The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1906-05-10

come, per cent is only one fourth
the amount that you pay Of the in
come of your property in taxes
Take it the other way. and take it by
| the excise tax, it is one fourth. Ii
comes out just the same way.
Now, ask you, is it fair? Is it Just
to these corporations that they should
| pay taxes the same as You and | do?
If you have farm il is taxed practi-
cally for its full value, | know it is in
the locality where | live. The real
estate in the town where | live, it is a
good town too, is taxed for all that it
will sell for, have had some expert
ence and | know what | ann talking
about when | talk about the way
farms are assessed in my locality; |
have bought and sold them; and ]
never bought one and paid, except in
one instance, so much for it rs it was
assessed for for taxation purposes.
| And | never sold but one when | got
as much as it was assessed for. | say
that the farmers of the State of Maine
are paying today, there may be eN-
| ceptions i'll different towns, but ON an
average the farmers of the State of
Maine are paying their tax upon the
| full valuation of their farms. and if
the farmer has horse and a COW and
some sheep and pig on that farm,
they are taxed and the tax collector
comes around annually and you have
to pay. 1t is right that you should
pay taxes. | am perfectly willing to
| pay taxes, you are willing to pay
taxes, we all gel the benefit of
our money, but | am not willing to
pay twenty or twenty one mills on a
dollar on the full valuation of my
property when the great rich eorpor-
ations of the State of Maine only pay
six upon theirs. Are YOU? | submit
this question to YOU, gentlemen, as Il
business proposition. 1t Is a business
proposition that comes home to every
individual man in the State of Maine,
to every individual property holder,
to the widows and the orphans. Take
the woman who has a husband upon
whom she has relied for the support
of herself and family. He is stricken
down. The only income they have
and the only means of sustaining life
is the income from the labor Of that
husband. He is stricken down and
the woman is left alone with her
little ones. But the tax collector
comes around and that woman with
no income whatever, with Just a little
home, has to pay tax and levy on
the capital that her husband has
saved and pay two cents, twenty one
mills, or twenty five mills or eighteen
mills on dollar, on every dollar that
she possesses in the world. ask
you, gentlemen, is it 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
a dollar? 1t is a question that / sub
NIT to you and | submit it in all seri-
BUSINESS and YOU have got to answer
it when you vote upon this PROPOSE
ton. You have not only got To an
sWer it to yourselves, YOU have got
to answer it for your constituents.
and when you go to your homes after
passing upon this question You have
got to meet your constituents and
tell them that you voted one WAY or
the other.
Take the Maine Central Railroad
for instance. But before take that
| want to say something more about
the Boston & Maine. Take their tax
upon their gross transportation re
ceipts earned within the limits of the
State of Maine. 1t is corporation
owned in Massachusetts,. lis head
office is in Boston. Their officers live
in Boston. More than three -fourths
Of the stock of the Boston d Maine
Railroad, yes, more than 90 per cent
of its stock is owned outside of the
State of Maine. Now, they have their
franchise in the State of Maine. They
come here and do business. We are
glad of it; they help the State and
the State helps them in return. They
earn their money here in the State of
Maine. They go through our limits.
We pass laws and we make appro-
priations here in this House from
session to session to protect the
property and the rights of the Boston
x Maine Railroad. The State of
Maine has its courts open to them; it
protects their property and their
rights. Pray tell me why shouldn't
they bear their equal share of the
burdens of taxation? They earn
their money here in the State of