The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-12-12
TIP RAILROADS AND TAXATION.

virginia railroad presidents were e'i'ei
..sn;,r and they must have made a Ia
xorable Impression upon the members u
the committee. or course these men pu'
t,,c;r best foot foremost. as the saFlpss
rocs and naturally discussed the dues-
zion more or less from selflsh poi'l' u
view Yet it must be admitted 'na' ''eS
showed a liberal spirit. and 1t must NC
further admitted that they made a very
strong argument against putting mo 'hs
Constitution a specific scheme ana rate
of taxation for the railroads Of the STATE.
Tho Constitution should deal with Inc
general principles of taxation. but when
81 comes 10 specific schemes and rates
they must in good judgment be ielt 10
.be legislature The railroads oil me
State should be made 10 pay fair FatS
Of taxation upon n fair valuation OF 'heir
property of whatever character. but II
IS difficult 10 ascertain what TINS value
5. from time to time. and it is impossihie
3o ascertain i, by a hard and fast rule
sn The Constitution of the State. Under
certain conditions the market value OF
the stocks Of a corporation may form an
equitable basis Of assessment. but at o'h-
or ,imos the rule would not do at al.
in some seasons OF business depression
stocks sell for very much less than the'r
real value whereas in other seasons OF
great business prosperity and specusa-
.ion stocks sell for very much more than
their intrinsic worth. In 1876, LOT OK
ample it would have been unfair 10 tne
State TO assess the railroads upon me
market value OF their stocks lot at mat
.ine stocks were very much depressed;
in the spring of 1900. w:len there was
great speculative boom. 1t would nave
hcen unfair to the railroads to assess
them upon the market value OF thelr
stocks, for in many cases prices were
then inflated. All persons who watch the
stock quotations know that prices are IN
fuenced by conditions and largely bF
sentiment Conditions change and sent-
,neut changes. and prices change with
them.
Take for example, the case of Anal
ran,,a5 Conner 4 few months ago that
stock was selling for $3.50 share 'Jh
5,riday last it sold for less than 500
share--about one-half the boom price.
Nobody can say to-day just what that
particular stock is intrinslcaIiE worth.
Some seem to think that the bottom prlce
has not Yet been reached, whereas others
think that it is selling for very much less
than its actual value. We have IN NINA
a railroad stock which a few months ago
was selling at about 81 a share; 1t mas re-
Gently sold at more than sos a snare
Mould it not have been absurd TO assess
this road upon the market value OIL 1ts
stocks when the stocks were worth II
a share? And might it not nave eeeA
almost as absurd to assess it upon the
basis Of 500 a share? But if there were
an unvarying rule like this IN the CON
sti;ution of the State the rule would have
10 be observed. no MATES: what the con-
<iitions of trade might be. we say 'hat
If any such rule as this is TO be adopted,
surely it should not be a rule oil the Con-
s,itution. which can only be changed by 4
very tedious process.
1t would be worse still for the Con-
stitutional Convention to fix the rate
of taxation for railroads. Ii seems to us
that the whole subject is covered when
iii. Constitution adopts the principle that
all property of whatever character. ply
steal property, franchises. OF what not,
.hau he taxed once, hut only once. With
mat nrjnciple fixed. the details may well
he left 10 the Legislature. and should DC
left to the Legislature. to WORK OUT &c
cordinc as conditions require.
Tho railroads of this State arc among
our greatest industries, giving employ
5ncut to large numbers of men ana spend
sng {, great dea! OF money in the State
More than that. they arc perhaps the
greatest factors in our industrial develop
,ncnt Railroad men are not ph:ianthro-
,,is,s any more than other business men
arc phlanthrops.s but they are men OF
affairs and they know that 1t Is 10 theic
Interest 10 build up the country through
which their lines pass. The more de-
Selopment along the line of any road the
mere traffic will that road receive and
therefore the greater will be its revenues.
In appreciation of this fact one Of the
Virginia railroad companies recently sent
out a Good Roads Train in order 10
give The people Ell route some op3ect-ies-
sors in road making. The managers OF
Inc railroad we'll understand that IA good
country road helps the country through
which it passes and becomes valuable
feeder 10 the railroad. The Virginia
railroad companies also liberal i'll
aiding the counties. towns and cities of
.hc State IN any enterprise of a quasi
public character III which they engage, all
because they know that in every develop
rnent OF this character the railroad will
receive its share Of the profits.
IL would be worse than folly for the
Constitutional Convention to do anything
that would hamper the railroads in the
great work which they are doing Sucn
action would tend to restrain enterprise
AT homo and would have q bad moral ef-