Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1901-01-10

EXPENSE OF operating ~ 1890 20,
1,549,434.8f
Taxes 4 osE o5o
Tons of treiant ~ 20 &c
Fdsse' .,,eL 226
People killed 90
people injured
The forthcoming report of Railroad
commissioner Rice contains in addi
tf,, tn the usual array OF hgufes TWO
t,,ro,taut recommendations one CON
.a,ring railroad taxation, the otner re-
,.,rding tho reorganization of the rail-
a~,d commissioners department, MI
,,f., after reviewing the history Of rail-
,,qd taXtion at some length draws the
r,,clusion that the fairest method OF
,sssssment would be upon the net earn
mos computed upon the mileage basis
r, mis- accommodation that tne ran
ro,d department be reorganized he
asks for more clerical help.
OF taxtion he says in par:
In the early days of railroad puild,
ing taxation was little thought OF, ana
in many western states charter e&-
anptions from taxation were granted,
from which much litigation resulted.
THE state OF Illinois was wise III
Granting a charter to the Illinois Cen
tral railway company by including
provision in the charter that IN ileu
of the many benefits granted the
company pay TO the state each year
seven Der cent. of its 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
its cash value; that is, at what the as
SCISSORS say is the cash value, the at
tempt being made to adapt the genefai
property tax to railway property IN
Michigan, Minnesota, and our own
state the tax is levied upon the gross
earnings, although recently the constl-
tuition of Michigan has been amended
50 as TO authorize tax upon Vaiue
basis as other property is taxed
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 dscriminates against
the companies which have heavy oper-
ating expenses with small profits, and
in favor of those who have smaller
earnings with a 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
10 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 CT the funded debt
If at par or below and adding thereto
the market value of the shares. There
is difficulty, however, arising from the
tiuctuating market value of the shares.
In most of the states enforcing the tax
upon value, there is no fixei standard,
hut the assessment is left to the judg-
ment of the assessors, and their find
ing, as a 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 beel
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
ont counties and cities along the
line The local property, however,
not directly connected with the road
bed is usually assessed by the local
assessor. This apportionment OF the
value of the entire roadbed IN a
state of the different counties and
cities according to mileage, Ia open
90 the objection that it discriminates
against the cities where valuable
ierminals are located, as that value
Is distributed through all the counties
along the line. This assessment by
state boards secures uniformity of
'a.uation, as between the counties
along the line of the road, as TO the
r'adbed and rolling stock, but 1t IS
round practically impossible to Sc
cure uniformity with other classes OF
property.
i is notorious that property is not
assessed at its cash. calue anywhere,
.ept when the assessor succeeds
IN reaching money or securities in
Iae hands of the trustee or admins
ators, This practice Of underval-
Aation is so common that in some
states it is recognized by statute
ana in the state OF Illinois the prac
nee Of assessing one-ffth the cash
IS Cd