The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1894-03-21

| One good crop will create a demand
and selling price. y; what land may
bring if sold depends not ca its tntrIn'
| sic Value so much as on the circum'
| stances under which it is sold. Taxes
must be paid without regard to sea-
| sons or crops. Hence the average val.
uation designated to cover = perloC OF
five years. If there Be no pceponder-
ance of evidence showing design on
the part of the tax district and county
assessors to throw the burden on the
railroads, is there any evidence from
which such design can b. inferred on
the part Of this board Of equalization
| for railroads? The Com ptroller Gen
eral, one of this board ald from his Of
fetal duties and experience the leading
| member Of the board, probably deduct
ing and controlling its actian In his
official report to the Legislature IN
1891, calls the attention of that body to
the low rate OF assessment OF much OF
the property in the State and urges
legislation to correct the evil. And
when we consider the independent
action of this board under statute
lmperatiyely requiring them N max
ing assessment TO take as standard
the true value of the property IN mon:
ey, and also consider the admission OF
the bill, that the return was about %
per cent. Of the real value, $1,000 per
! mile, and that the increase to Sl6,OOO,
m aking it about 50 per cent. we can
not hold that this increase IN assess
ment is so excessive and unjust as nee
essarily to indicate the design and mo-
tive charged.
Another objection to the action of
the board of equalization for railroads
is that notwithstanding the fact that
large part of the property of railroad
companies is land, they are assessed
annually. The State Constitution
directs that lands shall be assessed
every five years, and this practice is oo,
served with respect to all lands except
those Of railroad companies. This in
dicstes design to opprcss railroad COM
panies, and at all events violates the
fourteenth amendment. Tie Coastitu-
tion of South Carolina (Article 8, Sec
ton ~ directs the General Assembly
to provide by law for a uniform anc
equal rate of assessment and taxation.
It gives the General Ass emily full dis
cretion "tc prescribe such regulations
as shall secure just valuation for tax
alton of all property" The General
Assembly obeyed the direction by re-
quireing all property to be assessed at
its true value N money. Exercising g
it's discretion it prescibe a set otregula-
tions, which, in its judgement, secured
Just valuation OF railread property
for taxation. A railroad is unit, every
part contributing to its purposes as a
whole. If it be corporation its cor
porate purpose is the maintaining a
railroad aud all and every part OF this
property must contribute TO this pur-
pose. Its right of eminent domain IS
limited to this purpose. This unit IS
made up of lands, personal property,
chooses in action, easements, all depend.
ent upon and inseparable from each
other, deviding their value from this
inseparability, from the fact that they
contribute to this unit. They differ
from every other species of property,
and the discrimination made as be-
tween them and other corporations and
individuals in the methods and lnstru-
mentality by which the value of their
property Is aScertained is not Invalid.
(kentucky Railroad Tax Gases, ll5 I.
S., 337; State Railroad Tax, Gases, 81
U S., 611.) The mode prescribed by
the Legislature of this State is to get
at the value of the plant, that is Of all
these elements going to make up the
railroad, and to ascertain what their
combined contributors making up
this unit are worth. If they separated
the component parts and attempted to
fix separate values upon them they
would enter into an impossible task.
The value eff the lands Of railroad de-
pend much on the character, and com
pleteness of its rolling stock. The util-
ity and consequent value OF the rolling
stock depend largely upon the facilities
at stations and at termlnl, the amount
location and character Of the land used
therefor.
After careful consideration there ap-
pears no evidence of such a design as
will alone give this court jurisdiction.
Let an order be taken authorizing
and instructing the receiver Of South
Carolina Railway Company to pay
from the funds in his hands as such
received the remainder of the tax un-
paid and the costs of these proceedin gs
CAHELEs II. SIMONTON,
March l3, 1894. Circuit Judge.