The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1904-10-11

MHsH you nave HHAt tAilfA TIT AhA
rent cash value Of the whole fund
81 debt aud the current cash value
Of the entire number Of shares you
have ascertalned the true value Of
the road. all OF its property, Ia cap
ltal stock aud In franchises. for
these are all represented by the
value 81 is bonded debt and the
shares 81 is capital stock And
fellow citizens. thls leaves bat one
factor undetermined 90 enable ua to
detefmlne with absolute mathemat-
Teal accuracy the value or the Nor
thefn Pacific railway for purposes
Of taxation. and that u 10 deter
mine the market value OF It's cap
ltal stock. and We are not LEFT %
speculation upon that subject be-
cause the testimony In 'the North
ern Securities ease. pending Ia the
courts Of New Jersey. has disclosed
TO the people Of the United States
that the capital stock OF that rail-
way was pat into the Northern Sc
ouritiea pool At the rate Of tl.f5 for
every dollar Of lie actual par value.
and this premium Of rs per cent
added 10 the par value Of the stock
and added 10 the bonded indebted
ness Of the road. gives ne. mathe-
mailoally. as the value OF that road
per mile. upon a premium Of Is per
cent. the sum 81 So. f0230. Now.
Why this great road and lie stock
have become 50 Faluabis II easily
determined. ! have extracted from
the report Of the interstate com
mefee commission the earnings Of
that road la the year 1904. II earn
81 ff2.229 20 Ia that year. and rs
operating expenses aud fixed
charges. including interest upon the
bonded Indebtedness. was only
81. is2 720. leaving Il net earnings
Of fl0.0f7 132. and this was euffi-
eieni 10 pay per cent upon lta en-
tire capital stock and still leave Il
surplus Of sg.4fs. 005. which Il
might Pile up in its vaults In New
YORK.. place In betterments upon is
roads. or pay out IN additional div
ldenda 10 It's stockholders. as T.
pleaaea.
And what Is true of the North
err Pacific railway Is true Of all the
other railways in this state belong
lnF 70 our great transcontinenfal
railway systems. The stock Of the
Great Northern railway. Instead Of
being put into the Securities pool az
Is. was pat into that pool At the
rate 81 fis5 for each dollar Of its
actual market value. and say that
Il Is a fair aud lust estimate 70 tell
the people of this state that those
great railways are easily worth the
sum % Sc .09Q per mile. and. as
there are 3.ls9 miles Of those rail
WAYS tn this state. that gives Us a
gross valuation q s204 .o35 600.
sUf course. nobody wants 70 tar
these railways upon a higher valu-
alton than the property Of any 9th
er man or any other corporation IN
this state. and All % US want to tar
them a. identieaIly the same char
acter OF valuation. and We viii.
therefore. reduce this sum down 20
20 per cent. and IL stlll leaves a
valuation Of sI42.T5a. 500. Nov. fei-
lus-eitlzens. hoW much did these
public service corporations pay
taxes upon7 have II here. ex-
tFaeted from the report Of the state
board 81 equalization. II was the
sum of sis $50 81. thus permitting
the escape from state taxation. IL
this property had been valued upon
the same basis that your property
Is valued and my property. Of the
enormous sum Of si2s.9l5.241. And
had all Of the other taxable prop
erty In that year been valued at
t25a 600 00j Il Is easy TO see that u
this ff2f0o0 oo0 which escaped val
uation had been assessed that Il
would have added one-third 10 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 contamination
10 be most devoutly desired.
ONE THIRD TO THE RAILROADS
Every time. fellow-citizens. that
one Of as steps up to the treasury
and pays 800 into its Golfers In the
shape OF state taxes. we paw
s3983 Is for these great transeonti-
mental railroads. Have we bent the
knee so long. have we become SO
subservient that We are willing. as
self-respecting citizens. regardless
OF our own rights. 10 submit TO such
an iniquitous discrimination as
this lApplausel Have we be-
come slaves that We not only meek
~ bear our own burden but accept
those OF MIR. Hin and Mr.. Morgan
and Mfr Hartman as well. the own
era OF these great transcontinental
railways This is a pertinent ques-
ton which every taxpayer may well
ask himself
But 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 II that is
responsible for this monstrous in
lquity? And Il Is only necessary 20
glance over the history Of this state
since We have been state in the
Union TO enable every taxpayer 20
answer that question Who was II.
fellow citizens. that has assessed
these great railways for a long pc
riod Of time at the ridiculous and
Insignificant sum OF 81. 500 per mile?
who was II that raised this sum
10 si0.5G0 per mile and who was Il.
as soou as they had again returned
10 power. reduced this valuation
down 70 $1,000 per miloY And who