Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-13
value of Tangible property.

Value OF I@nBluAe
The full membership of the board was
prssent when MIR kosewater began his
laik for a Just assessment of railroad prop
erty at Ii o'clock. At noon recess was
taken unth 1:s0 o'clock. Mr. Rosewater
presented his ideas to the board as to how
TO get at the tangible property and the
value OF the franchises and during the
afternoon discussed several OF the roads
separately. refuting by facts and figures
the boasted claims of the railroads that
they were bing taxed on one-third of the
actual value as compared with lands and
farm properties at from one-tenth to one
fifteenth
To get at the va1ue of the tangible prop
ertS II the railroads he counseled the
BOARD TO begin on the tisht-of-way and hnd
out Just how much Is used for railroad pur-
poses and how much, is leased for farming
purposes. Regarding this he called atten-
ton TO the fact that the Union Pacific has
a right-of-w way of from 300 to 400 feet. Then
he said the board should take into consid-
Grafton the roadway and bridges, and find
out iust what It would cost to replace them.
The original cost OF these, he said, would
have no bearing on the present cost. He
would then consider the cross ties ana the
cost Of replacement
In answer to q question from Governor
Mickey, Mr.. Rosewater suggested that IL
would not be bad idea for the members
OF the board personally to inspect some por-
tIons of the road. The valuation OF track
age should also be included in the board s
calculations. IN former years. he said,
wrought rails were used that weighed from
hfty-nve to sixty pounds. and now most Of
the roads are using steel rails that
weigh from eighty to 100 pounds. The old
rails cost s2s ton. according to the report
OF the Board Of transportation, and the
steel rails cost from $s5 70 $40 per ton. The
lowest price paid for these was in 1885,
when they cost s2S a ton.
Property improperly Reported.
The depots, grounds. tool houses. water
tanks and terminal properties should also
be considered. The terminal properties, Mr..
Rosewater declared, were not reported in
the proper form by the railroads, and no
estimate could be placed on them from the
returns He advised the board to thor
oughly investigate the value of the ter
minal property personally. The unclaimed
lands and lots in which the railroads had
equity should be deducted from the returns
on the tangible property.
On the matter OF franchises Mr. Rose
water said this was most intricate prob
would DO well TO take the value of the
stocks and bonds OF the railroads based on
an actual value during the last six months
and from that deduct the value OF the
tangible property. The difference, he said.
would represent the value OF the franchise.
Mr.. Werton asked what was the supreme
court decision on this same proposition.
The answer was that the supreme court
had not acted on the matter at all. Mr..
Rosewater said the court had been asked
20 compel the board TO sit again and con-
sider franchises. but inasmuch as the re-
iAtors had been heard by the board on the
matter the court would not issue the writ.
In the Omaha case the court ordered the
board TO sit again.
cites Precedents.
Mr.. Rosewater told the board that IL il
Was right 30 tax street railway companies
on stocks and bonds It certainly was right
10 tax railroads the same way He called
attention 90 the provision of the eonstitu-
tion that says ali persons and corporations
should b assessed on both property and
franchises. A franchise was a privilege to
do business. and every railroad that had
franchise had monopoly because the
people were forced TO patronIEe II. Before
the Interstate Commerce commission IN
1855 Mr.. Rosewater said be argued that
railroads levied tribute on all products
within twenty miles of the road. and he
stia held to that. He showed that railroads
could issue bonds 10 the full value Of the
roads and that the private individual could
not mortgage his property at more thar
from 20 70 90 per cent Of Its value. While
the speaker said there was nothing definite
In the statutes which the board could FOL.
low in assessing franchises, he again called
attention 10 the constitution and said thai
other states and the United States suprem,
court had set the precedent
Mr.. Rosewater eontended that q raflroat
should be considered as whole. inasmucl
as the railroads returned their propertie.
as a whole. IL the roads are 20 be con
sidered separately, he held each branch
must show It's earnings and there was n,