Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-12-19

inequalities place the same value on a
given numb ber of shares in the same bank.
AS a result owners OF large number Of
shares often have the record title of their
shares stand in the name of q resident
of a town where the tax rate Is low. and
where the assessors agree to place small
| value on the shares
Shareholders possibly justify these tic-
I titious transfers because of the fact that
| the income received from this class OF In
l vestment is not to their minds sufficiently
| remunerative to warrant tax rate of
| 20 mills on the fun book value of the
| shares.
Twenty-one million, two hun 1red
| twenty three thousand. six hundred and
thirty two is the actual book value of the
! Investment in this class of property. Last
| year the stockholders received I'm divi-
| dends $SSs,1S which is equal to 04lS per
| cent. on their total investment. II this
| class of property is listed AT its fun book
value and taxed at the local rate the fig
| ures show that per cent. net from their
invested capital. This to ns seems very
| consideration the double liability Of the
| stakeholder.
This is a class of property that ought
| to be, and can he, valued and taxed uni
| formly throughout the State. We can
see no sound reason why every owner of
shares in par,iG;;na,r p,,i;; ,a; bank should not
I. . If it should H. deemed unWis" to de-
prive the MUNICIPALITIES Of the revenue
now received the State cnnld collect the
| tax and reimburse the cities and towns
by way of credit on heir State tax.
| The commission regrets that II IS un-
able, TO recommend measures that will
| furthc directly relieve the taxpayers in
cities and towns. Cndcr our New Eng
land system for municipal government
| each municipality detclmnes how mach
| shall be assessed each year for purely
| local expenditures. II the amount is not
assessed justly aud eUuitably, ii is the
fault Of their officials rather than Of the
present system The chief cause of in
| equity is lack Of uniformity in valuinG
| taxable property. This can only be cor
rected by listing each piece Of property
| We believe that publicity would tend
to q more uniform valuation and we sug-
gest that Municipalities publish a fnIl in
| ventory of listed property at least once
| in five years.
Public Utilities Board.
1t is self evident that the public has an
| interest in efficiency and quality OF ser
tions Efficiency and quality of service
certainly should be considered as ale
ments in determining what are reasonable
| charges for the service.
| Managers of this class of property are
| too prone to forget their obligations to
the public; and even II il were not SO
decide these problems II, we are to have
such board clothed with ample powers
| to protect both the public and the cor
poration they must of necessity have the
| power and ability to determine the value
| of these properties. 1t seems to us that
| the cost and value must be essential ele-
| I,T Wiihont detnnniniue The cost and value,
how could the board decide as to the un-
reasonableness of the charges imposed for
| win the establishment OF such a board
| the nuhlic would feel secure in their
rights, and that the invested capital would
| onlv tha nerfornancc Of its full nuhIic
| duty woulG he eXaeted. 1t seems to
| us that there is every need that these
10 sound or ,taliI ohiectior
nv If . new hoard is 10 he created we rec
on,mend Thai no nart IF their salary and
anas t,l.', hn r,isod h, snncia, tn% ievieG
oM he nrnnartieS nyer wiihich ,bey have
cnntrnl and we ru,ther rncommnnd that
~ a, ~ low, ,1ro,,i6;nr fo,. ~ eaInrI.
and axnnnsae nf he rsilroad comn1issjon-
,.ru are ,n pponooieJ ~ ''''' 0
e'" =. ,.u...
Dissenting Report OF Mr.. White.
In dissenting from the proposition to
tax railroads and other public service
corporations upon the basis of an al va
position on the general tax question and
10 Justify so far as possible my departure
from a logical line of reasoning in the
consideration of certain phases of that
ouestion now under discussion
If logic and consistency alone are to be
considered, then my study of this problem
tau or the. taxation of land values alone
as me tr11e theory of taxation and The one
that ultimately reaches every value Of
II prevailing conditions il, Maine render
the adontion Of the single tax theory IN
eXpedient in its entirety, then the only
logical alternative is the income tax.
II has been the wise policy OF this
state as il must be of any state. or coun-
trv that hones 10 enjoy and consider
ahl,, measure of prosperity to invite en-
te,n,-ise and capital TO aid in the deyel-
onment Of her resources and territory. by
granting franchise rights carrying few
restrictiOns and libertl privileges
OF corporations 10 perform public ser
vice The tirst to come were the steam
r1ilroads followed bv the street railway,
gas and water companies telegraph and
telephono ccnpanies electric light and
mower comnanias ali OF which may be
foliowed in tl,eir turn by new ard untried |
methods of public service
All of the foregoing named enterprises
nossed through long and hazardous eX-
nerin,entnl st1ges Our area is large the
population comparativclv small it will |
he necessary for the further and future |
developmcnt of this State that enterprise |
and canitaI he invited and encourag aged |
and this p0iicV can best be promoted and |
glarantead by a continuance of the lib
erai treatment heretofore shown to Pub
lie Service Corporations
When me Mnnlc,pHiiit,'tn aNt, ,,arr ta,pd
.ltil w ."h ~ p .l.v p,ns MA M Stata has
Wltnln tntll p4iueln, m,iu +i',s in, Uh,+ i,
taken from lile COL ippi stllolS "iiht ~