The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-05-15
MORE TESTIMONY PROVING THAT THE SOUTH
ERN RAILWAY ESCAPES TAXATION ON
TWO THIRDS OF IT'S REAL VALUE.

The Transcript OF Record" Of the
United States Circuit Court Of APP
peals, Fourth Circuit ofthe Inter-
State Commerce Commission APP
pellant versus Southern Railway,
Appellee, in the appeal from the
Circuit Court of the United States
for the Western District OF Vir-
ginia, at Danvi1le. furnishes sworn
testimony as to the true value OF
the Southern Railway property. We
published a few days ago in full
the testimony of Mr.. Josiah f. Hill,
Secretary of the Southern Railway
Company. Here is the gist of his
testimony:
I'm MY JUDGMENT $4,000
PER MILE WOULD BE A MIN
IMUM FIGURE FOR AN ESTI-
MATE OR JUDGMENT. 1T
WOULD PROBABLY EXCEED
$4,000 RATHER THAN GO UN-
DER THAT AMOUNT"
In the very year $500 that Sec
rotary Hill, whose business it is to
know the true value of the prop
erty of the Southern Railway, testi-
fed that the Southern had earned
four per cent. on a valuation Of
$4,000, that property was assessed
for taxation by the Corporation
at. $I3,55S.OS per mile-just ONE
third of what Secretary Hill sworc
was it. minimum value"
Abe transcript, from which Mr..
Hills testimony was obtained, con-
tains cumulative testimony in cor
roboration Of Mr.. Hills estimate.
Mr.. Culp, Fourth Vice-President Of
the Southern Railway, does indeed
swear that the property is worth
$4,000 per mile. He ought to
know If anybody does. But Mr..
Hill and the other witnesses all
swear that the true value is mot
less than $4,000 a mile" This
does not conflict with the testimony
of Mr.. Culp, showing that Mr.. Hill
and the others hesitated at swear
ing to the real value, prefefring
simply to swear that the property
is worth mot less than $4,000 per
mile"
Inasmuch as North Carolina is
taxing this property at the absurd
valuation Of $13,55S.Os per mile
when its own officers and experts of
nearly every other road IN the
South swear that 100000 is the
minimum value" we give below the
gist of the sworn testimony of
many railroad experts, al sum
moned by the Southern Railway, as
to the true value of the property of
the Southern Railway:
Mr.. j. T. Poe, of Mobile, Ala, who
has been connected with the rail-
road traffic department for nearly
thirty-one years. testified that the
true value of the Southern is mot
less than $4,000 per mile" He
testified that the total average cap
italization of all the railroads in
the United States is about 100000
per mile. The Southern Railway
has funded and guaranteed debt of
$4,000 per mile; preferred stock,
$4,000 per mile; and common
stock $4,000 per mile. He thinks
it would cost mot less than $4O,-
900 per mile to reproduce a rail-
road equal to the Southern Rail-
way" and he says: ''The lines of
the Southern Railway, taking them
Is a whole, have probably cost as
much. and are probably worth as
much, as the average Of all the rail-
roads in the United States" That
road makes AT per cent. on $4O,-
900 a mile.
The testimony of Mr. r.. e. Lutz,
OF Montgomery, Alabama, traffic
manager of the Atlanta & West
Point and Western Railway of
Alabama, testified that "the value
of the Southern Railway is not less
than 100000 per mile of road, y
and it earns dividend of "a per
cent. upon a valuation Of $4,000
per mile"
Mr.. Thomas X. Scott. General
Manager OF the Georgia Railroad,
testified that 1T would cost to re-
produce a railroad equal to the
Southern Railway, with it's inn
provements, additions, terminals,
established traffic, and good will,
not less than $4,000 per mile"
Mr.. A. w. Graham, First Vice
President of the Louisville &c Nash
Vile Railroad, testified that the
Southern Railway is worth not less
than $4,000 a mile.
Mr.. George r. Knox, General
Freight Agent of the N. C.. e. St. L..