The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-12-21

Valuation, Isl, 2l9. 9z3 90
T Tss 81 sas I sfsIa s s'ssS s s
otai.. SIS, go 8
paid about, $4,000 on property. ! net used
for railroad purposes, making sl,S3o.H in
Counsel gives a statement Of taxes
State for year ending June 50, 1895. as
average s'Sa At Of $500 sast0 per sr'l mile iaa given In d Exs
hibit ", Is, to use his own words, "of
Unfortunately for his argument, this
admission Of actual taxes per mile paid
by the Erie in New York. proves the
The Erie in New York State, certainly
is not either in physical condition, value
of country passed through, or earning
capacity. above the average Of the rail-
trail main line may be considered to rep
resent the extreme as to value per mile;
pages 331-3S9 Vol II. Railroad Commission,
York Central Railroad, including branches
and leased lines, which covers the West
Shore Railroad. as 239. 24S, with taxes
paid on property used in operation Of
on earnings and capital stock. 1885, Ss Is
Total...... ...... 49,. ........s.726.7 1888 As
Or at the rate Of s722 per mile.
This Central system is, all but % miles,
within New York State, and includes %
per cent, of the total railroad mileage of
the State.
The Long Island Railroad, found on PIP.
2s6-2s1, same report, is certainly all within
the State of New York.
Its length is 351. IS miles. Total taxes
paid, STA, 5S1 ", or about at the rate Of
S496 per mile.
Accepting counseps figures of SAP. o1
for the Eria's 1902 miles in New York
State TAKING ROD for the NaU York Can
trails 1883 miles and 1886 for the Long
Island Railroads 351 miles, we have
figures for 1892 miles of the 8,032 miles
IN the State, and the average Of the
three is 1929 per mile. against $522. the
amount given in Exhibit J. We submit
these figures as proof of the entire re-
liability of the exhibit; 1t was made to
stand cross-examination.
The capitalization, based on the 2.S92. 48
miles of railroad owned and leased by the
New York Central and Hudson River
Railroad Company, is: Stock, 500, 600, 900;
bonds, s7o,677 1885,. 80; total, $40, 677, 1888. This
Is S153, $780, 18 less than and about one-half
Of the capital represented by the 2,253
miles Of the New Jersey roads, but the
taxes paid are s212, S72. Fl more than the
total taxes paid by all railroads and canal
companies in New Jersey under the act Of
1884. and amount to s10.12 per s., 900 of capt
talization, as against &.63 per $1,000 in
New Jersey, or $5-05 per $1,000, the average
given in Exhibit ], based on total CAPT
talization of all roads reporting to New
York State.
The total taxes paid on the &c, 5ss miles
of New Jersey lines in the Erie system,
emitting the terminal properties at Wee
hawken and the Long Dock Company,
but including the main line from West
End, Jersey City through Paterson to the
State Line, the line via Newark to Pater-
sonson. the Northern Railroad of New
Jersey, the Bergen and Dunde Railroad
and the Bergen County Railroad is $780,
1880. This makes an average of s405 .43
tax per mile, as against the average in
New York, as admitted by counsel. of
$412. OF.
Furthermore, of the New Jersey roads
in the Erie system ga lie miles, or S3.S per
cent, Is in double track, while of the
SOS miles in New York only 374. "a miles,
or 46-6 per cent. is double track, and in
many other respects all comparisons are
IN favor of the much greater value Of
the New Jersey lines per mile.
NOW, as TO the Fries counsel criticism
of the figures in Exhibit J for Illinois,
The Railroad and Warehouse Commits
sion of the State of Illinois is the body
charged with the collection of railroad
statistics of that State. 1t is vested by
law with power to exercise control over
the maintenance and operation of the
railroads of the State.
The State Board of Equalization. which
counse blandly advises us to go to for
off1cial statistics, is nothing more than
Wnat the. title shows, a board to equalize
TX fdludllOlS O1 the i0CdI As
SCISSORS placed on the independent por-
tons of the continuous roadbeds of
railroads passing through their districts.
me very abstract which counsel pre-
brief contains a misstatement which
should have shown him he was off the
track In his search for information.
The length of main track in Illinois
is not as stated in the abstract. $40
miles, but 10,471 SO miles, and of an tracks
l5,642.S5, instead Of 4,272, as shown by the
abstract
Table XIV, on page 1902, Report of Rail-
road and Warehouse Commission of II
iinois for 1895, is headed, Taxes in IL
linoisn then follows amount of taxes
property in the State for 1893. 1854 and
1895. and on page % of the same report
VIII be found the following note.-"Table
and 1895. ''
"A comparison of the amount of taxes
paid in Illinois during the last three
amount of taxes reported by the Illinois
Central Railroad Company, S573. 49,. 40
thereof is Z per cent. of the gross re-
ceipts paid to the State. and is included
this company"
ISS3 .......... >. .. -. -. ;. -. S $685. SOP 81
i iSS5 :. ...- =. s,s46, 327 81
See also Poor's Manual Of Railroads =
1886, page $50, Illinois Central Railroad
"rhe charter exempts the
SoAtpdAy pIOperty from IdXdtlOu. but In
lieu thereof requires a aymen to the
state OF ! per cent. of the gross receipts
of the original railroad, 705.53 miles,,
Whatever the counsel may call this
payment, 1t seems to be clear that both
the State receiving 1t and the company
aging II, consider it as taxes, not rent
ais No other railroad in the State of
Illinois makes such payment, although
the counsel for the Erie Company as
sumes to the contrary.
The criticism of Exhibit 81" by counsel
on tho ~ r6 ~ r,--
of different items of capitalization in DIFF
ferent States, and as to the distinction
between gross income and gross earnings.
are frivolous, and would be unworthy III
notice II he had not claimed that these
hibit.
The form of reports as to classification
OF items differs in every State. F1oating
dept IN one State report may or may
ties in another. Mr.. Harrison did not
INCLUDE current and accrued liabilities In
Massachusetts capitalization, and did
not say he did. In his explanation of the
exhibit before the Commission he saws
in regard to Massachusetts capitalization
1t does not cover zeal estate mortgages
or current or accrued liabilities"
Counsel has ignored his plain state
ment. framed at the top of page I 81
testimony and accepted, and quotes in
his brief a repetition made in answer
to an Interruption by counsel for the
companies, after the whole method by
which the table was made up had been
fully and clearly explained. This answer
Is incorrectly reported, the word not
being left out, without which word all