The daily state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 188?-1891, 1890-04-25
THE RALEIGH s. GASTON II. r,
Its Position Defined With Reference
to the Taxes Demanded From it by
the State.


to the Taxes Demanded From it by
the State.
Prominent officials of the Raleigh &
Gaston railroad assert that the position
OF the company, with reference to the
taxes demanded from it by the State, is
misunderstood in some quarters, and
they think this misunderstanding has
arisen from the publication, by the pa
pers, of the proceedings in the courts
and before the railroad and corporation
investigation committee
The CHRONICLE does not think itself
responsible for whatever misunder-
standing there is. If it is, it is more
the result af accident than intention.
This paper hopes and believes it is
incapable of an effort to create false
IMPRESSION with reference to anything.
/. .lFays finds pleasure in trying to cor.
rect any erroneous impressions with
reference to any matter, and it gladly
gives the substance Of the position Of
the Raleigh q CASTOR railroad company
as incidentally given by Major Winder
IN conversation with Reporter yester-
day.
The company has construed the act,
under which it is incorporated, as abso-
luteiy eXempting the railroad from taxa
ton up to the meeting of the last Gen
eral Assembly.
The exempting clause is section of
the charter (Acts 185l-'52) and reads as
follows:
"That the said railroad and all en-
gines, cars and vehicles, and all the
works of said company, together with
all profits which shall accrue from the
same, shall be vested in the said COM
| pany, Onehalf thereof to the use and
benefit of the State, and the other half
to the use and benefit of the individual
stockholders; and the same shall be
deemed and hello to be personal estate,
and shall be exempt from any public
charge or tax whatsoever for the term
of fifteen years; and thereafter the legis-
lature may impose a tax not exceeding
twenty-five cents per annum on each
share of the capital stock held by indi-
viduals whenever the annual profits
shall exceed eight per cent"
1t will be seen that the charter gives
absolute exemption from taxation for a
period Of fifteen years from the date OF
incorporation, Or up to the year 1867.
After that date the legislature MAY i'm
pose a tax Of twenty-ti cents per an
nun on each share of the capital stock
whenever the annual profit;
shall exceed eight per cent.
The company claims and holds that
there had never been a law, up to 1889
which made il liable to taxation; fol
while the charter provides that the leg
islature MAY impose a tax under certain
conditions, that body never did SO unit
its last session; and the reasonable con
: struction of the company is that had tn
annual earnings been forty per cent. be
tween the time it was chartered and th
legislature Of 1889, it can not be hel(
liable for any tax for those years, be
cause there was no law imposing an,
} tax. But the company does not adml
t that its annual earnings have exceeded
2 the eight per cent limit during tha
+ time.
Since the passage of the act by tn
: Legislature OF 1889, the company doe
not claim that it has any exemption from
. the tax, provided its earnings shall ex
y ceed eight per cent.
Soon after the legislature imposed thi
tax, the State treasurer brought sui
against the company to recover take
: for all the years between 1867 and 1868
7 basing his action on the ground that tn
r annual profits Of the company had eS
g ceeded eight per cent. for all those years
II The company resisted this claim, on tn
;. grounds that the annual earnings ha
not nycpn1ad tho limit a!iOwad nv th
t. charter, and that up to 1889 there ha
n never been law imposing the tal
~ Pending the suit, the State made pro
position to the railroad to compromis
the case for fifteen thousand dollar
+ This the railroad company declined, an
the suit was still pending when the Stat
Investigation committee recently mt
- here and began on examination into tt
company's affairs. The State made II
same proposition 20 compromise as b
=. fore, and the company accepted it. b
:. the acceptance did not arise from az
o uneasiness on the part of the compar
to that it's affairs would show up too favo
70 ably 1t believed it could claim an
~ sustain its exemption under the sectic
OF the charter above quoted, and wou
p if the compromise had not been mad
re The compromise proposition was a
n. cepted by the company because it d
90 sired to tree itself from interruption al
q" litigation, which would necessarily ha
40 been long and tedious had the suit i
d stituted by the State been continued.
al SEVEN MEN BURNED TO DEAT1