Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-08-02
Taxing Railroads.

Taxing Railroads.
Mgrs Edaos.-By what principal Of equity |
would YOU tax "way "a mere right To PASS
over the land simple easements q privilege
granted to go through certain portion Of the
state, and accommodate the pubiic This Is all
there Is Of o railroad Thereis no property In the
road itself. The property consists in the amount
Of business that is done upon the road by the own
ers. A. common carriers Take away the business
and the read would be worth absolutely nothing
without business the depots and all rolling stock
would be rated next TO nothing. So that the
property consists in the business of these carriers,
and II You tax railroads, you simply tax the BUSH
ness that is done over the road That is. yon tax
the earning Of the road
Well, then, II we are to tax the business done
by railroads, why not tax the business Of all ear
riers all teamsters, dr,ymen, and common car
ricr- Of every kind? Aud not only that, II we tax
the business OF carriers, then we must tax all
kinds OF business all trades, professions; the
business Of merchants, farmers lawyers. doctors,
and even the day aborcr would have to give an
account Of his earnings and have the amount
taxed There is not one reason why you should
t,V the earnings Of railroad and let the earnings
Of an individual go free Thus we see that a tar
upon railroads Is piece Of great injustice unless
we levy tax upon all trade, traffic, and business
Of every name and kind. It Is easy for us 10 see
that the wheels Of business are not running with
such an impetus just now, that they need to be
weighed down by u tN. And yet Il you tax the
business Of railroads, Justice demands that all
other business. should De equally taxed But ox-
cept in case Of war or some other great necessity
the leyying Of a tax upon the amount Of business
done by each person, or upon incomes Is not ex-
actly in harmony with American ideas of freedom.
Then again, the taxing Of railroads would nee
essarily bring ON an increase Of rates Of carriage
both for the passengers and freight, and that
would Of course increase the cost Of goods 50
that, in the end the amount Of the tax, or more,
would come out Of the consumer Of the goods.
who are the consumers? The rich . No. The
great mass Of consumers Of goods that are fetched
and carried over the railroads are poor men with
large families farmers, mechanics, traders, etc
So that, to put tax upon railroads would result
iu taking IL out Of poor handwriting men, while
the rich men, the capitalists, would go free
Again, every dollar laid out in building q rail-
road in Vermont has added two dollar 60 the
value " the farms along the line Besides, O. vast
amount ofWood aud lumber that was worthless be-
fore became of great value as soon as the railroads
were opened, 20 the amount Of millions Of dollars.
That pr,t,etty VA. h,at.9 That trorert, WAS
brought into existence solig by ,uarroi, aud -o
much was added 10 the wealth OF the state. Hut
we lind many enjoying the property thu. created.
who flourish their wealth with the most bitter
hatred against the iustrumenialitic- that brought
them their good fortune
Let us -uppose there were no r,,ilrad. in Yer
mont. and all communication WIS effected hv
teams. the same 10. il was done thirty wear. aro
Then suppose company Of men from Boston had
obtained charter Ia omen the Winnosh river
and therefore by great eypeuse had made il a
uayirabie stream from, Rurlinqtop Ia Noptpelier
for an ls,at. that rnp ON the lake Fir.t , ynst
sum Of pope, vonld have been q, ,eu,l,. all along
the rout. and the inhnhitart- vonid have be.n
enriched tberel,v ,u.r,. ,r ie.. Sa.,,tl, .,,ry
farm ,yopll have taen ,ul,,,.a i'm ,ai,e fr,,,
tyeut,-f,e Il. .c,.ut,.G,e 49,, ,.,, aud tb,,
there arise. a set of men who lo,k o,,r t,, lanai.
carr,in, ON a great t,,a,. mn and l.,,n the ti,er
and th.y be,,it IA npr,r,ii a, ,ip.t ue ,,,n,.,,,
and ,an,or f,ra t,, l, ,..e...i mann, ,l ,.,,
II WA. moi enontO HINT they ,nale uo,ue, while
fine works we're l,,ildln,,. II ,,s r,t en,h that
tbe, had ,r,,,,p ri.l la, bnyin n market l,,,tt
u their very doors bnttbey insist tlot these hene
faction. must ,1 .ton farther and ia, their local
taxes
But Won can lust Al. nrop,rly tax a ,s,,,,-,,,v
as a railway You fniebt with n. n,ch ;ps,,.c
and propriety. Law A tax upop a highway AZ nam
A railway They are ALI nr,cisel, ,i,,o-, mi. 70.
spect A mere iran, An e,s.,,eot ni,,e t,r
the carrier to travel bo,arres p,,,,ge. mr. ,,a.
I
Now the truth il that money. mo.tl, from ont.
side of the state. millions ufon millions. wa.
brought into Vermont and paid out here t. pull
down the hills and all up the bolloss To make a
place for the can. To run that the people along the
line. of the railroads mazda money ,,hi,s the ,,rl
was being done. that when these roads were com.
peted the farms and other property that made nm
| the wealth Of the state was enhanced in yalne 10
an amount greater than the cost Of the roads
/ Every foot Of land was affected more or less I,
was common thing 10 find communities. and
neighborhoods where the people lived in ln, huts
and were grnbbing away. wear Ina and wear ont
hardly able 10 keep soul and body together. when
the railroad came, aud in little time the log
cabins gave place u white cottages. and these toor
toers became thrifty farmers with their mortgage
all paid of. while the men who invested their
money in railroads have not received great re-
turns That is, the public the poonle OF the state
| have received benefit 10 the amount Of millions
of dollars bat the owners OF the railroads have
| lost money. And yet there is a spirit that clam
ors for tax u be levied upon the railroad. N ease
the pockets VI the very men that have been en-.
riched by them Therefore the taxing of a rail.
road "A mere ,r,,, t,,,ing , b,.,,..s. ,hn tt.,
rro.. i,,;,s,,rc in ,h, f.., -.
u"es " violate every principle ct Justice and