Montgomery County sentinel., 1891-05-29

Court OF Appeals greatly enlarged q q
ompiion by holding that the exomptin n
TIE shares Of stock from taxation <ff,ea
with Il the csempiion Of the propefls and
franchises Of ihc company, and that, ulder
the Constliuilon of ihe United staies. .ihIs
exemption islHepcalablc 4
Tho result was that fof many years from
1926 to is1s--thc Baltimore and Ohl9 Rail
road Company paid no taxes Of any kind
Ia The latter year, by the most remmkAble
course Of legislation, Of which we have not
The space to give au account, the company
yielded up Us exemption 10 the extent Of
one half of one per cent upon its gross re.
ccipts, but was also liberated from it.-fsli
CATION to pay 10 the State one iiith q The
receipts from passengers on ils Washington
Branch This company has, in Maryland,
property valued at about twenty millions Of
dollars private citizen would have paid
on this amount of property as State taxes
the sum S3i 800 the railroad company paid
s2o,s00, or si103l less than the individual.
Except on its Metropolitan Branch the com
pany pays no local taxes whatever An in
dividua owning twenty millions Of dol
lars worth Of property would pay, at
the rate per 500 in Montgomery county
about sis0000 in taxes. To state the
case is to show It's rank injustice, and i
would be bad enough II IL extended no
farther than this company But the effect
Of The exemption Of the B. a o. has been
that other companies plead that Il would be
unjust 70 subject thom to a greater burthen
Of taxation than this one bears, and the peal
has, in most instances, been strong -
to sway the Legislature, aud as
qenea. the railroad property Of a
pays taxes out Of oil proportion p ita valve
The plea proceeds upon fsise premises
Because the State unwittipgly made bad
bargain with one railwsy company, Is no
reason why II should psake equally bad bar
gains with othor companies. That Is not
the course a sane business man would pnr
sue, and carried to its logical conclusion i
would exempt all property from taxation,
II the railroad companies alone were to be
considered the argument would be sound
enough. But the true consideration is the
relation of the property Of the railroad to
the property of the general tax payers Of
the State. When we view the question In
this light il will be seen how little attention
has been paid to the interests of the masses
In this particular and how many reasons
there are for limiting the discretion Of the
Legislature Ia regard 10 H.
There have been two perods-ln 1878 and
is0o--when the b. N o, was asking much
Of the State, and when u might have been
possible to secure the waiver of Ia charter
exemption In both instances, strenuous
efforts were made In the Legislature 10 en-.
gran upon the pending legislation a pro.
vision that lts acceptance by the company
should be construed as a waiver Of Its
exemption but tho company was strong
enough TO dohat the amendments, aud
probably always will be, unless a Consti,
mtlona provision removes the matter al
together nom legislative control,
ltls the oAlee, OF tho amondmont we are
considering TO do thIs, and we suppose that
there cannot be two oplnlons as TO the pro.
prielv OF ils adoption, Tho burdens Of
government should ho borne hy alt alike,
aud the man who has hls money IN earpor.
ate property is no more entitled 10 exemp.
tloa than the one who has Invested ii land
on pefsanal property Corporations, too,
hava generally epeola privileges which IN,
alvtlNala cannot exercise, aud carry on their
operations anen 10 tho iaoonvonenne aud
eNnoyanoe at the private eltleea, Melrnet
profits ara, IA n r0le, greater than these Iram
private property, aud tNoy are better ahe,.e
eAN Aals esAeae NeV,arllna of tAxeA II
shoNld aot thereiore be posslNle Mr them 10
secOe MplNee privileges without meeting
their just obligations 70 The State
ltmay ee many yeaIs Net0pe any sub,
staatlal NeAenta result Nom thA amead,
Meae Some Nt these oorparatloNa now have
aNeA extensive NaNoNlsoa that Il Ia not eaay
to eeNeelVe what hlllhep they could Aealpe,
but oNMmerelM aeVe)opment IA 80 Mpla Ia
lNeae AayA and la aNvotlNN 40 Nnexpeote,l,
that the oeeasleN may arise sooNep than w
anticipate When the Stalo may he able 10
Gpee 0oM Mem a taNly 0eNseatl 10 nay their
just dues tA tN0 COMMONWEALTH