Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-03-19

Now upon this question of the taxa
ton of railroads l have but little to
say today for the reason that 1 have
already given, but I want to place the
State Grange right upon this question
of taxation, because it has been ru-
mored about the State House by some,
pretending to represent the State
Grange, that the State Grange was not
in favor--or the Master of it, to equal
taxation and | wish to read from the
report of the proceedings of the State
Grange Of this State:
Eminent men have studied the
problem Of taxation in the past and will
continue these labors in the years that
are to come. The one thing the Grange
stands for in this matter, is the equity
| of the proposition in the State Consti
| tuition which says that all property
must be taxed according to the value
| thereof"
We believe, by the best estimate we
| can get, that there is one hundred mil
| lions of railroad property in the State
of Maine that is not paying today quite
one per cent, even if you tax them
four and half on the gross receipts;
and when all the property Of the State
|
per cont. we feel there is something
wrong about it, I must say that l can
see no conceivable reason why the rail-
roads in the State OF Maine should not
pay upon their property just the same
as the farmers pay upon their proper
ty; and that is going to be the issue in
| the State of Maine in the near future
and it is today.
.;r,I,
Democratic party has any right to say
that they have changed their time
honored belief and platform in favor
of equal taxation in this Stae. We
are in favor of it and have put it in
our platform and we are not ready to
adopt the Republican method of taxa
ton. Neither are we willing to sur
render the mandates of the Constitu-
ton; and later on, when it is in or
der, ! shall put before this Senate the
order which / have just introduced
Let us have the actual valuation Of
all the property in the State of Maine
Then there Will be no question of what
you shall tax this; and then ! think
it will be a good thing for the State
of Maine, because it is a fact that
excepting the commissioners report
there is no actual way to get at the
value of the railroads in the State OF
Maine. / am not blaming my Demo-
| cratic friends on that committee, bat
l say if they had had something to &C
by / haven't any doubt they would
have taxed them according to THEN
actual value, just the same as they
tax farmers all over the State OF
: Maine; and if they did you would get
: today between fourteen and fifteer
hundred thousand dollars in tax where
last year you got six hundred on AL
: the railroads of the State. That is tC
be the great issue Let us commence
: to get that valuation and then we can
: tax them just the same as others in
the State of Maine. The people will
never submit-they will never ac-
quiesce-they will never be satisfied
until we have equal taxation in the
State of Maine.
Now, Mr.. President, i move that the
report ought not to pass be accept
; ed.
! The motion prevailed. Thereupon
Mr. Staples submitted the order.
Mr.. MILLIKEN)o of Aroostook: Mr..
President: | do not know that I see
any objection to the order provided it
does not incur any extra expense. ON
l the question which the senator from
Knox has introduced, l do not feel
like keeping silent, however, simply
for this reason. / do not want to rest
silent here under an implication that
| those who favor the present system
of taxation of railroads, or those VINO
| assent to the report of the committee
on taxation providing for an increased
tax on railroads to be arrived at under
| the present methods, do so for the rea-
son that they wish to shield the rail-
| roads of the State from paying their
fair share of taxation. / want to say,
so far as l personally am concerned,
and as I apprehend that view is Shar-
ed by the committee on taxation, of
: which am not member, both Demo-
, Gratis and Republicans. that the rea-
son. it seems to me, for the present
method of assessing the tax on rail-
' roads of the State is not for the pur-
J pose of assessing them for less than
!, q proper tax, or for the purpose of
their paying less than the farmer pays
: on farm property, as the senator sug
gests, but for the purpose of assessing
them more than on the same property
used for farming purposes. In other
words. the present system has been
devised for the purpose of getting at
the true value of the railroads, name
ly, the franchise value. 1t sounds we'll
} to say that railroad property and the
property of a public service corpora
!, ton should be taxed precisely tire
same as, and that it should be valued
precisely the same as if used for n
farm; but there is an important df-
ference Mr.. President. between a farm
|. and railroad: and the difference is
this: The State has given the farmer
no exclusive authority to farm i'm his
neighborhood; the State has not pre-
vented any number Of farmers who
can secure the land from farming in
the same town; the State has said TO
the railroad, in fact; this territory is
yours, and it is your duty as a public
servant to transport the people and
freight in this section at reasonable
rates. That charter and that franchise
has a value and the value varies in
accordance with the business that the
railroad does. One railroad, in one
part of the State, may have so miles