The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-03-03

Who blade an U~nanswcrable Speech Yes
terday for Section FIFTY.
mandatory. 1t Will not make any railroad
pay tax except at their true value. Ad-
Verting to suggestion that railroads Will
be made to pay taxes on their indebted
ness, Mr.. Willard said that everybody
knew that the railroads issued bonds to
secure money with which to build and
extend their railroads, and that it was a
perfectly prope subject for taxation. lie
said that the bonds of these corporations
were held abroad and at the north. and
that it was impossible for the State to
get at them in the hands Of their owners
for taxation. The proper way, therefore,
was to make the assessment as provided
under section so. In the matter of pri-
waite property the State requires a mar
who owns a mortgage on a house to pay
tax on it. The owner of the house also
pays tax On it. He went on to say that
the matter had been threshed out two
years ago and in the tax suit. He was
interrupted and asked some legal Ques-
tions. and replying to one said he could
not answer that.
You will have to ask Mr.. Morton. I
am not the Constitutional lawyer from
New Hanover county
It had been suggested, he said, that
some other property was not fully valued
and, therefore, railroad property should
not be assessed at it's actual value. II
we begin cutting off these assessments,
where shall we stop? The true theory is
to tax the railroads at their true value
and to tax all other property at it's true
value. The law cannot admit any other
method. The true obioc+ 1870 LNgisla-
ture should be not to relieve railroads Of
just taxation, but to invent a system Of
assessment that will reach that and all
other property.
Mr.. Henderson: Where did this law
come from?"
Mr.. Willard: ct was made by the
Finance Committee of the Legislature of
1901. We had before us the taxing laws
of every State in the Union. They were
studied carefully and this section so is a
composite law taken from statutes Of sew
eral States"
Mr.. Henderson,: 81 have never seen
such provision in the law of any other
State"
Mr.. Willard: THAT may be SO, but if
it stays in our law, it will hereafter be
found in the laws Of many other States.
They will be glad to copy SO good a law
from North Carolina"
He proceeded to say that the commit
tee that framed this law was composed
of some Of the best men in North Caro-
lima. Among them was a railroad Off
Ger, Congressman-elect Page, and other
wise men, who had no desire to Cypress
railroads or to overtax hat or any other
species of property.
Mr. Henderson: 1.-The Supreme Court
of North Carolina had declared that
!eub-section a, of section so was discretion
ary, but that subsection b was manGa-
tory. This is an obiter dictun."
Mr.. Willard: up TO two years ago
an effort had been made repeatedly to get
the CORPORATION Commission to put the
proDer valuation upon railroads for tax
alton, but they had not done so. 1t was
the purpose Of the section so e ~@'1e
. the assessment mandatory to the end that
this property shall be fairly assessed.
nudge Conner introduced an amendment
n the House to require the CCrnorat on
| Commission to assess the railroads upon
tbe basis of the 6 per cent. earnings, fnd
II came very near passing. This scared
the railroads, who were much more salts
| fed with section so than with Judge Con
nor's suggestion. The whole idea OF sec
+ion 20 is to make it mandatory.
Judge Graham then began strong argu-
nent in favor of retaining section 80 as II
was He said tina Maj. Shaw had ad-
mitted that section so was put IN as a
comnromise of the railroad taxation suit
Mai Shaw: "You are mistaken. | dc
NOT saw that. I did not know anything
about section so until l read it IN the
hook after it was printed"
Judge Graham: "I so understood you
There must nave been some discussion
If this method of taxation during the
nandencv of the taxation suit. AS a re-
suit of this discussion, If not the fesNi'
Of anv compromiseA section 81 was moor
porated by the Finance III the
Nachinerv Act and it was passed VIII
tho fall knowledge Of all concerned
When we talk about the back tax 10
1eo1 and 1902. the railroads say tnat al
agreement was made that sectloh o
should not go into effect until 1913. NOV
having cot rid of two years tax, the ran
roads ask a repeal of section 50 that wa
,oceod nv an agreement or as a result o
q compromise.
Judge Graham read extracts from nal
a dozen leading decisions to the ehec
+bat courts will not require unlIornle
of methods in arriving at the Value q
nronertv. if all property of the same KIN
ic valued in the same way. Inc LeSlo