Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1899-06-29
SHALL FRANCHISES BE TAxEp.
Author Of the Ford Bill Gives the
Views of Various States.

fASNS VI ' dlItWS SldJSSs
In The case OF franchises of all kinds
there Is simple and unerring method
Of valuation. sanctioned by long usage
in many states and approved by the
supreme court OF the United States.
II Is to take the market or actual value
OF all the Indebtedness, exclusive OF
debts for current expenses. and the
market or actual value OF all the
stock Of every kind issued, and the
total Will be the value OF all the as
sets Of the corporation, Deduct the
actual or market value OF all the
tangible property In its possession aud
there remains the value Of the In
tangible property, or the franchise.
This rule Is recognized by the laws
or Connecticut, which In taxing rail-
roads levy she same tax upon the
market value OF their debts MS upon
the market value OF their stock. II
is employed In assessing franchises In
New Jersey, Indiana Illinois aud sew
eral other states, Its application In
the valuation OF public franchises UNI
der the new law In New York state
will be even simpler than above In
dictated; for, since the franchise is to
be taxed us real estate. Il will not he
necessary To separate the respective
values ot the tangible and Intangible
reality at all, hut the actual value
of the personal property only need be
deducted from the total valuation OF
assets, as found under the rule, In
order to discover the valuation OF the
taxable r>al property,
This precise method Of valulng fran
chiscF, when first applied by the
state board Of equalization OF Illinois
to railroads, gave rise to three con-
testing actions, which were carried to
the supreme court OF the United
States and there disposed OF In n
single decision In 1876 (Taylor vs., Sc
cor, &C., % U. s., 576). Mr., Justice Mill
lor, who wrote tho opinion In the case.
said: THE statute OF Illinois and the
rule adopted by the board OF equali-
cation, under the power conferred by
the clause we have Just reeitod may
not be the wisost mode or doing COM
pleto justice In this difficult matter.
but we confess we have, on the whole.
seen no scheme which In better
adapted to effect the purpose, so far
as railroad corporations are concern
cd OF taxing at once Nil of their
property and OF making the tax just
and equal In all Its relations To other
taxable property OF the state"
Again, after discussing In detail the
rule as applied, the learned Justice
continues. 1T IL therefore obvious
that when YOU have ascertalned the
current cash value Of the whole
funded debt and the current cnsh
value Of the entire number of shares,
YOU have. by the action OF those who
above all others can best estimate II,
useertained the true value of the
road all its property. Its capital stock
aud Its franchises, for these aro all
represented by the value OF lts bonded
debt and Of the shares of It's capital
stock.
No method fixed for the valuation
Of any species Of renl estate either by
the courts or by the assessors In the
state OF New York Ia 80 simple, certain
and easy Of application M this, The
great bulk of the properties reached
by the net are publicly bought and
sold daily In the form OF securities
representing them The stock market
supplies continually an index Of the
value Of all the principal franchises,
while sales Of other kinds OF real es-
tate are rare In comparison, and act
ual sales are the very best guides to
actual values. There will be no trouble
about eqnitaby assessing franchises,
except In the directors rooms OF the
corporations owning them and In the
Offices OF their eminent counsel. The
results OF the operation OF the law
will be n revelation to the people, and
a lesson they will not soon forget, In
the art Of utilizing these sources OF
revenue for the public advantage IN
stead Of permitting them 10 be used
exclusively for private gain. Senator
Ford In North American Review,