The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-08-21

M III IfIShaA 49,
49, CMay 4th) penning this line: War
..os tho moor. first. last and all the
time"
CORPORATION RULE.
va charged that he was an UPHOLD
FIR OF CORPORATION RULE. In vain
do we search in his columns 10
a line of c~ommendation OF any
man who is striving to make the
| corporations go out of the governing bust
ness or any approval of any act compelling
| corporations to meet their share OF the
| public burdens. To be sure, mere anu
| there YOU find an occasional fling tfat IS
| general. but it is apparently inserted IN
! order to lead the reader up TO endorsing
| ingenious editorials in favor OF Corpof"
ton Rule.
Referring to the bill to impose a tax
| On the gross incomes Of railroads, wn'ch
nassed the House in 1899 and failed IN
| tho Senate because the Senators in that
body said they preferred to instruct the
Railroad Commission to increase the as
| sessment by taxing the franchise. he SAID
on February Sth: But this will hardly
pass. 1T is seriously to be doubted II
it is right or expedient." When the blu
| failed in the Senate he approved what he
! called 1.-The failure to inflict upon the
| railroads a gross income tax" and refer
| red to the advocacy of that measure as
"clamor." We deny that there was any
| intention to 'infict' railroads by the au-
| thor of that measure, Mr. M. S. Willard,
| Of the city Of Wilmington, or dts support
ers which embraced such men as John
B. Holman and Frank Thompson. they
saw hat the three chief railroad systems
Of the State were paying taxes ON an as
! s~essnent Of only s32, 900, 900, whereas their
property was paying a net dividend OF .
per cent. on s4S, 900, 600, and they favored
a method Of taxation that is substantially
in force in New York and a dozen other
States in the Union. Instead OF consid-
ering their we'll conceived plan which
passed the House, Bailey said they were
moved by .clamor'' and guided by an
unworthy spirit to 'inf1ict' the corpora
tions, an indictment both against their
honesty and their character. AS a matter
Of fact, recent events have shown the
tax on the gross receipts or the franchise
| of railroads. The Senate forced the
House to agree to the assessment by the
Corporation Commission, but the Sena-
| lore on6 uopmhpr who OurSuoI this course
have regretted it since Simcnton issued
his two injunctions which give the State
only tax on the old VIGOROUSLY too low
assessment.
And again, on July 5, 1899, we find
Bailey Tesorting to such special pleading
in behalf of railroads as this:
Eve are now making an effort to raise
taxes for the free schools out of rail-
roads. = = i Suppose we tax the gross
incomes of the railroads? Will they not
get the money to pay this tax out of the
people who pay freight and passenger
fares? And that being so, is it not better
to levy the tax directly? OF shall we
choke them to death by taxation at one
end and reduced rates and fares at the
other; who will lose most then?"
IL 1hS Gil oo' o"Neio N"oN' eAoo' 49,
Bailey, as usual, is found on the side of
the railroad and telegraph companies.
On July 10, 1899, two months before Judge
SiInonton heard, or any man knew, the
evidence in the case, We find Mr.. Bailey
declaring that the railroads and tele-
graph companies of North Caroline were
already taxed upon a comparatively
larger assessment than any other prop
crty, and that their assessments had
been steadily increased for years"
This he followed up with the argument
upon which the railroad attorneys and
officials we're at that time relying to
make their increase in taxation unpopu-
lar, to-wit:
"Now let Us all get together, newspa-
pers, politicians, and true reformers in
general and agitate for the increase Of
assessments upon individual property
commensurate with that Of railroads.
Even Col. Andrews could not nave ask
ed more or said it better. But a month
later august 18TH, we find Mr.. Bailey
dipping into the subject again-this time
to decide the case two weeks before Judge
SAA1' IlS DIT xASlc-
vile. In making UP his opinion in
favor Of the railroads, Mr.. Bailey found
not the least trouble, though the courts
have not decided the case yet. He wrote:
"One who has given the matter serious
and fair consideration will hardly under
take TO maintain that land and houses in
North Carolina have been assessed at
SO nearly their true money value as rail-
road property
1t is strange that after this deliverance
the attorneys for the Corporation Com
mission had the temerity to 20 on in
their effort to make the railroads paw
t taxes on their assessed valuation, but
. they did. . r41ae
Nor this is not all. After deciding the
taxation case Mr.. Bailey proceeded to
Q read the people CT the State a lesson IN
railroads.. 0pclariOp tho ro,~a