The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1906-03-09
IT WAS FORTUNATE FOR THE
STATE
That the Action of the Governor and
Attorney General Anticipated the
Supreme Court Decision.

|
Il Lansing, March g. 1906.
1t was a fortunate thing for all con-
cerned that Governor Warner declined
to await the issue of the case brought
in the supreme court to test the con-
stitutionality of the Galbraith law, and
determined to bring to bear at once all
proper resources and influence to secure
correction of what he believed to be the
erroneous conclusions of the state board
assessors. Regardless of the constitu-
tionality or. the unconstitutionality of
any law" as he. himself so forcefully
phrased it in the remarks to the board
which Mr.. Butterfeld found SO much
fault with, the governor felt that the
business in hand was the determination
of just rate of taxation for the rail
roads, equitable to all interests con-
cerned. So he went vigorously to
work, officially asking the board to ar
range the public hearing in his Office,
and requesting Professors Cooley and
Adams to assist the attorney general in
his argument with their expert testi-
mony, in support of the demand for
correction of the valuations which the
board had tentatively announced, Com
! plete success crowned this effort, and
the board, convinced by the evidence
and arguments produced, abandoned
their action under the Galbraith act,
accepted the rule contended for by the
governor and the attorney general, and
determined their assessments accord
ingly.
Now how fortunate this all proves to
have been. If this had not occurred,
the decision of the supreme court in
the case brought by Attorney General
Bird, in which unanimous bench last
Monday declared the equalizing provis-
ions of the Galbraith law under which
| the board had acted to be unconstitu-
tional, would have invalidated all the
action of the board, and left them, ten
days after the date when the law re-
quires them to finally determine their
| assessments, compelled to begin and do
their work anew. Now, the writ of
mandamus granted by the court on
| petition Of the attorney general, requir.
| ing the board to reconvene and fix the
railroad rate upon the basis of the re-
turned rate of other property, had been
anticipated by the board and the duty
so required had been already performed.
| The constitutional requirement is that
the rate of assessment for corporate
properties "shall be the rate which the
! s ate board of assessors shall determine
| is the average rate levied upon other
property, not which they may conclude
would be the average rate if more prop
erty had been assessed-and that is just
where the Galbraith law fell down.
| The board of assessors, or tax COM
missioners, last Monday fled their final
report of corporation assessments with
Auditor General Bradley, who will ex-
tend upon those valuations the taxes
which the companies will have to pay,
| at the same rate per cent as is borne by
the general property of the state, reck-
oiing all local as we'll as general taxes,
even the highway labor tax reduced to
a money basis. (This is on the pre-
sumption that the state will win its case
! in the national supreme court Upon
i chat rating the Michigan Central will
pay, in round numbers, eight hundred
forty thousand dollars; Pere Marquette,
! four hundred seventy-two thousand
Grand Trunk, three hundred fifty eight;
Lake Shore, three hundred Northwest
ern, two hundred eight; Grand Rapids
Indiana one hundred ninety FIVE; Du-
luth. South Shore and Atlantic, one
hundred sixty five; Ann Arbor, one
hundred thirty-fve. No other reaches
hundred thousand, but all together
($3, 527, 059 81 to which the express, car
loaning and sleeping car companies add
about forty thousand dollars more,
About seven thousand dollars out of the
Pullman company is a new experience
for that corporation.
The day that witnessed this filing of
the commissions assessment roll in the
auditor generals office, as their final act
in the somewhat exciting clash of views
and interests here, witnessed also the
final arguments before the supreme
court of the United States upon the
suits to determine the validity of the
provision of our constitution which
authorizes ad valorem taxation of rail
roads, and the court now has under ad-
visement the vital question whether the
state can levy any such taxes, ques-
ton of such moment that Supreme JUS
tice Blair iourneyed to Washington to
assist Attorney General Bird, and made
and an argument for the state. Speak
ing of railroad taxes, it is noticed just
now that the assembly of New Jersey,
corresponding to our house of represen-
tatives, has passed an embarrassing rail
road taxes in that state about three
millions of dollars. The people of that
"A L,