The news & observer., 1898-07-30

/
and Mr. Robt c. Strong appeared fol
the company and Col llinsdalc for the
State. Mr.. Strong read the exceptions OF
the Western Union Telegraph Company
rs follows:
| "Thc Western Union Telegraph Com
pany files as follows its exceptions tt
the particulars that it objects to. and
| the grounds thereof, to the order oi
the said Board. fixing the valuation ol
| the property of said company III Nortl
Carolina for taxation ut S1,O0o,oo0.
| Il. That the said Board in fixing the
said valuation of its property for tax
alton did not arrive at its conclusion
under section 43. chapter 169, of the
Laws of 1897, and the same is therefore
| illegal
80 That in fixing said valuation, The
said Board proceeded under section II
of said chapter 100, the same not being
applicable to telegraph companies.
''3. That in fixing said valuation the
said Board taxed the property Of the
said company in North Carolina more
than its value when property of other
| kind is taxed ut much less than it,
value.
II. That in fixing the said valuation
| the said Board should have found that
all the property of said company III
North Carolina could have been re-
placed for the sum of not exceeding
SJ00.00O with new Instruments, poles
wires and other necessary appurtenanccs
or appliances for the conduct of the tcle
graph business, and should have dcduc-
| ted from that amount the depreciation III
value on account of the use of the poles
wires. &c, and should have considered
| that other property i'll North Carolina
was assessed at much below its actual
! value.
-. That the said Board had no right
| to proceed contrary to the manner pre-
| Scribed hy statute for assessing the tax
value of telegraph property of the sald
company. and the tax valuation fixed
was contrary to the statutes of North
Carolina.
"6. That the said Board in fixing val
uation included in part the value of the
franchise of the said company, which
should not have been done.
-. That in assessing the said value
of said property for taxation tho said
Board therein included property taxable
in other States. and therefore improperly
taxed in North Carolina.
IS. That said Board in assessing the
value of said property i'll North Caro-
| lima at 81 10000 violated the Constitli-
| ton and laws of the United States, and
| the Constitution and laws of the State
of North Carolina, in that it has as
ScSsed the property of the Western
Union Telegraph Company at more than
| its true value in money, whereas other
property is not assessed at its actual
value; and the same constitutes an un-
just discrimination, and is otherwise i'm
proper, illegal and invalid"
Mr.. j. B. Tree superintendent of the
Western Union Telegraph Company, was
the first witness examined. lie testified
that &500000 would put up all the lines
of his company in North Carolina, and
put in batteries and equipment. The
capital stock of the company is S931o0,
900 and the bonded debt was about
S15000,000.
Mr. julius Lewis. one of Raleigb's tax
assessors. was introduced, and he said the
practice in North Carolina was to assess
property for taxation at two-thirds lis
value.
Argument of counsel consumed the en-
| tire afternoon session. Mr.. Strong made
Il particularly strong speech against the
| increased assessment. and Judge Ilolla.
day followed in an elaborate and able
argument. They held that the property
in North Carolina paid Il small dividend
Col. Hinsdale said. that the Western
Union Telegraph Company's property in
North Carolina is an integral part of
IA unit money producing plant. 1t must
be valued by the Railroad Commission
for the purposes of taxation, not as so
many poles, and SO many miles of wire,
but as Il part of Il dividend producing
unit. part of the entire system of the
Western Union Telegraph Company. For
the purposes of valuation, ii must be CON
sidered, not as isolated and separate
from the other parts by state lines, but
as operated in connection with the other
parts. That this is the only just and
reasonable method of arriving at its true
value.
He further contended, that the fact
that the laws of North Carolina pre-
scribed no special method Of valuation,
left it open to the Board of .Commis-
sioners to adopt that method which they
might consider most just and most rea-
sonablc That this method of valuation
has been adopted by many of the States
In Ohio and Massachusetts it has been
passed upon anu dppfoNeu ny tiit CbIlth
States Circuit Court of Appeals. and by
the United States Supreme Court. That
in the State Railroad Tax Cases the
Supreme Court of the United States
said: when you have ascertaincd the
current cash value of the whole funded
debt, and the current cash value of the
entire number of shares you have, by the
action of those who above all others can
best estimate it. ascertained the true
value of the road. all its property, its
capital stock, and its franchises: for
all these are represented by the value
of its bonded debt, and the shares of its
capital stock
Colonel Hinsdale then showed that
the total number of miles of wire i'll
the United States according to the reports
of the company, was S41 ,002. The total
number of miles of Wire in North Car
olina was 12,631, which is one and Il hall
per cent of the whole. That the value
of the plant of the Western Union Tcle
graph Company, as fixed by the valua-
ton of it's stock and bonds is, bonds, S15-
pa. POS: stock. S95.37O.O00 ut 93 cents
on the dollar, or SSS, ,G94, 100. which, ad-
ded to the bonds, makes S1o3,969,3oS
One and a half per cent of this is 81