The St. Louis Republic., 1901-01-05
REPUBLIC SPECIAL.

Stephens's message. sent to the General
Assembly to-day, contains about -o'VN
words. IL shows prosperous cOnuiuon Oi
the State institutions, the State departments
ma the state finances. Its principal special
feature IS an analysis Of tho subject OF
franchise taxation Il has a word 10 say
About the School Fund, OF which an Issue
WAS made in the last election II carries
Recommendation from Excise Commissioned
Higgins that ST. LOuis's saloons be closed
between midnight anu dawn; recommends
a constitutional convention and state
commission Of seventeen TO help along 81.
Iouis's Worlds Fair. II shows A.o1S,95l bal
ance in TIE State Treasury, as against So'i,-
Ss3 on December 81. 1896.
Regarding the School Fund certificates of
indebtedness" IL says:
"Residcs our hynded indebtedness. which
amounts TO Sl.SS7.0o0 and draws Sie per cent
interest, VIC have outstanding certificates
OF Indebtedness belonging To our ''Scho9l
Fund amounting to SS,loo.vV-ot MIhch
z 10000 draws 6 pr cent interest, and the
balance per cent interest. and $l-s9' 's''.4-
Certificates Of indebtedness belonging 10
.hs seminary fund" drawing mostly . per
sent interest, making the total State debt
n this time 81, ,2S0, ,S39.4.. as compared with
a3se S2a.i2 January l. 1897, being a net re-
auction CT S3,Os9,OyQ. While, as stated be-
iore. the bonded debt has. been reduced
El13,O0o. the certificates OF indeoteuhesS
have been increased S2i,v"V.
Much has been said and written In the
heat and excitement during the late po-
htical campaign concerning these 'certiIi-
eates of Indebtedness by unfr1endly SPEAK
krs and editors, with which you are Ia
nliliar But the fact remains that our school
and seminary funds are intact, lesaly anu
properly invested, and they should not De
interfered with. The transactions resulting
IN the sale Of United States bonds whlSh
formerly constituted these tunds, ana the
4Hsfw
securities are in accordance with the Joh-
stitution Of Missouri, and show exceneIri
Judgment on the part OF all lntereSIed, anu rnI
assure Us of the best possible interest re-
turns and the prompt payment OF the prlh-
cipal whenever same is desired
SUGGESTS CLOSING THE
SALOONS AT MIDNIGHT.
In discussing the office of the Excise COM
missioner, IT shows an increase in the an m
uusl collections of the office nom Sl,l5oZio
at the beginning of Nicholas Ben term
and OF sl,lsJ l69 at the end o. MS Term, - ~
81 2l6 7S9 at the beginning Of Higgins term
and 8, ,2l3, ,565 during the past tscal year Oh
his term. The message continues:
''Mr. Higgins. in forTarding TINS repoTt ,'oI,
TO me. makes the following sussesuOii'
which IS respectfully submitted;
deavored to do my full duty, honestly anu anu
inpartially. During my term an 2gltatloil
has prevailed regarding 'disreputaoie sa-
looms. They have always existed. ana ar al = =
created by the tax-paying citizens oMniiIs
they are situated, and can see no remedy
for their abolishment other than the en-
actment OF a law providing Tor the cioahs
OF all saloons between the houIs OF Y ill., ll,H-
tlight and a m. This would come nearer
to accomplishing this END. as the business business
Of these places Is wholly done between th, thtse
hours: and 4 law of this sort would ul'AHe
the biisIfssss so Improbable that they could
not exist: and, In addition, would p.e.ehe
murders, rObberies and othef crimes. A.,
The message urges n fixed appropriation
for the State University, aEd points out
that most State universities OF other states
are supported in this way.
In areakiug of the necessity for q Eener-
Gus appropriation fer the state talr. 10
Gated by State board at sedaha- the
message says: CO. ,,,,.
erected Of the 81. Louis Worlds Fair be SO
constructed of steel and planned as 70 pe
taken sPart after the Fair Is over ~ ana stops ps
for the State exhibits at Words Fair pro-
vide that they be sent also to sedaIia Tor
our State Fair"
DISCUSSES THE FRANCHISE
TAXATION QUESTION.
The objection to the payment OF fran
chise taxes, as usually made, Is that .the
corporations whose franchises are proposed
to be taxed have, within the limits OF the
taxing State certain tangible property, ana
that said tangible property must be valued
uation alone can taxes be assessed and
levied against corporate assets. But. as mas
been well pointed out by the courts, i'. the
ignored by this plea Of the corporations, or,
at least, they deny the liability OF this
intangibie property to taxati0ni It has % been M
day a large portion of the wealth OF a
community consists in intangible property.
and there Is nothing In the nature of things
or in the limitations of the Federal Con-
stitution. which restrains a State from tax
ing at fits real value said Intangible proper
~. . 1t matters not In what this IN
tangible property consists whether privi-
leges corporate franchises. contracts or oh
legations. II Is enough that IL Ia property
which, though intangible. exists; It has
value. produces income. and passes current
in the markets of the world. To ignore this
intangible property. or to bold that II is not
subject to taxation at Its accepted value, Is
TO eliminate from the reach of the taxing
power a large portion Of the wealth of the
country. Now, whenever separate articles
OF tangible property are Joined together. not
simply by n unity of ownership. but In "a
unity of use, there Is not infrequently de-
veloped a property, Intangible though 1t
may be, which I'm value exceeds the aggre-
gate OF the value OF the separate pieces Of
tangible property.
TO Illustrates: Suppose n street-car rys-
tenn in n city yields 6 per cent on S0.0o).000
of stock and bonds. Then the value Of the
stock and bonds would be at least par.
And suppose that the corporate. real and
personal. tangible property of said corpora
tion consisting Of the track. the trolley
wires the poles power-hou. es etc, etc,
was not worth to exceed A.0O0.000 Deduct
ing the value Of the tangible corporate real
and personal property from the value OF the
property, in its unity Of use as street-car
system there remains an income-producing
value OF 5000 900. which. IL IL true, is intan-
gible, but nevertheless yields revenue;
and this illustrates the proposition that In
the unity Of use OF certain classes of prop
erty there is not infrequently develop Cd
p property, intangible though IL be. which
in value exceeds the aggreg2ie OF the value
of the separate pieces OF tangible property.
II, in the instance above supposed. the s6.-
600 900 OF Intangible value belonging TO the
street car company pays dividends. IL GER
fainly should be taxed. for whatever pays
dividends should pay taxes. and whatever
property is worth for purposes Of income
and sale II should be worth for the pur-
pose OF taxation.
such Intangible property above men,
toned. and that II is something Of no value.
is to insult the common intelligence of ey-
cry man. These facts being so, il remains
to determine whether or not this class OF
Intangible property is subject 10 taxatio1
by the laws OF Missouri.
CONSTITUTION AUTHORIZES
FRANCHISE TAXATION.
Section T. Article OF the Constitution
Of Missouri provides that All property sub
5ect to taxation shall be taxed in proper
ton TO its value
Section G. Article X OF the Constitution
exempts certain classes OF property from
taxation. such as that Of the State. coun-
ties, municipal corporations. cemeteries and
lots in incorporated cities or towns or with
in one mile OF the limits thereof TO the
extent OF one acre, and lots one mile or
more distant from such cities or, towns
10 the extent of five acres. with the build
ings thereon, when the same are used ex-
clusively for religious worship. for schools
or for purposes purely charitable. and also