Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1898-04-14
THE EXTRA SESSION.

iSSeiNSu by tne ScHdte, dlltI nuNihS
been passed by the House, il was re-
fcrred to the joint committees on rail
roads and taxation. After an entire
day spent in considering it the com
mittee decided to report the bill with
out recommendation or amendment.
The hearing in the committee had
something of "A sensational color owing
to the participation of eX-Gov. Rich,
collector of customs at Detroit. lie
said he questioned the wisdom and the
whole policy of the bill. He thought
the railroad taxes under il would not
be specific taxes, and that therefore the
school fund would be in danger. lie
raised the point that the value of
railroad depends on the earning power,
and that in taxing the earnings the
, state gets nearest to a tax on value.
and he attacked the part of the bill
that proposes to repeal the tax clause
| of the Michigan Central charter. The
bill, he thought, would tend to intim-
idate capital and prevent it from seek
ing investment in Michigan. When
Rich had finished Col. Atkinson took
the floor in defense of the bill. He
was asked questions on all sides, but
he was loaded on the subject and thor
oughly riddled all the criticism that
had been made on the measure.
1.-The general railroad tax law of 1913 is
not worth the paper it is written on;
the Merriam law of 90 is not worth as
much as the gaslight cost for the con-
ference committee" declared Col. At
kinson. 1t was one of the most sweep
ing and sensational statements made
since the Legislative fight on the Pin
gree bill started, and it made a marked
impression on the crowd that packed
the committee room. and especially on
those who arc opposing the measure.
He then showed that the Merriam law
was in direct opposition to the inter
state commerce law, yet the railroads
did not take advantage of that fact to
object To the Merriam tax because they
were saving money over what they
would have to pay under the former
method. If at any time the earnings
should SO increase as to make the taxes
greater than they would be under IA
tax on values, the Michigan Central
would very quickly take advantage of
the interstate act to get out of paying
them. Ex-Gov. Luce was also present,
by accident, he said, and in response
to questions he said he thought that
railroad taxation had not kept pace
with other taxation, and there ought
to be an adjustment.
Il he consideratio of the Pingrce bill
in the Senate committee of the whole
was stormy, and il was under fire from
the start. Numerous amendments were
made, evidently with the purpose of
crippling the measure. Summed up
briefly, the following amendments
were adopted, besides clerical and
minor changes: Increasing the board
of assessors to five; increasing the sal
airy of the secretary to 81, 500; including
electric railways outside of municipali-
ties; striking out the clause by which
the franchise was recognized as tax
able property and providing that it
should be taxed in conjunction with
the rest of the property of the road,
and substituting a clause containing
no reference to the franchise; taking
liquor taxes out of the computation;
slightly raising the rate of railroad
taxation by change in the method of
computing it, The consideration of
the bill by sections was completed and
Westcott then moved to strike out all
after the enacting clause, but it was
not put to vote. The committee re-
ported the amended bill to the Senate
and after &c of the 81 Senators had ex-
planned how they should vote and why
they should vote that way the roll was
called, and the result was as follows:
For the bill, Is; against, l6. The Senate
cinched the matter by laying a motion
to reconsider on the table. Gov. Pin
gree had sat through the wearisome
debate, commenting on the speeches.
When he realized that the measure was
defeated he said: Il wonder how much
it cost the railroads to defeat this
measure. 1t must have taken at least
a quarter of a million"
After defeating the Pingree bill the
Senate took up the Barnum bill, pro-
vidiDg for a commission to investigate
the entire subject of taxation, and
passed it, Is to II. The commissioners
named in the bill are: +. o. Grosvenor,
of Jonesville; Thomas l.. Chadbourne,
of Houghton; j. w. Woodman, of Paw
Paw; Harry Il. IIutchins, acting presi-
dent of the u. of NJ, and Judge Cham
pin of Grand Rapids. Then the Senate
went into committee of the whole again
and took up the Merriam bill to repeal
the tax clause of the Michigan Central
charter. The bill was rushed through
the committee and was passed as soon
as reported to the Senate and was
given immediate effect. A resolution
by Senator Colman was adopted asking
the governor to transmit to the Senate
a message calling for war appropria-
ton. 1t was different again when the
bills and the resolution were sent to
the House, for there they were immedi-
ately tabled by a vote which showed
that the governor still controlled that
body However, the House did pass
Sculiy bill repeating the tax clause of
the Michigan Central charter, prepared
by Fred A. Baker. This left the two
houses in the position of blocking each