The Jersey City news., 1904-12-22
WAITING FOR The
REPORTS
All Eyes Now on the Equal
Taxation Commission
Whose Labors Have
Ended.
MAY De TWO MINORITY VIEWS
Conclusions Will Probably Be
Given Before Governor
Murphy Retires.
MAY BE TWO MINORITY VIEWS
Special to .The Jersey city News .,

became known that the Equal Taxation
Commission had completed its labors,
so far as public hearings were con-
cerned and that former Governor Geo.
I. Werts had been designated to pre-
pare the report which the Commission
will present to the Governor, there was
much discussion in the corridors of the!
State House as to what the report
would recommend and when it would
be ready.
The opinion which was expressed by
most of those interested was that the
report would be ready to be presented
to Governor Murphy before he retired
from office, which he will do at noon
of Tuesday, January II. The Cover
nor, it was pointed out, had appointed
the commissioners and given the general
impression that he would like<to receive
their recommendations and communicate
them to the Legislature.
The fact, however, that the commits
sion adjourned to no certain day and
left the matter Of calling the members
together again to the chairman led some
persons to express the opinion that the
report would not be ready in time to be
presented to Governor Murphy before
he went out of office This, man
prominently connected with the rail-
ward g. Stokes, he said, and not
Franklin Murphy, would be in the Gov
ernor's chair when the Legislature
came to consider the report and any
bill which might be passed upon the
subject, and he would have to approve
or veto the measure. He therefore
thought that it would be more in keep
ing with the propriety of things if Gov
ernor Stokes submitted the Commits
sion's findings to the Legislature to-
gether with whatever views he might
have upon the subject and any recon-
mendations he might desire to make.
Moreover, he said it was the policy of
the railroads to delay action on the mat
ter as long as they could, and any in
fuence they might have with the COM
missioners would be exercised in that
direction.
Another railroad man, even at the risk
of seeming to contradict the other, said
that the views on the subject of the tax
alton of railroad property contained in
the communication submitted to the COM
mission yesterday by David Baird, the
president of the State Board of Asses
sors, were the views of the railroad on
the subject and he declared he was sur
prised thereat. If that was, so, one of
his hearers suggested, there could be no
reason why the railroads should wish to
have the report delayed.
Another man who has closely followed
the work of the commission since it be-
gan to give public hearings said he
thought that the railroads would endeayor
to have the matter of the taxation of
their property fixed by constitutional
amendment. There seems to be strong
impression, he went on, that under the
present Constitution it viii be an extreme
" difficult thing to obtain a new law for
the classification of railroad property for
the purpose of taxation which vii stand
the constitutional test, and that an
amendment to the fundamentl law of the
State would be necessary before this per-
picking problem could be satisfactorily
solved
The attention of this man was called
to the fact that amendments to the Com
stitution were submitted to the people in
September 1908. and, according to that
venerable document, other amendments
thereto cannot be submitted again to the
people until 1908. All this he admitted,
but said that there was nothing to pre-
vent the holding Of constitutional con-
yention some time during the coming
summer and submitting the document
prepared therein to the people for their
ratification during the coming fall. He
also said that it was possible that the
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