The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-01-31
TALK OF FRANCHISE TAXATION.
Number of st. Louisans Appear Be-
fore Committee in Charge

|
Jefferson City, Mo-. Jan. 30-Judge Fl. S
Priest. representing the ST. Louis Transit
Company: Isaac Fl. Lionberger. represent
ing the Laclede Gas Light Company of St
Louis. and Colonel Bill Phelps, representing
the Missouri Pacific Railroad. tonight told
the WAYS and Means committees of the
Senate and House what their clients
favored in the way of franchise tax Mr.
Lionberger spoke In favor OF a system
that would bear equally on all corpora
tiOns."
Judge Priest avowed himself in favor OF
''temporizirg for the present." and Of Sc
curing the appointment by the Governor OF
a commission TO investigate the earnings
and all the circumstances surrounding cor
porations in Missouri and TO report to the
next session OF the General Assembly, two
years hence" Colonel Phelps indorsed the
plan outlined by Judge Priest
The Ways and Means committees OF tne
Senate and House. strong a committee
aggregation as could be formed from the at
tractive material in the present General As.
sembly. which has in charge the question OF
franchise taxation. and with IL some four
teen bills to that end submitted by Sena-
tors and Representatives,. had called pub
lie hearing ION the general principles Of
franchise taxation" The chairman Of the
committees had planned an attractive yro-
gramme of thirty minute speeches by H.
Martin Williams. Colonel Bill Phelps. Fred
erick y. Judson. John Carroll and Fred
Lehman.
He used them in pointing out the difference
between the assessed value and the earning
value of such public and quasi-public cor
ways. telegraph and telephone companies.
ard fn adducing evidence to show that. un-
der the law as il stood at present. the state.
city and county boards of equalization could
assess for taxation the franchises Of public
and quasi-public corporations
He cotnended that the value OF a fran
chise could be determined by substracting
the assessed value of the tangible proper
" from the net earning value of the cor
Nf1r, n rad a
of the market value of its stock and bonds:
He instanced that the assessed value OF all
the steam railroads in Missouri was ss5.-
3i5.7s7; that the net earning value. calcu-
lated at per cent OF the market value CT
the roads securities was Sl5l,54l,lI; that
this left untaxed a value OF -, g. l64- TINS,
he contended. should be taxed, as the fran
With the conclusion of the speech OF
Martin williams the well-laid scheme of
the programme went wrong. Senator Mar
tin. who presided. called ON Colonel Phelps
as the next speaker on the programme.
"Abler and better men are here TO be
heard" said Colonel Phelps. waving
toward Priest and Lionberger. Mr.. Lion
The advantage of articles OF incorpora-
ton" said Mr.. Lionberger. ''is that they ex-
empt the individual corporate member
CORPORATION The Individual doing business
without articles of Incorporation Is hahle
for all the debts he incurs. For this rea-
son every business conducted under articles
OF incorporation issued by the State enjoys
a speciaI franchise and should pay a fran
chise tax If one is assessed on any franchise
whatever.
You cannot say that franchise is to be
taxed or not as IL makes money or does
not make money for its holders Street
sessing an indubitable public franchise Yet
the ST Louis and Suburban Street Railway
and the Fourth street cable have never
paid a dividend Their franchise and stock
possesses a value because 1t gives Its hold
erS position in terrorem toward Its COM
petitorS and because these competitors may
be- obliged to buy il at some time"
Mr. IIonberger declared his belief that
"a fair gross receipts tax would be the
best method OF franchise taxation
How this is to be determined or levied
I cannot say" he asserted. II do not know
what the gross receipts of the Laelede Gas |
Light Company are, and If /. stockholder
and the company's attorney. do not know,
doubt whether any one does
Judge Priest spoke next. He produced |
typewritten statement showing the capital |
stock the par and market value of the |
stock. the total market value of the stock,
taxes of the Simmons Hardware Company
and number OF other private corporations
In St Louis. He contended that these agen-
cies enjoyed a special franchise the same /
as the agency he represented. the st. Louis
Transit Company. He contended that IL his |
client was taxed these corporations should
be taxed also.
Judge Priest occupied over an hour in
presenting his views. concluding with rec
Ommendation that the Assembly "temporize
for the present
Colonel Phelps followed IF men want
a charter and articles of Incorporation. let
them pay the same tax as other incorpora-