Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-01-10

| Passenger earnings SlO,o4Ss IfS.ft
People killed 22s
People injured SIS
The forthcoming report Of Railroad
| Commissioner Rice contains in add
tion to the usual array Of figures two
| important recommendations; one con
corning railroad taxation, the other re
garding the reorganization Of the rail
road commissioners department. Mr.
| Rice after reviewing the history of rail
road taXtion at some length draws the
conclusion that the fairest method OF
assessment would be upon the net earn
ings computed upon the mileage basis.
In his recommendation that the rail
, road department be reorganized he
asks for more clerical help.
Of taXtion he says in par:
I'm the early days of railroad build
ing, taxation was little thought of, and
in many western states charter ex-
emptions from taxation were granted,
from which much litigation resulted.
The state of Illinois was wise in
granting a charter to the Illinois Cen
trail railway company by including a
provision in the charter that in lieu
of the many benefits granted the
company pay to the state each year
seven per cent. of it's gross earnings
within the state. In Missouri, and
many other states, railway property
as other corporate and individual
property, is assumed to be assessed at
it's cash value; that is, at what the as
SCISSORS say is the cash value, the at
tempt being made to adapt the general
property tax to railway property. In
Michigan, Minnesota, and our own
state, the tax is levied upon the gross
earnings, although recently the consti-
tuition of Michigan has been amended
SO as to authorize a tax upon value
basis as other property is taxed.
1.-THE tax upon gross earnings, while
easily ascertained, and thus free from
the difficulty encountered in ascertain
ing the value, is open to the economic
objection that it discriminates against
the companies which have heavy oper
ating expenses with small profits, and
in favor of those who have smaller
earnings with larger per cent. of
profit; and is also open to the practical
objection that it is difficult to adjust
the rate Of tax upon the earnings so as
to produce a seeming equality of tax
alton as compared with the property
tax upon other property.
"On the other hand, where the tax
is upon value, that is, upon the states
share of the entire value, as above ex-
planned, there are obvious difficulties
in determining that value. The SUI
preme court of the United States has
sustained the rule of valuation of
adding the value of the funded debt
to the cash value Of the shares, saying
that this fixes the value by the action
of those who can best estimate it. In
some states this is applied by taking
the market value Of the funded debt
If at par or below and adding thereto
the market value of the shares. There
is difficulty, however, arising from. the
f1uctuating market value of the shares.
In most of the states enforcing the tax
upon value, there is no fixed standard
but the assessment is left to the iudg-
ment of the assessors, and their find
ing, as rule, is not renewable by the
courts.
Assessment of the road bed BY
county assessors has been found i'm.
practicable, and the system has been
very generally established in the diff.
ferent states of assessing the entire
road bed in a state by a state board,
who apportion the same to the differ
ent counties and cities along the
line. The local property, however,
not directly connected with the road
bed is usually assessed by the Ioca,
assessor. This apportionment OF the
value of the entire roadbed in a
state of the different counties and
cities according to mileage, is open
to the objection that it discriminates
against the cities where valuable
terminals are located, as that value
is distributed through all the counties
along the line. This assessment by
state boards secures uniformity of
valuation, as between the counties
along the line of the road, as to the
roadbed and rolling stock, but It is
found practically impossible to Sc
cure uniformity with other classes of
| property.
1T is notorious that property is not
assessed at its cash calue anywhere,
except when the assessor succeeds
in reaching money or securities in
the hands of the trustee or admins
traitors. This practice of underval
uation is SO common that in some
states it is recognized by statute
and in the state of Illinois the prac
tice of assessing one-ffth the cast
value is adopted. In the state Of
Missouri a careful investigation re
Gently disclosed that railways are as
sessed at about 81 per cent. of the
full market value of their securitie;
on the basis of their mileage in the
state, while the average assessment
of farm property was considerabl.
less, about SO per cent. in som'
counties being as low as 20 per cent
This inequality in taxation resultin,
from unequal assessments is often in
voked as a ground for judicial inter
ference.
''It is clear that inequality in tax