The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-10-04
WESTERN UNION
CASE RELIED. ON
SUPREME COURT HOLDS ALL
FRANCHISES MAY BE TAXED.
Opinion Cited by Attorney General to
Justify Move Of State Board OF
Equalization, in Ordering Franchises
of ALI Foreign Corporations to Be
Listed-Present Law Reaches Them.

oCaCe AudlLor 'IVerson, obeylng the
instructions Of the state board of equal
ization, will direct the proper county
auditors to assess the franchises of all
foreign corporations doing business in
Minnesota, and place them on the 1905
tax lists as omitted property The
method of doing this, will be to learn
the total value of the company's capt.
tai stock, and the proportion employed
IN its Minnesota business. This will
give basis for fixing the total valua-
tlon OF the company. After deducting
the present assessment Of real estate
and personal property, the remainder
Both state and local taxes will be- as
sessed against it. ag >:s-esE=,
1t IS possible that some. county au-
dltors may decline to obey instructions.
The state auditor has no power to COM
mand them, but under the law, the
county auditor is required to list omit
ted property when found, and failure to
do so would render the official liable to
removal by the governor. .,@. "
No one doubts that the various cor
porations will refuse to pay on the fran
chise assessment, and will wait the
outcome of a test case. In such y
case, Attorney General E. T.. Young
places great reliance on the recent de-
cision in the Western Union case, which
was agreed to unanimously by the SUI
preme court. In this case the court
takes the positive ground that a. fran
chise is taxable under general provis-
not resident in Minnesota. Taking his
cue from that decision, the attorney
general disagrees with former Governor
John Lind and his recent interview in
T Ii J urn a l. in which he takes the
ground that new law will be needed
to- reach franchises of foreign corpora
tions. "
The opinion in the Western Union de-
cision is more far-reaching than the
legal fraternity first supposed: The law
Of 1891, providing for the valuation of
franchises, but provides for state
ment from the company, giving the
number of miles Of line, the number Of
stations, with instruments, the number
of wires, poles, etc. This is to- be made
to- the state board Of equalization,
H,which board shall proceed to .sassess
telegraph lines at the true cash value
thereof.''
Justice Jaggard in his opinion holds
that the board is not merely to put a
value on these pieces Of tangible proper
ty,. but to use this information, and such
other as it may obtain in fixing the
true value of the company's property
in the state both tangible and intangi-
BILE. He says that Gin al increasing de-
gree the tendencyis to construe taxlaWs
not literally, but literally, to effectuate
their manifest and reasonable purpose. -
The opinion goes further and makes a
general conclusion that all franchises
are taxable under the present law. 1t
says; . 49,; 7 80 z5,,,o. - :, :,
tax upon tangible objects only would
constitute. gross discrimination. by; the
against it's own residents, cor
porate and natural, and against
foreign corporations in general,
and would in effect exempt large
amounts of taxable property receiving
the protection Of its laws and
institutions :. from :, contributing to
public revenue. Domestic corpora
lions are taxed upon their fran
chises and upon the value of their
property of all kinds as a system, Sec.
1880 G.. S. 1894. Private individuals are
taxed upon their franchises, Sec. 1924,
subdivision IA, G.. S. 1894. :.. -"
"The legislature of this state has
provided adequate means for and has
required the taxation Of foreign cor
porations not assessed under laws pro-
porations in practice are assessed under
Sec. 1924. AS has been stated, subdi-
vision II Of that section requires the
listing and assessing Of franchises;
moreover, subdivision 81 requires the
Using of the full value Of all other arti-
cles of personal property not included
in the preceding items.' This last omni-
| bus clause is adequate for the taxation
| of corporate property as a system. "