Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-12-16
STATE HOUSE,
State Assessors to Ascertain
taxation Laws Elsewhere.
Farmers Institutes to Be Held in
Waldo County This Month.
rive Corporations Filed Papers on Saturday,
Making 23 for the Week.

| ne State Eoard of Assessors in IL
| next annual report will incornorata mo
! result of Investigations To be ,p,da ;ut,
| the methods of taxation Of other st,,a.
/ Ill accordance with the. law nassnd NV
/ tha last Legislatures Th. uu.stion nr
taEaiion, which was considered in an
! its bearings by the Legislature of 1901
! would have been much easier of settle
i ment had there been in existence in
/ formation Of recent date as To the sys-
/ TENS in vogue elsewhere The commit
/ zee on taxation found it extremely diff
| cult to obtain data of Il reliable char
.t't"r to aid it in its work. To avoid
! inns difficulty i'll the future the follow
ing law Was passed and approved
March -. 1901:
1t shall be the duty of the State as
SCISSORS. and they are hereby directed
i" biennially investigate and examine
INTO the system and method of taxation
IN other states. and also to make care
irl and constant inquiry into the prac-
teal operation and effect of the laws
| OF the state of Maine. in comparison
! with the laws of other states. with the
i Vie" of ascertaining wherein the tax
/ laws of Maine are defective. inefficient
( Imperative or inequitable. They shall
! biennially incorporate the result of this
! Investigation and inquiry in their an
nual report made prior to each Legis-
latiYe session, ana recommend such
+ Notifications. changes and additions in
! the tax law of the State as may seem
/ advisable or necessary to secure a more
: just and equitable system Of taxation :
I In complying with the provisions of
. this law the assessors will be obliged
4 I" make pretty careful Investigations
iii all the states of the Union. which
: will entail Il large amount Of additional
! Dor: and their deductions and find
! irSs will undoubtedly swell the size Of
! their report to quite an extent.
I t'n account Of the passage Of the laM
4 imposing franchise tax upon corpora
tons, the report Of the State assessors
/ for the current year will be sweled be-
! tween 6" and 20 pages. as the name
+ amount Of capital stock authorized and
amount of tax assessed against all the
/ companies organized under the State
4 law. will be given.
4 Another important matter will uC-
Z cupy the attention OF the assessors.
ment of the number uf large bridges
in the State. The question of having
the State assume the support of all
bridges above a certain size was dis
cussed quite generally by the Legisla-
ture. last winter. Many bills We're in
trnducc,i for State aid in the building
ana maintenance Of bridges and several
thousands Of dollars were appropriated,
"a. Il. ,f
4 money We're referred TO the next
Legislature. These bills We're not
rejected because of lack Of merit. out
simply because tie state did net have
the money to apply 10 such purposes.
1t is expected that at the next session
Il determined effort will be made 20 Sc
cure a large appropria ton for the rlr-
Dost. Of aiding towns who are TOO POOR
TO build or maintain bridges along the
county roads Of the state. For this
reason the assessors Will cndeaEor 20
have the informatio lacking last year
incorporated in its report Of next year.
When the committee on ways and
bridges was in session last winter and
was considering the question II the
proportion of the expense Of building
the large bridges which the counties or
the state should bear. it concluded that
If was necessary to be informed as to
tha number cost. etc, of these bridges.
Tho committee appealed to tn" state
,scaesors. who forwarded blanks to the
cities and towns to secure the hsuies
wanted. Many replies were received
lut AZ the returns were imperfect IN
many instances the information was
valueleSS.
Rut the assessors viii make another
trv at it. this time in Il way WhirA VIII
he fruitful of results. The nuestlohs
,sked will include the following: HOW
many bridges in your county or town
over 20 feet in length, name ol scream
ar river crossed. number "l SpatS'
,.rgtI, of each spany. whether covered
ar ono, estimated cost Of each hrlaS"'
oord;tion ~. to ren2ir. when bulit' now
milf if hv state aid. how much, ma
teriar. wood or iron?
orn of the difficulties experienced ny
tovn officials m the iirst attempt was
!, the determination Of some ~ the
measurements. The pueS'i'h "I"7t
,.hatba,. in measuring q bridge the
distance between the anutnirntS Or ~
4trao,, tbc extreme ends Of the ap-
| ,,rn1chpS Shollu fp'' ttiN'ii- ~
ltha length of a span should De 'he h'S-
tonce between the outside OF the pierS
o. their centerS A.,
p;rerent officials would nave o,s-
similar ways of measuring, thus feh-
sih.'i ratrrns Enthusiastically in
t,nanv instances. This time the lnstruc-
,;ons vii, he so plain that It VIII Dc
;,,nossible to mistake them After
on,n,ete returns hay. been received Il
oomniIation will he made for the use
of he next legislature
,rbe other day Governor Hill receiVe''
,at,er from Eli r.. Beane OF Brown
na,d asking to be reappointed 1nstice
H., na.ce Mr.. Baane wrote the GOV :