The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-11-06
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUDD, CD.

In this the value of the easeods lands of Homo
nu kaluku Walnano and Waawa Oahu held by the Oahu
Railway Land Company dispute. The company returned
their easehoids worth nothing The Tax Assessor placed the
value at $4,000, and this affirmed by the Tax Appeal
Court The company appealed this The lease of the
lands OF honolulu and Kahuku have years of the
term unexpired and the company pay an annual rental of
100000 and having sube portions of the land receive
rentals $4,000 than the reserved by their land
lord The inlet portions of the land used by the company
cattle ranches and they their cattle and other
chae property detail and claim that the assessing
the easehod $4,000 has valued the ranches combined
property constituting enerprse for profit under Il
of the Tax Act of 1896 having consideration the
profits sales of CATTLE and that having assessed the several
items of property the assessment of them in combination is
void In furtherance of this urged that the value
of the bare eaeho must be viewed without reference the
profits from the cattle grazed upon the land and that is
nothing.
1t true contended by the company that would be
ray to the intention of the statute separate items of
property and again tax their aggregate value when used in
combination for the law calls for per onlv
this method would call for tax of per But do
understand from the evidence that the has taxed
the anch business of the company enterprise for pro-
fit The company returned their cattle, horses &c., emized
and noted their leasehod claiming they had vaue the
has valued each em to wit CATTLE horses leaehods
&c., separately 1t would be manifestlv impossible to assess
the value of the company combined property enterprise
for profit for by statute large portion of it free from taxa
ton 1t not this to decide who has the
option the the taxpayer which method should
be followed For the purposes of this is enough
that both parties here have followed the method of assessing
the value Of the several items of the property And the exact
would be idle that they worth nothing whatever
the 1st January 1897 when there existed that date OPP
ton by the which accepted and executed later for
the suitcase the Oahu Sugar Company for the unexpred term
Of 5000 of land in Honolulu for very valuable
consideration which paid the rent full Other advantageous
dispositions of large portion of this extensive property be
made hereafter AS laid down the between the
parties reported in 10 Haw. 643 'he value of easehod
depends upon many circumstances the amount of the rent
reserved in the lease the privileges and conditions
in the ndente the location of the land the which
be the population the locality the for further
development of its resources and might add all other
considerations political which affect values
ea Several sinerested witnesses gave their estimates of
the value of the leaehods in question One placed at $780,
OO another 100000 the of the and the
of the fee considering the easehods of value
Entering their calculations the which the lands
put and the figures show that average annual
profit of 100000 has been obtained during five years last past
from the cattle and horses alone without essentially diminishing
the herds But the actual present value of the live stock does
into this calculation The estimates show what
the land under these leases be put and the company
having placed their value $4,000 in the return of July
1896 this valuation being supported by evidence sustain
the Judgment of the Tax Appeal Court and fix the amount at
$4,000. =.
@. Bro,on for the appellant
4. G. N. Robertson for the Tax Assessor.