New-York tribune., 1910-05-23

II the city Of New York. After looking over
the large amount Of work to be done in the
Office. the Attorney General finally decided
That the collection Of these back franchises
covering a period OF nine years WAS his
most urgent duty. But, on. considering the
task. he found he was beset with almost
diseourasing obstacles. The millions OF
taxes were tied up in snarl of intricate
litigation. Following their unsuccessful as
sarlts on the validity OF The franchis. TAX
law in the courts. the corporations resorted
20 the practice of suing out writs of GER
sie-ari 70 review the assessments Of the
ttate board. Some OF these writs were pro
cured in an honest endeavor 10 have the
assessments reduced, but many OF the suits
were begun merely for the sake OF delay.
Under the law as II existed then these ca ses
were sent TO referees for trial Three thous-
and Of such suits were pending before ref
erees. 1t was further discovered that all
these cases we're pending in the Albany
County Supreme Court, another fact that
would tend to block the wheels OF Justice.
II was finally decided that if these suits
were left in the hands OF the referees they
would drag along at such a slew pace that
il would be impossible TO collect any con-
Siderable amount of the taxes in a short
term of two years
To hurry matters along the Attorney Cen
eral drafted and had enacted an amend
ment TO the tax law providing that the
venue Of these cases be changed from Al
banv County TO the various districts where
the assessed franchises were located. The
amendment also gave the Attorney General
the power TO have the orders OF refer
~. -t,,Ia r~-1Sr n
suits tried at special terms OF court desig-
mated hv the Governor In various parts OF
the state The result OF this action en- the
mart of the Attorney General was electric
Havine nothing else to do. the justices SIT
ring iu these special terms could dispose OF
the franchise tax cases in z very short
tsrne Immediately many of the corpora
lions came forward with propositions for
settlement Of their taxes. Some paid up
without delay, while few prepared Tor
rriaI for effect, but finally settled before
any testimony vas taken
Revenue Will Grow Annually.
ATTORNEY General o'MaIley estimated
thar the Ford franchise Law vviIl!in the fut-
u-e net the state annually revenue OF
: bout So 0oe. 600 As the number and value
amount Will grow trorn,year 20 year Never
vas the Validity Of e. law so perststently
asssiIed in the courts. Millions in counsel
fees were expended. ard the ahiest lawyers
in the state were enlisted in the endeavor
Of the corporations toshave the law nuntfied
As q result OF the suits instituted. the taxes
due the state were so effectively tied up at
one time that the most ssnguine sponsors
of the law began to despair of ever seeing
any considerable amount actually collected.
In fart q former Governor, convinced or
the juapractica biIity Of the act, advocated
its repeal-
The remarkable fight made by the cor
porations or the validity of this law has
never been summed up- It began as soon
as the bill was introduced in the Legislature
bv Senator Ford in the spring of 1893 Ow-
ing 70 q tremendous public sentiment in its
favor. however. II passed both houses: Gov
error Roosevelt had sent two special mes
sages to the Assembly in its favor. At the
hearing before the Governor the opponents
Of the measure argued that the bill was
in,nerfect and should be amended in several
The Governor called a special
session OF the Legislature II was argued
that to leave the power of assessment IN
the hands of the local assessors, as prov1d-
ed in the Ford bill. would be unjust, be-
cause q special franchise could not be fair
II vah1ed by men who were not experts
They maintained that the assessments
should be made by a state board OF e1-
perts. The result Of the special session was
that the bill was amended in two important
respects, o. the power Of assessment was
placed In the state Board of Tax ConaIrlis-
sioners. and (2l, the corporations were PEI
rlaitted TO deduct frfonl their franchise taxes
all other sums paid in the nature of a tax
In this form the bin became law
I.llstiIv as the corporations cried out for
q board Of experts to value their franchises,
when they got their amendment providing
for q state board they made use Of their
own amendment TO attack the validity ot
the law They argued that the law was
now invalid because il violated the home
rule provision of the state constitution. A
great many test cases were brought TO in
validate the Law.