The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-31

other states.
 Tt was no effort to make red-headed
 men owning the same property as other
 people pay double taxes, but 1t was the
 effort. just as in all good tax assessments, ] to have rich men of three times the prop erty pay more taxes than men or one times the property. In other words, rates
 like taxes are made to apply to indi-
 viduals In proportion to their condition or ability. No other method Is fair. | ''As regards branch lines the master decides supposititious case. It was the actual case he had before him and on which he was passing. The state had the
 machinery to try the other if 1t came up.
 The L. & N. in Georgia Tn Georgia the Louisville and Nash | vile owns in it's own name 16o miles of | road which was reconstructed from | narrow gauge road and runs through a | sparsely settled part of north Georgia. l This road the Georgia commission puts in the third class, whereas it puts the
 Louisville and Nashville from Atlanta to Chattanooga and from Atlanta to West Point and their branches. In the first class, and the Georgia courts did not hold this unconstitutional.
 Cannot Separate Income
 The master says again, There is not a railroad In the United States that ever kept any account. or published state ment of its net income on intrastate bus mess. Therefore, people who refer to the income and profits on the whole bus mess of the road showing that on the intrastate business, simply do not know what they are talking about, and they are deluding the people when they draw the conclusion from the general bus mess that the result from the intra- state business Is indicated thereby. The whole property of the whole road is de- voted to the business without determin- ing with accuracy the part devoted to any particular service.
 Tt is admitted to be an insoluble prob- lem to determine the share of the prop erty devoted to interstate business, and the share devoted to intrastate business, therefore the railroads cannot, and do not keep any account of the net income of the intrastate, or the in- terstate business. They keep an ac- count of the gross income from each, but they cannot get the net of each be- cause tine cost of the one is in the .ag- gregate very much greater than the other, and there is no way of saying what their difference of cost is, except in a gen. eral way resting opinion on evidence widely differing.
 AS the amount of intrastate income greater or less is the crux of the whole contention as to confiscation and destruc- tlon 1 will state here that Judge Thor ington fully agreed with this statement of MT. Gunter upon the impossiblity of separating inter and intrastate freight earnings.
 MT. Smith Agrees MT. Milton Smith states CThe Age-H Her ald, July A. 1912): Complaint is made that the method of arriving at cost of doing irtrastate business in its suits lately tried is arbitrary and uncertain. It is admitted that the ascertainment of the cost is sep arated from the doing of all business is uncertain and difficult; in fact, Is impos- sible of ascertainment with accuracy It can only be estimated. In the very na- ture of things. 1t can never be positively determined. but that it costs largely more to earn dollar in intrastate business than in interstate business is capable of certain easy and definite ascertainment. The only question is the determining, how much more
 Judges Jones on the Impossible The judge in annuEng the state rate laws Advertiser, April 7 1g12) said, It is next insisted that net intrastate earnings might have been the basis of classihta- tion, and that there is no evidence on this as to the several roads classified But there is no bookkeeping by the roads or other persons showing net intrastate earnings; there Is no bookkeeping which could show net intrastate earnings of a railroad engaged in both intra and inter state commerce; the separation of the cost of intra and interstate Is an impossi- ble problem. The counsel for the re- spondent says. if there is any accurate method of ascertaining the value of the property devoted to intrastate businesses, we have never heard of it, and do not know what it is
 MT. Gunter, the master, again says estimating the difference in the cost be- tween the two services according to the most reliable data and apportioning the value of the property that basis, there is perhaps not single road in the south that pays dividend on it's Intra- state business. Most of them, if not all of them, do their intrastate business at dead loss
 Yet They Did It
 Notwithstanding this clear admission on the parts of both masters, notwith- standing Mr. Smith and Judge Jones say 1t was impossible to find the means to separate and as certain the pay and quantity of intrastate business, the judge and his masters did separate 1t. MT Gunter found that the roads lose money on intrastate business, and Judge Thorn ington found that the Western makes 99 per cent and the Central less than per cent.
 The court held that they are entitled to have a reasonable rate, presumably 8 per cent, on intrastate buSiness before the state can restrict the charge. This being true, and according to the findings of the masters, the Central and Vest ern could increase the profits on their local rates 400 per cent, and the Louisville and Nashville 800 per cent before the State would be entitled to enact a statute Limiting their charges.
 Teach the Georgia Courts "I would suggest that notwithstanding the masters, MT. Smith and the judge say that there is no method of dividing intra from interstate business, yet they did do It. It would pay this railroad to tale the same judge and masters over to Gear- gia and teach the Georgia railroad au- thorities how to convince their court that the railroads are being confscated and destroyed contrary to- the law. (Smythe against Ames) As Judge Jones could hardly extend his jurisdiction to Georgia he could teach the Georgia courts how to enjoin the whole business. do the same thing in North Carolina and Virginia, and then complete the Job with | Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. The s200,- 900 a piece that we paid them here would
 not be patch to what it would be worth and what they could get by en- lightning the courts of all these states. | can assure them that those states have | the same federal law and government and any federal judge there can. if need be- | enjoin all state officials, all citizens. place the state under martial law. and call out the federal navy and army to en- fierce his ukases.
 l T. & N Earninps