The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1883-02-08

VIII cNnStrue its terms as q vote OF |
dlstrust towards them by this honor |
able body, if the pending bill passes. |
IL legislation is demanded and is nee
& lry on this subject, and believe il |
is, 1T that legislation be by general !
law, affecting all alike. and 10 will |
have my unqualified support: but, sir.
so long as it comes in the form OF |
special and class legislation shall op-
pose IL as contrary to the letter Of our
constitution, and against the spirit of
our Democratic principles and prOtes.
tatlOns. Now, sir, see what an atti-
tude this house will be placed in by
giving the seal of its appreciation To
this measure! You say 10 the officials
and people OF this state. your county
commissioners court can be trusted To
assess and equalize the property of
your cattle kings. whose vast herds OF
cattle roam over your western
domain; yourmillionaires with wealth
untold; your merchant princes. rich in
stock and store; your vast landed es-
tdtes spreading out in rich luxuriance
before you; your naughty bankers.
with Golfers plethoric with bonds and
gold; your capitalist. growing richer
and richer upon his excessive interest
your whlrring manufactures. with
capital counted by the hundreds of
thousands; in fact, every species of
property having value in this great
state, aggregating many millions OF
dollars. may be passed upon by this
constitutional board Of equalization.
save and except the rolling stock OF
railroads.
believe, sir. that railroads are Meth
CT better nor worse than other inter
estS. and in the matter of the ASSESS
ment of their rolling stock, observe
about as fair "a valuation Of their
property as the average citizen of this
state, especially those of great wealth
and extended means: and an amend
ment of article 1861. so as TO require
the submission Of their assessments 10
the proper board of equalization in
each county where they are made, rs
other valuations are done, will answer
every purpose, and be an act of Justice
to the state, the citizen and the rail-
roads. But IL is claimed that there are
many different railroads i'm
this state and that under such
a law the property Of each company
would be passed upon bya many diff
feTent boards OF equalization as there
are counties in which said assessments
are made. This, | say, is right. You
cannot value your stocks OF goods in
Austin by the valuations agreed upon
IN Galveston, Houston OF San AntO-
MO, and do not the values Of the roll
ing stock OF your roads differ as ma
terially as any other proPertyy Some
| are equipped in a fiT5t-class manner.
/ while others are using secOnd-cla8s
rolling stock almost entirely. EndOw
your constitutional board Of eQuali-
cation with the same powers % send
| for witness IS and take evidence a. %
value OF rolling StOck ~ il proposed
| to delegate % the commission cOuterl-
plated in this bill, and they can come
to as hone, : conclusions ~ % actual
asse5saDle value Of such property.
which ID continuously seen and used
in their midst, IS can your new board
| OF equalization. however sssiduOus
they De in the discharge Of their pre-
scriDed duties.
| Gentlemen, let Us not play hide-and-
| seek with the terms Of our cOnstItu-
ton, and spend our time vainly try
| ing to avoid its plain letter, out let rs
| legislate justly ~ all and in q cOusti-
| stitutiOnal manner and we Will meet
the demand of an enlightened couStit-
uency, and will go home with clear
consciences and good laws.
During the discussion Mr.. Watkins,
who was taken suddenly Ill, was ex-
| cused.
Mr.. Foster, of Grayson, discussing
the railroad bill, said our revenue
laws should be so framed that no
| property could escape its just burden
| Of taxation. By this measure we may
render invalid assessments Of railroad
rolling stock. He was satisfied there
was defect in executing the law as
1t exists, as to assessments. He
wanted the law amended so assess
| ments shall not be final till passed
upon by the comptroller. He read
Sec. 8, Art. of the constitution. As
to the question of res adjudica, we
have the plain provisions of the con
Stitution, whereby railroad property
shall be assessed in the county where
the principal office is. This was the
single exec ton. Unless we can
frame law within this provision we
are bound by the law that it shall be
assessed where the property is located.
AS to the effect of the indefinite ar
ticle a, where the law provides for
board of equalization. he differed with
some of his colleagues. He would be
glad if he could believe with them,
and was ready to vote for any bill that
would remedy the defects. 1t seemed
to him that Mr.. McKinney's substi-
tute covered this whole ground.
Mr.. ChanBers-Don't equalization
mean comparison of values OF one
species OF property with those of an
other? If the board have only one
species for inquiry how will it know
the value of other species?
Mr.. FOster-The value may be une-
quel. There is no force in the ques-
ton. The objection lies in the un-
constitutionallty of the bill. If the
defect can be remedied 10y general
legislation. rather than pass an un-
constitutional bill. had we not better
do it than pass Till that may not he
constitutional? l don't agree with
some that this bill will injure the
railroads, and even if it did, | would
favor constitutional bill.
Mr.. Chambers, of Tarrant. said:
As to the constitutionality OF the bill.
section IL, article of the constitution
provides that the county commis-
siOners court is to constitute a board
of equalization. The county COM
missioners court has jurisdiction CO.
extensive with the limits of the coun-
ty, and fully conforms to section IL of
the same article: that all property.
whether owned. by persons or corpora
tions, shall be assessed and the taxes
collected in the county where the
property is situated-and confines the
action and powers Of both the assessor
and collector to the limits of the
county. But section s., same article
OF the constitution, confers extra
ordinary powers and duties upon tie
assessor of the county where the
principal Office of the railroad is
situated, and that article or any other
in the constitution fails to confer any
such extra powers on the county com
missioners court or other county
officers.
Now, sir. under the constitution.
there is no law to equalize the rolling
stock of railroads. while there is one
under that instrument to equalize all
other classes of real and personal
property by board clearly established
by section Is, whose authority is
hedged in by county limits. Section
l, article 8, says taxation shall be equal |
and uniform. Equalization can be |
done alone by comparison with |
other property, as to the character
istics of each particular kind of prop
crty. If the county commissioners
court of the county where the prin-
piDal offica iG lOcafoJ IL IN ,,,.l-a +to