
iizl is timid, and once yOu record, as mem
hers Of the Legislature, your votes in favor
Of this class Of legislation, capital will
shUn your State, not only in works Of rail-
Tuad enterprise, but in every other branch
Cf business investment.
1 said, however, that this bill would in
;,Iv the farmers Of Tennessee, and cause a
81 mage in the value Of their exports.
LIS now prove the statement: The State
Of tennessee exports her produce for sale
into the States below, Georgia, Alabama,
and Mississippi. IT Tennessee asserts the
right TO put on This tax, and these States
follow. (Which is lot unlikely, for bad eX-
amEies are often fOllOWed.) then these
safes BY similar taxation would force their
railroads to raise their tariff Of freights,
which would be paid out Of the pockets Of
yCUr constituents; and whereas row GeOT-
gia taxes net earnings a small per cent,
and Alabama taxes d small per mileage
lgi State purposes only, and Mississippi as
- .Itirety at so much per mile, and you
&C. lac benefits Of this low taxation in low
latgs Of freight, YOU would then have to
contribute from the hard earnings Of your
people to enable their railroad corporations
tGcOlleCt the additional per centage collected
on tax. Can any man doubt for an in
staI.c. that this example followed out by
tie States where You ship 10, would be to
lower the price Of your produce? may be
answered that the Legislature would inter
fere TO prevent such rate Of freight. Be
lieve me. gentlemen, when l tell you, that
within its charter, you have no more legal
.Iglt to dictate to a railroad its rates Of
frn ght, than you have to legislate how
mach a farmer shall take for his grain. All
these fancjful ideas have no foundation IN
law or ia fact, as / am advised by the best
legal minds in the State: but the railroads
iu the States / have referred to are beyond
the power Of our Legislature to control in
any way. Kentucky, lying on your north |
Cru border, and through which most Of the |
imports come, has a reasonable tax on her
railroads for State purposes alone, her Su- !
nreme Court having decided that cities, |
counties and towns can not tax railroads |
LEGALLY. and 1 came here to talk plainly |
and honestly TO the representatives Of the |
Loog,e.
Tcunit me, too, to tell you that such war |
o. .3iital as the passage Of this bill would |
declare, would be met by those who have |
invested their money here, with strange /
generosity, If they did not feel deeply this /
wound upon their interests. How would /
the city Of Charleston feel, when you each /
know that she paid 100000 in gold to aid
IL building the f ST railroad constructed in /
this S,ate2 Aud. how would the Georgia /
Railroad act and feel when she too paid
]
road SgJOOO0? With what show Of gTati-
,,s.le 20 these corporations could any man
tgl=nd a bill, which would sweep out every !
a. Ia of value ia their stock? Would il |
be-. Gentlemen, fair, just, or even, l was 90
y 10 say honest, TO make their cOurribu-
.io- for our benefit subject to a tax, which
would render that iuVas .msut worthless |
- much has been said against railroads,
.h5t [ must be excused for saying q word |
Oh re other side of the question: aud here /
71afn / shall not rely on assertion, but pre- |
cent the proof in facts and fgnreS, illus !
rlsing what railroads have done i'm devcl- |
,-faE the resources and wealth Of the State |
Of Tennessee. We present in form the |
facts found in the office Of the Comptroller /
,s..,ral, Low which Won can see al a glance, |
sv.laparative value of properties created
%. Lose enterprises, and the amount Of
-t.t..a in commerce and business brought |
in and developed, would be beyond the |
,ovar Of any reasonable calculation. Here
.~- the figures:
rlu ~. ole real estate OF Tennessee, at
ia time the lr-t railroad was char
atsTG u lsi4, Wds...........s-...s.- 65,SZ5io4l
AuG in 1855, when the railroad sys-
1.m was cary completed, the
value Inrre LsgI -................. 1880 255
Dr. au advance iu THAI time Off,. lI9,g44yu Z
4 .ti iu 1873, uotwl IA standing the de K
vssIati0uS of war and depreciation
p. value the value as............. los 700 2-2
r .r increase OF ----.----..-..-...-. l4S3G,Og7 c
'aE Increase from lsit 10 1c-3....., l34Tsl.pgS I
q. l,Cr 300 per C,ut.
A.G the same principle Of ad-
-aucement applies to the towns
and cities: :
n lsil. the value was................ S1SS,553
N I-5s. the value was....--..----.... 3O,lH2.236
n 1873, the value was-.....-.--.. .-- 62,U77,37A
an inc 1 10 l.
Of .....s..-.-..s 22,9la.143 ! ?
a M Up 70 1873 ut.....-..--...-..-.- ol,st5,JlS
'Utsi increase from 1874 10 le.a---..- 5y5cc5oZl
or over 100 per cent. O
What overwhelming results do these G
si.ras not demonstrate. But not only TO :
~ real estate owners, but to every indus S
= ,bs benefit IS extended. Upon an ay- /,
ace, some more, some less. About sec il
ttg ice per cent. Of the gross earnings Of II
IA ne railroads in the State 60 into the
ocbets Of tie people Of Tennessee, as or d
iUarv. expenses, in various ways and U
lrolIrh various channels. In the first o.
acc. there are about LOCO miles Of rail- n
,7d IN tbs State. This employs some ! al
600 labOrers, and out Of their earnings | d
,eir families are supported, besides the o.
-owd of Hremen, brakemen, mechanics, ! C,
laineers, conductors, officers, etc. What I
7sopoTtion of the States population is / Fl
- - fI,s oaru fr1rg 0f This single in /