The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1881-06-01
A Blunder or a Fraud i'm the Law
Taxing Express Companies?
An ~Inexcusable Proceeding on the Part
Of the Recent Republican
Legislature.
The State Out Of Pocket From
$50. 1000 to $50, 900 Annually.
An Important Discovery to the Tax
Payers OF Indiana Made By q
Sentinel Reporter.

The House Journal and this BREWER Leg
lslatIye Reports evidence the passage Of a
law to tax Express Companies upon their
gross esrnings. This is a matte- of between
$4,000 and $4,000 to the State. State Sen
ator o.. '. Menzies was the authsr Of the
bill He drew it and faithfully chanpioned
its passage. 1t was v~iciously combatted bv
the Express Companies themselves, with all
the legislative sentiment that could be mar
shaled. backed by a strong lobby of attor-
neys. NO other measure awakened oppo-
sltion that continued longer or was more
intense. Tn character of the corporate
property to be taxed and the amount of rev.
enue likely to accrue all served to heighten
the interest. Every detail of the contest
that continued for a day and a halt, is Wv
idly remembered.
These can be no mistake in that enemies.
OF the SNl essayed to weaken it with various.
amendments, but 1t finally passed clear, and
so lar as both Houses were concerned,
became a law 1t was thought TO be in full
force until discovered by the Revisory Com
mlttee. Judge James 5. Frazer informed
Senator Menzles. The surprise of that gen.
tleman WIS no less than his chagrin and
morlhcation. be was in the city yesterday.
IN a conversation with a Sentinel reporter
ne expressed the greatest indignation at the
fraud, II 1t Is a fraud; or the blunder, if il is
a blunder: He said of course those who are
responsible tOr the change. whatever their
motives may have been, will claim that il
was an error Ia the public ought To be in
formed, and, in view of all the circum-
stances, it is geingt 10 be exceedingly difficult
to make the people believe that the change
Is not the result of design rather than error.
f0IlOulnD Is from tho Hon. $50
and is corroborated by all the Members as
well as the published reports: W. S. Chap
man offered the following amendment to
the substitute: Amend Section 81 by in
serting after the word state in line II the
words and the amount of wages paid to en-
ployes within the State, and the amount
paid for the purchase of tangible property
within the State, ~ which was re ected.5Sen-
ate Journal, March 10, 1881.
The House bill shows that il was voted
upon four different times-yarious amend
ments were proposed but ali rejected. Upon
its final passage it t,iumpbed "a to 5.
But, notwithstanding this, the amendment
crept into the lsw. 1t is there, and there it
will remain for the next two years. What
is stranger still, Senator Menzies. fearing
a fraud, read the bill, pencil in hand, with
the Reading Clerk. As il was read il ap-
pears exactly as it does in the House Jour
nal, and the Drapier Report as published in
the Sentinel. In spite of the legislation
against IT the fatal amendment erept in.
A Sentinel reporter talked for a few mo-
ments with Judge James S. Frazer yester-
day. He said that il was q very embarrass-
ing circumstance. While il might be a
fraud, he knew 4 number Of ways by which
the error or blunder might have occurred;
but there is no excuse in the world for
such an error or, to say, bIunder." While
he had believed the clerical fofce of the
General Assembly honest il was difficult to
conceive hen. capable of such a blunder.
Judge Chapman remembered that his
amendment was lost, and that the bill as
passed taxed the gross receipts of the Ex-
press Companies. He was very much sur
prised when the printed law revealed the
survival of his amendment.
A Sentinel reporter yesterday inquired of
him, do you believe the fraad theory
nc" he answered, 'tke clerical force of
the Senate was grossly incompetent. 1t was
guilty of a number of errors. But for the
w~atchfnlness of members, il would have
done scarcely no business at ALL"
Judge Stotsenberg said: The only ques-
ton is this: Was it unintentional, or was il
designed?' While il might have been a
fraud. there are many ways by which the
accident might have occurred"
Another way by which il naight have oc-
said Mr.. Nixon: IAN agent or
friend of the Express Companies might have
asked to see the journal, and when shown
it he could have ~surreptitiously written
under the'amendment the word accepted