The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-27
"A COOL TWO MILLION
REDUCTION ASKED BY PRESIDENT
INGALLS, IN BIG FOUR TAXES.
State Tax Board Listens to Pleas for
Neutrality-suspicious. TAX
en- Until Friday.

fIlGn OF the valuation or the system. he
spoke in part as follows:
Mr.. Governor and Gentlemen of the
Board: l have not come here with long
speech or with one prepared. Perhaps it
would be better for your comfort if l had
for a man who is not prepared sometimes
scatters a good deal more than one that is
l have got an attorney here pointing to
Mr.. Dye who can make a good deal bet
ter speech than L can, but it is one of my
pleasures toscome here once a year and tell
my little tale, and l don't give him any
chance, ordinarily, to appear here. This
is about the twentieth time | have appeared
before this board. l have been here every
year with but one exception, / have al
ways congratulated myself that / was not
here im 1891. | had intended to have writ
ten out what | had 10 say this year and
prepare the statistics and dry matter but,
unfortunately, was called to Cleveland to
attend the funeral of President Caldwell,
and from there | had to go through to
Peoria, and L really had time TO study
this matter or confer with our people at
all, bat | think | can present this case so
that the board will understand it. Taxes
upon railways and in fact upon everybody
else are too high. l said one year ago here
that if one-half of the time were devoted
to the reduction of the necessity for taxes
that is devoted to getting rid of them we
should have less trouble. However, it
seems to be an era, you might call it, of
wild extravaganza in national state, coun-
ty and municipal affairs. and If you are
going to spend money eXtravagantly you
have to have large taxes. and on the gen.
eral result il is just possible that [ will
be met, in the first place, by the TACT that
the taxes cannot be reduced unless the
expenses are reduced. l am glad to pay
my tribute however, to Indiana, which
seems to be the first State moving in the
direction of a reduction of taxes, and /
hope you will keep it up. know you Will
rot think | am trying to lecture you on
political economy, but it is time when
everybody has to ecOnomlze. don th!nk
that any of has seen such a depression
as has been going over this country for
four years. The managers of railways nave
been put to their wits ends to make both
ends meet We go over our pay rolls ana
we knock off some poor devil here and
there who may get $35 or $40 a month, ana
some man who may be getting $50 a month
we reduce to $40, and nothing is too small
for the economies we are endeaVorlng 10
practice The same is true, | think, OF
every manufacturing business in the coun-
try; it is pretty near true of all the homes;
and yet the expenditures of the nation,
state, counties and cities have gone on at
pretty near the same rates they were max
ing in 1891 and 1892.
BIG FOUR AND ITS TAXES.
Il think you will be rather amazed when
I tell you that the Cleveland, Cincinnati,
Chicago & St. Louis (and for short l will
call it the Big Four Railway in the last
year has paid out in taxes in Indiana per
cent of all its gross earnings and Is per
cent, to speak exactly. of all its net earn
ings. That doesn't include bonded interest.
dollars and have paid our men and kept up
our property, Of that which is left, the
State of Indiana has exacted practically
one dollar in five. over on the Peoria q
Eastern which is a part of the Big Four
system. and a poor part we have paid out
one dollar in every TOUR of the net money
for taxes. Now, Is there any business III
this State that is taxed so heavily as that?
| do not believe there is. l tnink in the
cry against railways and corporations that
has spread over the country the state OF
Indiana in 1891 adopted a false policy, ana
one which has been carried out ever since.
They have assessed the railways beyond
any other property in the State. The ques-
ton is whether your board has the courage
of it's convictions to do us justice. L do
not think there has been a board since 1881
that we have appeared before but what
has agreed practically with me thal we are
taxed too high but have been met by
the answer We cannot reduce taxes. In
your printed report for 1896, table NO. s.
is given the value per mile for taxation OF
all the railways, and among them Is our
system. l think there are some there not
up to the average, and suppose my friend
Mr. Wheeler OF the Il L. * IL d II SPEAK
ii ! make any misstatements in regard to
it. In 1891 as l understand it, the taxing
board of Indiana adopted a new RUE. Ihere
was a good deal of discussion ABOUT IL, put
as near as | could learn their theory or
taxing corporations v as by taking th7
market quotations OF the value OF STOCKS 6
dltions. In doing that they did an injustice
to pretty near every road running OUT OF
indianapolis. 1t was because, | ples thai,
stocks and bonds were in the market pet
ter and they had to pay more than thelr
share. From year to year we nave en-
have been some corrections. There are
two systems in this State, as you know, OF
railways which are prosperous AFTER the
fashion of railways; that is, they nave
large traffic. One Of those systems Is the
Tires that go through Indianapolis leadmg
east and west, and the ortn-anu-soutn
lines out of Indianapolis are fairly good.
Take the roads from Cincinnati TO Louis
Vile and they are doing a good business.
The roads running east from mere, IKE the
PENNSYLVANIA, the Big Four and the Lake
Erie & Western are good property because
they get a portion of the large through
business. But after all the great oulk or
the traffic of this country originates in
Chicago and the roads running from chi
cago east across this State are the great
sn-Oney- makers of the state OF I da ne
statistics show I think, that 80 per cent.
of all the tonnage of this Western country
moved by railways to the Seaboard cltleS
originates at Chicago and west OF mere,
and goes through Chicago gateWays, winch
shows the enormous proportion chicago mas
of that business. The result is that the
State the great trunk lines, like the Pitts
burg Fort Wayne & Chicago, and the Bal
timore &, Ohio and others, have an enor~
II Gus business, and that was rot taken INTO
consideration in 1891 when this valuation
was given In fact. | think the Michigan
Central made out that they We're nothing
but switch tracks across the state OF IN
diana For year they practically pald no
taxes at all but afterward the board got
on to that, and it was changed
COMPLAINED OF AN INJUSTICE.
There is not a railroad, probably, on this
list which 1 hold in my hand, but what
the manager of the road will say, and say
honestly, that he is paying too much taxes,
more than he can afford to pay, and that
they ought to be reduced. At the same
time, taking up my first remark, II you
cannot reduce your expenses you cannot
reduce your general taxes l am going up
on the theory that an injustice has been
done our lines which should be corrected,
and which | think 1 can prove to YOU For
some reason or the other in 1891, either be-
cause my friend Dye was not mere, OF the
management was not, or something else
thev got Worsted in that hight ana they
were taxed beyond any other railway SyS-
tenn in this State: and l think the board
has recognized that at every nearing SINCE
and in a small way, has trled 10 coEfecI IT.
but the board has never Deen ready 10 lace
the real difficulty ana 90 US JuSIlCe III. INC
Won take our main lines from here TO
cleveland from here to ST. LOUIS, ana from
here to Cincinnati and Lafayette, the por-
tfons that are in INDIANA, ullueI thhI ~
since-haVe been 500 600 a mile. That is,
think. $1,000 a mile more than the Ierre
Haute & Indianapolis, when runs Flght
alongside of them, ana "hlcH uoTS ~ Pc ii
H,ieion The line from here to Cincinnati is
taxed 500 600 mile, While the me from
here TO Louisville, which is one OF the pest
II, the tSate and lust good, is taxed go