The sun., 1899-03-28
REFORM IN OUR TAX LAWS.
.or RoOSETELT SENDS A SPECIAL
'v 'ursS,GE TO THE LEGISLiTURE

~. recommends the hppo'ht"e"S Va
b0 ,,n, committee to Make Full Invests
'" i ~ the Taxation of Corporations
E, u,port to the Next Legislature.
,,r,yy. March Ex-senator Ford's bill
,..I,, q. real estate the franchises OF street
..rf,rn railroad. gas. electric ana HEe cor
',cs IA not likely to pass the Legis-
',,nre this year Tho DILL was reported Ia
",utJ last week from the Senate Taxation
"naI'' 1 re,rsn. .hment Committee .and ls now in
a"' ..o committee u the Whole in the Senate.
"7 s,oriol message sent to the Legislature
"i,h, GOV Roosevelt recommends the an
W,r,T ,n,r,opt ii! yoint committee OF the Senate
49, I assembly To Investigate the subject OF
s,,', su cnruorl'ions and report to the next
,.at.Io,ure the Governor intImatinG that tho
-, ia of too great importance to be legis-
,.,o1 mon without full knowledge OF the Gues-
,,n The message follows:
"sr,7rorN NEW YonE. EXECUTIVE CHAMBER.
otA'' ALBANY. March ~ lS'D
"To~ Lp,'i'""'
,Tbo ,ax lavs'of this State are in an exceed
,.,ly ,rs,,lstartory condition. AMI do not
a.. how they can be- mt upon n .ust and wise
tosis snvc. after careful Investigation. by leg
,s,,iye artiou AZ present the farmers. the
market gardeners and the mechanics and
,,aj.smeu having small holdings arc paying
a, imrroper and excessive portion OF the gen
"",i,,,es while n the same time many OF the
.g.,.s :, rcnrdy this state OF affairs. notably
I, ,ha direction ~ taxing securities. are not
"a,, rrvi-a. but inefficient. and often serve
.s.,,,y,,. mt a premium upon dishonesty. 1t
,.,u,l no' be well TO make any class OF our
cuizeus fee immunity from paying taxes. for
,his would almost certainly result n'eNtraNa-
.ort e1aenditurcS both in the State and in the
Municipalities. against which the surest safe
cpo-d is the immediate pressure on the purses
n, the citizens. But though complete i'm
monity from taxation by the people at large is
nnt desirable, the fact remains hat NJ present
tayatiun i excessive and badly distributed.
'""Thpre is evident injustice in the Light taxa
ton Of corporntiOns | have not tne siEhtest
symua,hy with the Out"ry against corporatlCnS.
a. surh or against PROSPEROUS men OF busi-
ness Most II 'he great material works by
Nbirh tie entire country benefits have been
due 70 the action 81 individual men. or Of az
grecutes o. men. who made money for them
selves hy dong that which was in the interest
~ Utont 10 a street railway no work which is daily
beneficial to he public can he performed to
the test advantage OF the nuhiic save by men zen
NJ such business capacity that they Will not do
the work u'leSs they themselves receive
smpe reward for ling it. The effort to de-
priye them OF an amp.H Irward merely N means ss
other direction; and the public will he by Just
40 much the loser Moreover. to tax corpora
ns 3 men OF means sot IN wnrRs SIGh cyHa Tat a. s
age tu tho state To drive out OF COM
munity the men Of means and the. men who
take the lead in business enterprises would
rrobahlv entail. as one Of its first results. the
starvation # a considerable portion OF the re-
mainder Of the population
But while freely admit all this. 1t yet re-
mains true that the corporation which derives
It. powers from the state should pay to the
State. a Iust rerrentaGe of It's earnings as re-, !,
be especially true ior the franchises bestowed
uron Gas comuanies. street railroads and the
like The question Of municipal ownership
oi these franchises cannot be raised with pro
priey until the governments OF all municiDal
ties show greater wisdom and virtue than has
been recently shown. for instance. In New
York city, and the question of laying and a. :
te,sing the tax for franchises OF every kind
throughout the state should. n my opinion:
point cut to YOU that in foreign communities
very large percentage OF the, taxes comes
from generations which use @ the e public do
Whether erthese franc chl5esshou be taxed as
realty. or whether it would be wiser to provide
cent; oi:the actual original cost,Ithen 5per cent
shall be paid into the city treasury. or whether
some yet different plan should be tried. can
only be settled after careful'examinaton OF
The franchises should:in:some form Yield a
tax here ;and there as new franchises ars
asked for, maybe advisable. but; OF course. Is
lneQnltahle, TO the eX'ent that II hanuicapS tn 3
few thus taxed in their competition with the
untaxed corporatons: and it.may be that now
and then some franchises to perform an es.
pecially needfu and risky service should not
be thus handicapped at all. 1t is far better to
have genera:scheme OF TAXATION. one that
shall apply. for instance. to railroads entering
New York city. to railroads operating within
and the like
Many commissions have been created by
legislative enactment In this and other States
In the past and it has been the almost univer-
sal experience that. however excellent the re-
1ofts Of such commissions might be. il they
were made un OF men outside the Legislature
theLeGlsature paid little or no heed to them
therefore recommend that YOU create Joint
committee Of the Senate and Assembly to in
Nesigate the subect in full and to report to the
ton. THFODoRE ROOsEyELT"
Senator Grady denounced the Governor for
tierlaIlr singing out New York city in his
reference - the municipal ownership Of fran
rhiseS and asserted that no citizen of New
York need be ashamed Of the existing ad-
nlIhlStratlon Of affairs in that city. He de
should indulge in tn" insinuatiomS and charges
Contained IN his message against the present
NtW orH CITY administration.
senator Ellsworth defended the Governor
ana pointed out that there is 500 900 900 OF
4ntaAed property in New York city.sOn Senator
fusw9rth motion the message was ordered
printed and referred to the tommittee on Tax.
afnnn and ltetrenchmcnts
me message was received in tho Assembly
I'dll ny the Clerk and ordered printed. without
eWori of discussion.