The Brunswick daily news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1903-1906, 1903-09-25
TALKS
OF FRANCHISE
-
Arbitrator for the A. c. l..
Says Award is Un-
Constitutional
DECISION OF HIGHEST COURTS
He Says Vast Majority of the Prop
erty of the State of Georgia
is Under Estimated Mcre
Than 40 Per Cent.

zen, G. P. Goodyear, returned from
Atlanta where he has been for more
than a week engaged in the arbitra-
ton OF the Atlantic Coast Lines
physical and franchise property as
arbitrator for such company, Hon. &.
GUnby Gordon representing the state
and Allen D. Gambler, former cover
nor, as umpire having been selected
by the arbitrators. Mr.. Goodyear.
when asked for an expression in re.
lation to the award. said:
Il do not hesitate to pronounce
this award violative of the constitu-
ton of the state of Georgia, which
requires uniformity in all advalorem
taxation.
There is neither uniformity with
the returns of the vast majority Of
the property of the state known as
the general digest, nor uniformity
with the roadswhich may be called
state roads as distinguished from
the large interstate roads nor is there
the slightest approach to such uni
formity in such award,
The circuit courts of the United
States and the supreme court of the
United States have declared in Ian
guage too plain to be misunder-
stood thai such constitutional pro
visions as to uniformity may be as
we'll violated by the under valuation
of one class of property and the high
er or true of another as in any other
way. and that where such underval
uation exists as To- one class of prop
erty and higher of true valuation
of another it is necessary that Ell
ther the undervaluatlon shall be
raised or the over valuation lowered
ut was shown by an cv9rwhel-
ming testimony before the board that
the vast majority of the property of
this state is undervalued more than
forty per cent of its trne value; that
Comptroller Wright. in the Southern
railway arbitration admitted that in
his judgement amounted ITO SO 1-3
per cent.
These authorities we're presented
by Hon F. G, du Bignon counsel for
road. clearly and Enthusiastically to the
board. The attorney general of the
state. admitting his familiarity with
these decisions, announced that they
were in states whore they had asses.
and did not apply to Georgia where
voluntary returned under oath were
made. He read the taxpayers oath
and announced his opinion that the
presumption that taxpayer returned
his property at its true market val
ue under said oath governed and not
the fact clearly proven that 1T was
the custom under the voluntary re-
turn system in Georgia to return
property at an average, or at least
40 per cent below it's true value.
"The states arbitrator and the UNI
pire in the case announced that they
proposed to be governed by the opin-
ion of the attorney general as to the
application of the law in Georgia. de
clined to make any reduction from
the market valuation arrived at as to
tangible property and franchise OF
the railroad.
"a discrimination equally violativc
Of the constitutional provision as tc
uniformity was clearly proven from
the cUmptrollers reports for 1902 tC
exists in favor of the state railroads
against the interstate roads, yet ne
reduction was made to secure such
uniformity" -