The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1904-10-12

cases. reported la the ninety -aecOud
volume Of the reports Of the Bu-
preme court Of the United States.
IL Is. 81 erefOre obvious that
when you have aseertained the cur
rent cash value of the whole fund
al debt and the current cash value
/ Of the entire number Of shares. you
have aaeeftained the true value Of
+ the road all Of rs property. Ia cap
/ ltai stock and In franchises. for
these are all represented b. the
value Of It's bonded debt. and the
/ shares Of IS capital stock. And
/ fellow citizens. this leaves bat one
factor undetermined 10 enable ua 10
determine with absolute mathemat.
/ ical accuracy the value Of the Nor
+ thern Pacific railway for purposes
/ Of taxation. and that 10 10 deter
mine the market value Of Us cap
I ital stock. and we are not left 10
/ speculation upon that subject be
cause the testimony Ia the North
+ ern Securities case. pending Ia the
courts Of New Jersey has disclosed
"a the people Of the United States
that the capital stock Of that rail
way was put into the Northern Sc
+ curitiea pool al the rate Of 9l.i5 Tor
f every dollar Of itg actual par value
/ and this premium 81 ~ per cent
added to the par value Of the stock
and added to the bonded indebted
ness 81 the road. gives ne. mathe-
mntlcaliy. a. the value ri that road
per mile. upon a premium 81 IS per
cent the sum u SO 1880. Now.
Why this great road and its stock
have become 50 valuable Is easily
determined. have c1trarted from
the report OF the interstate com
mefce commission the earnings Of
that road In the year 1909 n earn
/ "a so .z2g 20 IN that year. and Is
operating expenses and fixed
charges including interest upon the
bonded indebtedness. Was only
fS2.tkZ.7 20. leaving Il net earnings
81 si0.af7 .2a2. and this was auff-
Client 10 pay per cent upon It's en-
tire capital stock and stili leave II
a surplus of s6.4as 0a5. which It
might pile up in It's vaults In NeW
YOrk. place In bctterments upon liz
roads. OF pay out In additional div
ldends 10 its stockholders. as II
pleaseE.
And whai Is true Of the North
ern Pacific railway Is true Of all the
other railways in this state belong
ing to our great tranacontinental
railway systems The stock Of the
Great Northern railway. instead Of
being put into the Securities pool at
slia. was put into that pool At the
rate Of sis5 for each dollar OF ifs
actual market value. and / say that
il Il a fair and Just estimate 10 tell
the people Of this state that those
I great railways are easily worth the
sum OF sga 1000 per mile. and. as
there are 3la9 miles Of those rail
ways in this state. that gives as a
gross valuation OF s204 .n35 900.
OF course. nobody wants TO tak
these railways upon a higher yalu-
alton than the property OF any 9th
er man or any other corporation In
this state. and all Of us want TO tar
them at ideniieally the same char
arter 81 valuation. sud We will.
therefore. reduce this sum down 20
70 per cent. and Il still leaves
valuation OF ti42. 7s4 .5o0 Now. fell
low-eitizens. how much did these
public service corporations pay
taxes up0n7 I have IL here. eK-
tracted from the report Of the state
board Of equalization. II was the
sum Of sl7 sac .257. thus permitting
the escape from state taxation. IL
this property had been valued upon
the same basis tina your property
IL valued and my property. OF the
enormous sum OF si2f9l5. 243. And
had all OF the other taxable prop
erty in that year been valued az
SOS. zoe e01 n Is easy 10 see that II
this si2t.00e. 900 which escaped val.
uatian had been assessed that It
would have added one-third TO the
taxable property In this state and
would have diminished the taxes OF
every taxpayer in this state by one
third Is that not a consummation
TO be most devoutlY desired.
loNE-THlRD To THE RAILROADS
Every time. feliow-cltizcns. that
one Of ms steps up TO the treasury
and pays 500 into its Golfers in the
shape Of state taxes. we pay
t3339 Is for these great transconti-
ncntnl railroads. Have We bent the
knee SO long. have we become 50
subseryient that we are willing. as
seif-respecting citizens. regardless
OF our own rights. 60 submit 20 such
an iniquitous discrimination as
this9 tApplausel Have we be-
I come slaves that We not only meek
iy bear our own burden but ACCEPT
those OF Mr. Hili and Mr.. Morgan
and Mr Hartman as we'll the own
ers Of these great transcontinentai
railways? This Is a pertinent ques-
ton which every taxpayer may we'll
AK himself
"nut there Is another question
which every taxpayer must ask
himself and which every taxpayer
must answer II he would have any
relief and that is. who Is il that is
responsible for this monstrous in
iquity2 And IL is only necessary 20
glance over the history Of this state
since we have been a state In the
/ Union To enable every taxpayer TO
answer that question. Who was II.
fellow citizens. that has assessed
these great railways for a long pc
rlod 81 time al the ridiculous and
insignificant sum OF $500 per mile?
who was Il that raised this sum