The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-11-17
HOUSE BILL 29S.
Public Hearing onA ct to Raise Taxes
of Telephone, Telegraph and Express
Companies.

A public hearing was given in the
Senate chamber on Tuesday evening
before the ways and means committee l
on II. 298, an act increasing the taxes
upon telephone, telegraph express
, and sleeping and palace car companies.
The discussion of the section which
provides for a tax to the State OF five
per cent on the gross earnings of cor
porstions or persons owning or operatA
! ing sleeping and palace cars in the
State was deferred upon request for
little more time to prepare necessary
figures by representative of the car
companies.
Mr.. Julia of New York appeared
for the American Express Company
when section 80 requiring the express
companies to pay tax of eight per
cent on the gross receipts of business
done wholly in the State was taken
up The present tax is four per cent.
Mr.. Julia said the profit on the dollar
in the express business was smaller
than in nearly any other business, the
/
expenses were so great. They would
have to go out of business if the tax
was raised to eight per cent and he
thought State should reduce the pres
ent four per cent tax to two and one
half per cent rather than raise it.
In Maine, he said, the tax was two
per cent. in New York five-tenths of
one per cent and in Pennsylvania sew
en-tenths of one per cent He said
that all the express company had done
last year was to make six cents on
dollar. When asked if it had made
money in the State the past year he
said that the entire State business was
not figured as State. but he pre-
sumed they made few thousand dol
lars. When asked what they paid out
in the State last year he stated about
1923. 600 in transportation and salaries.
The committee had difficulty in draw
ing out figures of earnings as basis,
as Mr. Julia said he didn't think the
figures of the interstate business
should be given out and he could not
tell what the earnings within YER
mont alone we're.
M McGiff of st. Adams appeared
for the telegraph company when the
section Of the bill providing for tax
of 81. 20 cents per mile of poles and
one line of wires and eighty cents per
mile for ecah additional wire was
taken up. In lieu of this the company
may pay six per cent of gross earn
ings in excess of 81. O00 He gave the
total receipts of the company's bust
ness in Vermont the past year and the
expenditure showing the latter TO be
several hundred dollars in excess OF
the former.
W. 3. @, Stiokney appeared for
the Telephone companies when the sec
, tion was taken up providing for tax
of so cents each upon the average
number Of telephone transmitters in
use within the State, and sixty cents a
mile upon the average mileage Of all
telephone wires in use, or annually
pay six per cent of the entire gross
receipts in excess Of $1,000, for business
done wholly within the State. He
said the gross earnings of the COM
pany in Vermont were about S20l 600
and that $50, 600 of this was received
from toll line business within the
, State. He thought as a rough esti-
mate that the toll business including
the messages outside, or what might
be termed interstate business, might
amount to $50, 600 more. He esti-
mated that the company has money
invested in Vermont amounting to
about $780, 900, but later said he though
that was setting it little low The
company leases all the transmitters
and receivers used.
House Bill 234 was next taken up,
an act reducing tax of telephone COM
panies from to per cent. Mr..
Buzzell Of St. Johnsbury appeared for
the independent telephone companies.
He said that the independent telpe-
phone companies had reduced the rates
of the telephone down to about $l2 a
,, year and he thought that they should
be considered a benefactors. He kept
, his hearers laughing most of the time
by his way of describing profit and
: loss. When asked about the per
cent. he was paying he said he
didn't know anything about that but
he knew what he received and
: what he paid ont and that he didn't
. have anything left. He estimated
that his company had about b0C
phones and the money invested vas
= l Coz ono