The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1905-01-10

to speak Of other states, there have
quite recently been passed laws gov
erning miscellaneous corporations that
are claimed to be quite as available as
and even more so thar. our own, Al,
4 vertisemenfsy have been distributed
broadcast drawing the attention OF
proposing incorporators to the advan-
i tages Of these laws, and magazine arti-
'cles and even books have been written
to exploit them. The natural result
has followed, and / am informed by
I the secretary of state that there has
been a decided decrease in the forma-
ton Of ordinary-not extraordinary
corporations and marked increase in
the number Of dissolutions Of the same
kind of companies OF course the reve-
nue. of the state has suffered and. in
my judgment. is bound to continue to
increasingly suffer on this account, and
instead of our being able to rely on tile
income we have received for the past
ten years from miscellaneous corpora
lions / believe it will materially de-
crease in the near future
The railroads, however, are here.
The fortunate location Of the state
makes it an entrepot for many trunk
lines, They cannot and do not desire to
move away, They have been our reli-
ance for state revenue for over half q
century, The state is now receiving a
little less than $1,000,000 a year from
them for state purposes. It has kept
pace with the time and been enabled
to erect system of schools and public
institutions, in my judgment, second to
none in this country. These cannot and
should not be abandoned. ! believe the
good people of this state would arise in
their might and quell any proposition
to dispense with any of them. There
would be danger of d similar Outburst
if state tax on the property of indi-
viduals should be suggested and yet 1t
takes no boolSkeeper to see that with
the ordinary disbursements of the state
increasing, as they did in 1903 over the
previous year nearly half million dol
lars, and there being no hope of the
continuance of any such extraordinary
receipts as the interest on civil war
bonds. amounting to $4SO000, or the
threefold increase in collateral Inherit
ance tax, which occurred in the year
1903 owing to the settlement of the
Rogers estate. state tax is inevitable
unless the present revenue from rail
roads is preserved to the state. This
revenue the state collects promptly.
The law provides unusual remedies for
its recovery. Not one cent escapes.
This revenue has time for it's vindica-
ton and the courts for its Endorsement.
| This revenue the railroads are commit
ted to. The plan of taxing the main
stem by the state and for the state in
| return for the right of eminent domain
to acquire it is as old as the railroads
\ themselves. The two have gone hand
| in hand. There is logical connection
! between them. There must be some
limit to the demands of the local COM
munities upon the states revenue. Pri-
mariIy all taxes are state taxes. and
those we commonly look upon as local
taxes are, in fact, donations from the
state to the several communities. AS
is often the case, the grantee of favOrs
bestowed has become hardened and
now actually demands more. The real
relation of the interests, state and To-
cal, should not be overlooked. The
state is not asking favOrs.- 1t only
seeks to retain and protect its own.
Gentlemen of the commission; let me
again urge you to go slow in making
any recommendation that shall in
fringe upon the present method Of tax
ing railroads for state revenue. This
plan has passed the gauntlet of judi
cial contest No one can tell what
would become of substitute. The rail-
roads may with method acquiesce in
revolutionary changes in hopes Of re-
pealing the present law and of secur-
ing the enactment of new one that
win be unconstitutional, with the re-
suit that they would be thrown back
to the less stringent provisions under
which many of them were incorporat-
ed. The state cannot afford to risk an
other contest. The principle of the
present law, sustained as it was by the
courts, should be maintained, and no
incroachment should be made upon the
receipts of the state for the benefit of
the municipalities.
MAIN SOURCES, OF STATES INCOME.
! 1830-Taxes from counties .. $40 1000. 90