The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1904-10-05

not hard to understand. All that is de
manded il that the rich corporations,
who own and operate railroads and ca
mails shall bear the same burden of taxa
ton as the private owners of property.
There is DO, child" he said mo mat
ter how feeble be its intellect, who can
not understand that simple proposition,
and in this campaign men can certainly
understand that Mr.. Black rs the
plaintiff and Stokes the defendant.
ask that the railroads shall pay the same
amount of taxes as the humble resident
My opponent demands that the railroads
shall pay less. A statute that thus fixes
arbitrarily such tax rate is unsound in
principle and unfair in practice. II
many millions of property belonging 10
a railroad company escapes the burden of
taxation to the tune of So on the 81 600
ratables, and private individuals prop
eaty is taxed at $275O ON the 81 600,
am justified in invoking Divine Justice
and say Thou Shalt Not Steal We
have two systems of taxation existing
side by side. That hundreds Of millions
of dollars worth of railroad property
shall be taxed only So on the $1,000 and
private property owners be taxed $21.5O
no man with a conscience will say is
just
Mr.. Black exhibited number of
maps, showing by colors how the rail
roads have been gradually absorbing the
area of Hudson County since 1868. and
thus taking property MAT should be tax
ed locally the same as other properties
but upon which but nominal sum is
paid TO the State.
I'VE demand = said the speaker, ''that
law shall be passed modifying he act
of 1884, so that all lands shall be faxed
alike We don't merely want a commits
sion appointed 10 investigate the feas;bii-
ity of such proposition. The ballot box
is the court of last resort on all these
great economical questions. The State
is growing rich beyond the dreams Of
avarice, while the counties, with parks,
schools and other items incident to
high grade of civilization, can scarcely
meet the outgo. We say 10 the prosper
Gus railroads, you ara enjoying special
exemption at the expense Of Ihe pr;vate
owner. Take, as a concr9ee example,
the two big grain elevators that form
notable feature of our landscape. The
owners of the Erie pay SIS on the $1,000
value. The Pennsylvania Railroad Com
pany pays but So ON the 81 900 value of
its elevator"
piers footing up 81, ,4S5, ,697. This he COM
figures coneernig the valuation Of the
piers of the various railroads by the
State Board of Assessors - Delaware,
Lackawanlla & Western, Piers Z, s, 10,
IL, II and 13. valued at $357. 300; Penn
sylvania Railroad Company, Piers f, G,
II, J, X, L. and NJ, valued at $393.397;
Central Railroad Company, Piers l, ?,
8, 4, 8, 6, Z, 8 and 9, valued at $275 900;
Lehigh Valley Railroad Company piers
No. /, A, B, G, d, G, II, and j, valued
at $500, ,000--the total value of the thirty
piers foting up 81, ,4S5. .697. This he COM
pared with Pier 13 of the Pennsylvania
Railroad at the foot of Grand street,
valued by the local assessors of Jersey
City at $4,000, and one-half of Pier A,
valued at $4,000, total of s4S1 600.
Mr. Black pointed out the mammoth
train shed of the Pennsylvania Railroad
and asked why owners of property on
both sides of Exchange place should be
so unequally assessed. He declared that
if elected Governor he would appoint a
Board of Assessors THAT would be fair to
both the railroad companies and the peo-
pie. He said he had made inquisies as
to what other States were doing in the
matter and from New York, Connecticut,
Illinois and the District of Columbia he
received assurances that the railroad
companies properties were taxed the
same as private property.
Before closing, Mr. Black paid a
graceful tribute to the women present,
and said he wanted all the moral forces
behind him that cluster around the
hearthstone and the church.
Allan Benny, of Bayonne, candidate
for Congress from the Ninth district, fol-
lowed Mr. Black, and made equally as
strong an impression. He was in the
lhome of Marshall w. Van Winkle, his
Republican opponent. He confined his
remarks mainly to the speech made by
Mr.. Van Winkie before the Bergen Re-
publican Club the night before, and
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