Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-10-20

The railroad companies are compelled
by law to return to the state board of
assessors q list of their real estate
| each separate item is valued and as.
sessed, and the tax is imposed on all
of this property at the rate of $1.50 per
hundred. The state board of assessors
collects the tax and returns all of it to
the local communities.
Railroad Tax In 1903.
In 1908 railroads paid taxes on the
following valuations of their property:
Valuation.
| Main stem and franchises. ...... $3.50, 157, 900
Personal property ........-.... 25,201, 1lS
Total valuation. 1854, S59, 01s
Take for the 921, 795
Valuation.
Real estate, other than main
stem 81, S36, 097
Taxes on this class of property
which are returned to the
local taxing districts. ..... 642,5 Sill
The franchises of the railroads of
New Jersey were taxed in 1903 on a
valuation of $50,O00,000, leaving tie
tax ON the main stem at $780, 5000.
What the Democratic Party Proposes
to Do.
First.-It proposes to tax the main
stem, the personal property and the
other real estate on local valuations at
local rates for local purposes and to
tax the franchises at a fixed maximum
rate of one-half of 1 per cent. The
valuations are to be placed upon the
property by the state board of assess
ors. The tax is to be collected by the
same board, and all taxes, except fran
chise tax, are to be returned to the
local community in which the property
is situated.
In one paragraph it is asserted that
the time for investigation has passed;
that the subject is simple and easy to be
settled. In another paragraph in the
same platform 1t is said, THAT, export
knowledge being necessary to determine
the valuations of railroad and canal
properties, the assessment of valuations
shall be made by the state and paid to
the taxing districts in which the prop
erty is located" The question, accord
ing to the Democratic platform, is very
simple, and yet it requires expert
knowledge" The party backs and fills
on the proposition in the same plat
form. If it is simple and easy to settle,
why is it necessary to have "expert
knowledge" in order to fix the valua-
tions7
Second.-It proposes to separate rail
road properties into two classes-t--c
franchise, which is intangible, and the
other property, real and personal,
which is tangible. 1t proposes to have
a rate of So per thousand on the
franchises and as many different rates
for the other classes of property as
there are communities through which
the railroads run. There are about 800
taxing districts in the state, and the
HDemocrats thus propose to separate the
railroads into 500 parcels.
Under the Democratic plan, rs set
forth in their platform, a railroad main
line will be cut up into as many diff
ferent pieces or parcels as there are
taxing communities through which 1t
runs, and the franchise, which is of
value only when it is connected with
the main stem and is as much a part
Of the value of the main stem as the
roadbed and the superstructure, is TO
be separated from 1t and taxed sep
arately at q fixed rate. The PROPOSE
ton to separate the franchise from the
main stem is as sensible as it would be
to tax each separate link in a chain
used on a windlass for hosting pur-
poses and then to tax the windlass
separately. 1t is about as reasonable
a proposition as it would be to tax Il
mans house by valuing the kitchen Mt
one rate and the parlor at another.
The franchise and the main stem are
inseparable. They must be considered
together in order to get at a value.
Take away the franchise and you have
nothing left but the real estate. The
value as a railroad is gone, and the real
estate has no value outside of its value
as real estate.
Not only is this so as to the fran
chise, but the value of Il main stem is
not Invisible into different parts. 1t is
an entity, and must be so considered
or it's value is destroyed. A mile of
railroad track on a main stem in n bar
rem swamp is as important an element
in determining the value Of a railroad
as a mile of track through the most
populous community. The proposition
to divide the main stem into parts is
absurd on its face. For illustration,
take a mile of main stem containing
about ten acres of land situated on the
| salt meadows between Newark and
| Jersey City. Consider it, if you can,
separately from the rest of the main
line, and 1t will have no appreciable
taxable value. Again, take a, mile of
main stem running through Jersey
City or Newark. Consider 1t as a
separate mile of railroad unconnected
with the rest Of the line, and it will be
worth no more than the bare land of u
similar area in the same city. The av-
| n,.ao 90 valuation .apn Af 81 tl,A,1