The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1890-01-17
Railroad Legislation.

Maryland will act upon Governor
Jackson's advice contained inhis mes
sage to that body on the opening OF
the session. 1t is charged by the
people that the legislatures hereto
fore have been influenced unduly by
the lobby. and that members were
subject to the disease known as
itching palms, which nothing will
alleviate but scratching with gold
coin. On railroad taxation tue
message says:
In no one particular has the legisa
ture of this state been so unguarded
and unmindful of the rights Of the
people and the state as in granting
franchises to railroad corporations
Maryland being the PIONEER in the
creation of railroad corporations
in this country, her Legislature
seems to have been overwhelmed
with the magnitude of such under
takirgs (Which were at that time
experiments) and to have imagined
that such herculean tasks demanded
not only the pecuniary aldof the state
to vitalize them. but that promise
of absolute immunity from taxation
was necessary to induce capitalists
to invest their capital in such enter
prises. Charters have been granted
ezempting their shares Of capital
stock from taxation. These grants
of immunity were not limited as to
time, nor made subject to conditions,
but were left unguarded by any con-
siderations as to how they might
impair the inalienable rights of the
people, or conflict in after time with
the exercise of the sovereign power
of tie state. The legislature was
doubtless of opinion that such enter
prlses were in every way chimer;cal,
yet they ventured to lend to these
corporations the states tight of emf
nent domain, to the extent of enabl-
ing them TO 60 over the property of
the people and acquire what OF such
property might be necessary for the
location and construction of their
roads by condemnation, but it neg
lected to prescribe the same or re-
ciprocal terms, as to the condemna
tion of the property and franchises
of the newly created corporations
themselves, whenever the interests
of the people of the state should de-
mand such course. By this neg
lect, they left the people of the state
largely without remedy in case such
corporations should be successful and
acquire valuable property which
ought to be subject to taxation.
Such corporations under these favo.
rable circumstances soon became
successful enterprises, and not only
successful financially, but become
a power, before the le9is 'ature took
any steps to subject them to taxation
1t was not until the session of 1872,
when the then comptroller called the
attention of the legislature to the
subject and presented to the General
Assembly bill to tax the gross
receipts Of railroad companies,
which bill was passed, and. with
some notifications made in 1874, is
now the law Of the land. This gross
receipt tax is small and only yields
some filty-eight thousand dollars a
year to the state treasury. This
sum is nothing like the amount
which the wealth of those corpora
tions should pay to bring them upon
an equality with the rest of the PEG |
pie
Although there has been no such
assessment of the property of these
corporations as would determine the
precise extent of its value, yet
enough is known TO make cit quite
certain that the property of such
corporations comprises about one
fifth in va'ue of the property of the
state. While individuals aid other
corporations pay in direct taxes upon
their property, which is about five
hundred millions of dollars. NJ wards
of nine hundred thousand into the
treasury of the state, the railroad
corporations, owning perhaps one
hundred and twenty five millions in
value, onIy pay fifty eight Thousand
nine hundred and seventy two dol
lars and ninety eight cents. This
inequality is so glaring that it can
not fail to impress tie General
Assembly with the necessity of tax
ing measures TO increase the contri-
buttons of such corporations towards
the support of the government of the
state, and to make their taxes some.
where near on an equa ity with those