The herald., 1898-10-17
por. o1xhuoo1srs SOME TELL
MO Co1rPARIsoNs
REVELATIONS UNDER OATH
gtate Board Of Equalization and Its
Eavors to the Southern
Pacific

missioners as an expert IN nAinS .aT vee
of railroad property in the state pelons,ns guy
to the Southern Pacific company, has been
making an exhaustive examination OF tne
data available for use in the litigation m
stituted to compel that company to bear its
proper share Of the burden of state taxa
ton. He finds q notable variation IN the
value of the company's property as estir
mated by its own experts ana tne VSiue y.
the same holdings as estimated by Georee
L. Arnold and his associates OF the state
board Of equalization. There is ample food
for reflection in the comparisons instituted.
By means of them it is learned that the rail-
road company, speaking through the sworn
testimony of it's own expert, V u. Bogue'
who lately testified before the railroad com
mission at San Francisco, did not have the
nerve to place anywhere near so low an
estimate upon its own holdings as Its too
servile tools on the state board OF equaliza-
tion made without blush and in total dis
regard of the consequences of their shameless
act. Since by their office they had been
vested with the power to help the corpora
ton which elected them to escape proper
t;onate taxation, their sense of obligation to
the state was so relaxed that nothing was
too fagrantly unjust in their appraisement
to recall them to proper appreciation OF
their official duty. Illustrative OF the great:
variance of their estimates from those OF
Mr.. Bogue, The Herald this morning cuiis
from the statlsulcS gdlHeIcu w ~
and from the mass of material available else-
where few examples.
= In the estimate prepared by Mr. =
= Bogue and sworn to by him as correct
4 the value of the Arcade depot in this
= city is given as
i The state board of equalization esti-
\ mates this to be worth only
i 30,50O,
4 or 1896 per cent Of the company's own
i valuation The grounds, aggregating =
+ l2.O50 acres in extent, are all included =
i by the state board Of equalization in :
! "right of way" except 1.o59 acres, and =
= are assessed at .o, =
Regarding their actual value, basis =
4 for calculation is afforded by the testi-
4 mony of Mr.. Bogue under oath, where
+ in he estimated the value OF the COM :
y pany's franchises in Los Angeles at
$65O,OOO. =
OF that latter valuation he said: i re-
gard these franchises of great value. first,
on account of the value of the property
along the streets traversed by the track of
the railroad Some OF it is business prop
erty; in fact very considerable portion OF
it is business property, that is, property
abuttng on the street on which the railroad
is built. A very considerable portion of it
could be considered manufacturing prop,
erty. The franchise, however. is so located
with respect to the city and its business CEN
ters that it has exceptional value. do
not know how, for any reasonable expense.
that franchise could be duplicated. The
main line passes through the city very near
the business centers. 1t seems to me it has
a specia. value because its location would
make it very difficult for any other company
to get in there on equal terms with respect
to the business centers. ! did not under
take to cover in my estimate of that value
all the considerations of that character
which might be mentioned. ! looked it
over quite carefully and it seems t. M, that
the amount l allowed is reasonable figure
for the payment of damages to owners OF
property abutting upon the street which
would have to be settled in the reproduc-
tion of the property, and for necessary i'm
provements of streets which the railroad
company would be called upon to replace or
reproduce.
"It is franchise, as whole, of remark,
able value and of great facility for railroad
chise | think it would be necessary to pass
through the blocks. doubt very much if
any street franchise could be obtained
through Los Angeles now for line which
would be as good as that occupied by the
Southern Pacific company. To pass through
the blocks and purchase right of way through
them would be very expensive proceed
iIE. WOuu prefer W Dut llldl
if l could get it for the amount provided in
the estimate, SG50,000 rather than attempt
TO secure new facilities. because the ex-
pense of doing anything else would be so
great"
1t is apparent from what Mr. Bogue said
under oath that the SNAP the Southern
Pacific got in its franchise along Alameda |
street to the Arcade depot is recognized at
it's full value. 1t would not be unfair,
therefore, to appraise the grounds included
in the Arcade depot site at as high a figure |
as the proportionate selling price of lots
in close proximity to the depot. The cheap
est lots on Central avenue, one block south |
of the Arcade depot entrance, as quoted by |
one of the most prominent real estate firms
the frontage is only 25 feet and the depth |
but 100 feet. Roughly speaking, and
making full allowances for streets and al |
leys, the depot grounds, comprising l2,059
acres, would be worth proportionately Sll2,-
800. The assessed value is $4,000
Mr., Bogue estimates ~ acres OF land
owned by the company in the Beaudry tract |
at $4,000, 479 acres comprised in the main
yard at 100000, l5.5 acres occupied by pas
senger stations at Sl35000, a half acre in the |
Brswalter tract at $500. 90 acres included |
in separate estimate of one of the yards |
at $62,00O, and comparison of his figures |
as given on the witness stand with those
Aclc BlNeu lIleIelN as DdSlS Oh computation, |
to approximate the probable value of the
depot grounds, assessed at only $4,000, must
lead one to the opinion that Mr.. Bogue would |
have set the valuation of the Arcade depot |
lands at even a higher amount
In further illustration of the partiality
shown to the railroad company in the ap-
praisement of its property by the state
board of equalization, the report of the Pull
man Palace Car company for the fiscal wear
ending July 81, 1897, is valuable. That
statement showed the company's capitaliza.
tion to be S36,000000 The company in
corporatcd in 1867, with a capital stock of
only 100000. The increased Capitalization
represents the growth of the company in
thirty years. How this annual increase of
sum in excess Of the full amount of the
original capitalization has been effected NAV
be better understood by an examination Of
the statement of the company above noted.
and that will lead in due course to the share
the Southern Pacific company has in all
this good fortune.
BY the statement, sent out for the inform
alton OF stockholders, it is learned that the
gross. earnings of the Pullman comDanv
for the year ending July 81, 1897, we're AZ.
;974,S8S.2l: Deducting the operating ex.
penses, which amounted to 50. 5ll ,s6s. .92. net
receipts of S.. .463, ,0l9.59 are shown. B,,t
there were expenses other than those
charged to operation of the great system Of
the company amounting to sslo. .l6o X
which being deducted from this last hal
ence left net earnings amounting to 81 65O
S5O.A. This immense sum was used in nav.
ing dividends of per cent on the
capital stock. after which the neat G++jo
sum of $1.770 $50 "A was left, to he added 70 |