Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-03-10

fO!IlfS. 1 nave too much confidence in
all til" members Of this House. T., ia
lieve that Il single vote would IA. ir
Mienced by a consideration of thi..
kind. Vote upon the measure uro,,
its merits"
Nov, let US consider the actual ,o,,
ditions as they exist am NOT a,,i,'..
to attempt to go into this vast dot.,i,
81 hSures but viii coniine myself IN !,
snort period Of time. In what Ii,,Io I
nave To say about figures. | shall ,.,,,
them III round numbers to nr.e.,, m
lde' that have Of the Condition. -.
'heE exist. The twenty railroads. in H.,
state Of Maine. great and small n,;d
IN the year 1904. 341S. s68 ana ga a,a
ior me expenses of the railroad coz,
l"'ss'ohciS. making in all approximate
~ "aj0.ooo collected from the railroad.
III thls State. In addition TO thai ,h,.
RAILROADS. have paid the local RAT. If
'dA"l"l upon every depot and evar,.
9h'd ana every particle of Drouor,,.
WHclhef within the location of ,b,
road or not in all the towns and oi.fa.
IN the State. They are taxed in tha
towns ana cities upon their properly
PieciSeiy as YOU and | are taxed In
me cities and towns they pav The fun
lax on all property located There ,rI,i,.
excise tax varies ali the way rr,.,,.
iity dollars paid by the Mopson p.,iI
ROAD up to S20S.c1V paid by the N.,;uo
'ehtHdi Railroad. The local t,x h.,s
Increased five thousand doljars :
round numbers from? 1903 10 lana IT.
cntlre State tax for a04 assessed ,,ro.,
an lhe cues ana towns of this State
WAS $sI0.fl1. The railroads nov. nav.
with Il small fraction one-half NJ IN,
chtire tax assessed BY tho Si.,o
cities and towns. Now. if We add -
mat the local tax which they nav
th1hk you. will find that it will amo,,r.
10 a tritle perhaps more than orc-h.Ie
what IS paid to the State hy all ,ho
.o"hs ana cities in direct tax. Now
row does that strike YOU? Dou't ,h,t
seem to b. fair? OF the twenty roo,I.
only twelve pay dividend. Do,,., :,
seem as though these roads are d,,in,,
pretty Wei if they pay half as ,nu.b
as p-actlcdily as all the resi- az TN.
state IN towns and cities togethcro
u" M.flhc Central Railroad ana tbn
i"'S'"h u Maine Railroad together n.,iI
"lthm Il "ery few dollars of Sy.i nn il,
lHNcs IN the wear observation-disclosures az
the entire railroad tax ana ore-thtrJ NJ
me amount assessed on all In. n,oncyt,.
IN the State. But We have hoard ,ro,,,
TIE gentleman from Skowhesau anotbor
propositions with which | wish To arrac
iiEd that is that We should not consider
the valuation Of the property but the abl.
NY 20 pay taxes. Now, gentlemen. hrinp
inns matter nome to yourselves, and far
the time being suppose your tax should b.
assessed IN Il somewhat similar lnanncr
not upon your real estate or pcrsnral
hut upon your ability to nav
hat would be your ability to nav We
eliminate the entire subject of yaI,,e. we
must not take i'll both ways If we are
gong to ASSESS Il tax on ability TO DAY
we must consider that question of abiIi
". How do You determine it in YOUR
own case? You would not determine il
upon what property YOU had. You would
determine. in the class of business YOU
Wera conducting. your ability to pay upon
the profits of your business. What rep
rcsents the profits of the railroad bust
ness? Dividends. Now We cannot enter
INTO this discussion to determine just how
much they carry in the way Of an emcr-
gency fund. how much they carry to pro
vide for possible accidents. and all those
things: but cannot We come down to this
PLAIN simple principle that every great
business enterprise is conducted for profit.
and that the shareholders of these rail-
roads are the owners Of the railroad. and
that they will take out of these railroads
i'll dividends what they can fairly take
Oft in profits? We wan; them to provide
better ears and faster trains and better
service. ana when they have done that
ana met the public demand. don't they
then t:gur. out all the dividends that tllry
fairly can? 1t seems To me that it is Il
fair Stltcnltnt. first. then. the l.ilc Som
crsct Railroad 1t l;ts never r,id u divi-
'lcnI since its organization i'll 1868. but It's
tax llSt year WAS $llE. | think they pay
up to their ability. Talk" the N lin" Cen
trad Railroad. Their stock is approximate
~ 100000 and they paid in dividcnds III
1901 S.is.Nn. What dos that mean? This
great corporation. the Maine Central
Railroad, in distributing its profits DC
tween its stockholders and the State, for
every 81 in profits it has Paid to its stock
holders il has paid - in taxes - til"
State Surprising in y,lIr own individual
case that for every : which comes out
of your business as Il net prntt Won pay
s. in taxes in the municipality in winch
YOU live? Would You or not consider That
Il fair and reaSOnabl" tax"
Til" gentleman has referred to the
Rumiord Falls Railroad, Il r"ac thai
went out into the wilderness and added
-lcat enterprises I" our State ana gave
to thousands OF our l''hhh-
it;trtS This tax besides beng Just mas
III il a principle of growth, and II seems
to ne that the argument i'll reS.tr" L" tii'
upon the Rumford Fans f"'"
cuts both ways. In 1900 the tax on tli"t
road was sos In 1901 it was e%'l. III
1902 it was slS, 80. In 1908 it WAS ga. Ill III
1901 it was s2i.SGi That means that III"
tax collected from the Rumiord FANS
Railroad in 1901 is 900 per cent. more thae
was collected from that same railroad III
the wear 1900. 1t is almost three Tunes
rs much a.; it was in 1901, which WAS inc
frs: wear of the increase of the tan ou'
railroads under the operation of the pres
rnt law will continue prosperous untii lie
taxes collected upon them will bt SUM
ricnt to u:tv the tax of the State. Inc
NJ pail old in 1901 n1i0 xli,..TI