The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1911-11-23
VALUE PLACED
ON RAILROADS
RAILWAY LINES IN SOUTH DAKO-
IA WE'RE APPRAISED SOME
TIME AGO -.
A NEW fIlO OF WORK FOR STATES
Michigan First Commonwealth to Be-
gin Appraisais Of Public Utilities
Method Being Extended

-Wetnoo 6eln9 Gxtenuco
Information gathered by Carl c..
Witt, who made a valuation and ap-
praisal Of the railroad property in
South Dakota under the direction of
the state board Of railroad commits
~sioners, proves that the work of max
ing appraisals of public utilities in the
various states of the union is making
good progress says a Sioux Falls dis
patch.
The valuation of public utilities is
a comparatively new field of engi-
neering work, but it already has
grown to be an important and extern
sive one, and bids fair to expand
greatly in the next few years and to
become a permanent branch of engi-
neering.
There has been numerous apprais-
ais made in the past for various pur-
poses, principally of water, gas and
electric plants in connection with the
issuance of new franchises, or in
settlement of disputes between NUM-
cipalities and the owners Of private
plants for purposes Of sale, condem-
nation, adjustment of rates, etc, but
the appraisal of all public utility
property in any state or community
by a regulating commission is of com
~paratively recent origin.
The first attempt by any state to
place a value upon all the railway
property within the confines of that
state vas made by Michigan through
the tax commission in 1923, although
the state of Texas had made some in
vestigation prior to that time, yet the
appraisal made in Michigan probably
was the first complete statewide ap-
p~raisal.
Wisconsin, in the opinion of Mr..
Witt and other able engineers, stands
today at the head in this work, the
engineering department by its work
in this connection providing valuable
material for both the tax commission
and the state board of railroad com
missioners.
In Michigan the state forces did the
necessary field work and prepared the
inventory. The railway companies
duplicated the work in checking the
states appraisal. In Wisconsin the
railway companies were asked to and
did prepare the inventory, which was
checked by the state engineering de-
partment and an appraisal made
therefrom. This method has been
generally followed in all state apprais-
ais made since that time.
The Minnesota board of railroad
commissioners made a very complete
appraisal of the railway property in
that state in 1907. Several other
states, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon,
Kansas, New Jersey and Massachu-
sets, are at present engaged upon
similar work, and if the national con-
gress does not appropriate money to
be used by the interstate commerce
commission for making an apprais-
al of all the railway property in the
United States in the neal future, this
work, it is believed, will be under
taken by nearly all of the states which
have not yet made such appraisals,
as it has been well demonstrated and
it is an important and necessary fac
tor in determining many matters in
the regulation of public utilities.
The movement has grown TO such
an extent that there now is little OPP
position on the part of any railway
company, and some Of the railroads
now maintain special valuation de-
partments and have prepared inven-
tories and appraisals of their prop
erty without having been requested
to do so by any regulating board or
other body, as they realize the value
to them in many ways OF such sta
t~istics.
During the past two years the Har-
riman lines have been engaged in pre-
pairing a most minute and accurate APP
praisal Of 10000 miles of their lines.
BEDE COMING.