Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-03-09

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| rate of their income. 6 per cent is only
one-fourth the amount that Won nav
of the income of your property in taxes
| Take it the other way, and take if NV
the excise tax, il is e-fourtb I,
comes out just the same way.
Now, | ask you, is it fair? Is il inst
to these corporations that they should
pay taxes the same as you and | dop
If you have a farm it is taxed practi-
| caHy for its full Value. | know it il in
the locality where | live. The real
| estate in the town where | live if j. y
good town too, is taxed tor all that if
will sell for. have had some exreri-
enc" and know What | am taIkin.
about when talk about the way farms
are assessed in my locality; | have
bought and sold them; and I never
| bought one and paid, except in one in
| stance, 50 much for il as ii was assess
| ed for for taxation ruIICscs. And !
| never sold but one when got as m,Icb
| AS ii was assessed for. | say that Tho
| farmers of the State of Maine ale nav
| ing today. there may be exceptions in
| Inherent towns but on am average tho
| farmers of the state Of Maine are paw
| Ing their tax upon the fun valuation of
| their farms, ard if he farmer has ),
horse ana Il COW AMI sorc sheep and
a pig on that farm, they are taxed ana
| the tax collector comes around annual
| " and you have to pay. II is right that
| you should pay taxes. | am pcrfectIv
| willing to pay taxes. you are willing to
| pay taxes, We all get the lcnefit of our
| money, but | am not willing to pay
| twenty or tWcnty-One mills on a dollar
or the full valuation OF my property
| when the great lich corporations Of the
| state of Maine only pay six upon
! theirs. Are you | submit hi; question
| II you, gentlemen, as a BUSINESS propc-
! sItion. II is a t;isin"ss proposition that
| comes home to every inGiN idllal man In
| the State of Maine. to every Individual
| property holder, to TIL widows ard the
| Orphans. Take the woman VINO has a
| husband upon whom she has relied for
| the support III herself and family He
| IS stricken do%n. The only income
| they lave ana .hc only means of sus-
| tanning life is the income from the lab
or Of that husband. He is stricken down
and the woman is left alcnc with her
| little ones. Hut the tax collector comes
around and that woman with no income
! whatever, with just 4 little home, has
| to pay Il tax ana levy ON the capital
that htr husband mas savt d and pay two
cents, invent gone mills, or twenty-five
| mills or eighteen mills OH q dollar, On
every dollar that Sh" possesses in the
| world. | ask You. gentlemen, is il right
| that those taxes should be levied in
| that way upon that poor widow woman
and those orphans and let these great
| rich corporations go and pay six mills
on u dollar? II is a question that | sub
| nit tc YOU ana | submit il in all sCri-
| BUSINESS and YOU have got to answer
IL when You Note upon this proposition.
| You have not only so, to answer it to
| yourselves. YOU have got to answer it
| for your constituents, and when you
| go 10 your homes after passing upon
| this question you have got to meet
your constituents aal tell them that
you voted one way or the other.
Take the Maine Central Railroad, for
to say something more about the Bos-
| ton & Mai1,. Take Their tax upon their
gross transportation receipts earned
| within the limits OF .hr State of Maine.
Ii is a corporation owned in Massa-
Their officers live in Boston. More than
three-fourths of thc stock Of, the BOs-
ton & Maine Railroad. yes. more than
| 30 per cent. Of its stock is owned out
side of the Stat. of Maine. Now. they
| have their franchise in the State OF
Maine. They come here and do bust
| ness. We are glad of it; they help the
state and the State helps them in re-
'hny ~,
the State Of Maine. They go through
our limits. We pass laws and we maxi
appropriations mere in this House from
| session TO session to protect the prop
crty and the rights Of the Boston X
| Maine Railroad. The State of Maine
has its courts open to them: it pro-
tects their property and their rights.
Pray tell me why shouldn't they bear
| their equal share of The burdens of tax
alton? They earn their money here in
| the state of elaine. That is all the
| money that we ask to tax, what they
earn i'll the state of Maine. Is it I'M
just, when we pay thai money to them
| from the pockets of the people Of our
State. that the people OF the State
should not have fair and just share
| of that property in the way Of taxa
| ton ana tne same snare mat they take
| from you and from me" I don't want
| 20 be misunderstood wheI | say they
are q foreign corpora tioi.. / would treat
| them with the same candor and in the
| same way that would treat a homo
corporation. But is ii just that they
| should come into our stat" and do
| business and carry out all of that mon
| cy ard We not even tax them at a fair
| la;c! Ii il is. then vote against this
minority report if you think that is
| just.
| Take for 4 momcnt tn Maine Cen
| trail Railroad. There is a road whose
stock issue is $i,9SS,ooo. practically five
! million dollars worth OF stock that is
| owned by he various stockholders.
| Where is that stock owned? Seventy
| six per cent. OF t outside of the state
of Maine. 1t is not the people of tn"
state If Maine VINO own that stock.
| .ifty-onc per cent. OF ii is owned by
| The Boston x Maine Railroad; and if
| we went a li;ti" further along the his
| tory Of the Boston & Maine we should
| find that is owned by the New York