The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-28
Present Rates Held By Judge Jones Not to Be Within the Rule of Reason" And Central of Georgia And Western
 of Alabama Are Allowed Advances

E. |
 1 maintenance of way standpoint''-thai
 the witness knew of. 5a
 REPRODUCTION COST. 4 Naturally, with the development oi
 the country since 1883 the road has greatly enhanced in value. The repro
 duction cost of the property, in its ex- isting condition being a fundamental
 element In arriving at the true value
 of the property. much evidence was ad-
 duced on that point. The masters re- l port shows in great detail the pains
 taken to arrive at the true cost of
 everything which would enter into a l duplication of the Western railway.
 Frequent adjournments of his sittings were taken to give the parties oppor-
 tunity to investigate and verify, from :, the books and records of the company, data and statistics furnished by their
 officers. Greater care could not have
 been taken. than was, to have full proof l on these matters. The original maps | and profiles by which a large part of | the road was constructed were fur nished engineers, and they made maps
 and profiles of the other portions of l the road Every separate item of ex- pense required to build the railroad, &C.,
 cordfng to the maps and profiles. was
 enumerated and furnished the respon- dents. with the estimated cost of doing
 each part of the work. Much testi-
 mony was taken as to the time in i which it would require to duplicate the road, the cost of excavations, fills, 1 bridges, station houses track laying,
 rails, spikes. assembling the workmen,
 material. etc, and the time required
 to reconstruct it, and also as to the
 number, kind and cost of cars and l equipment in use. and the percentage of | depreciation from use of both roadway
 and equipment, and every separate parcel I oe right of way in country and town
 was enumerated. it's value estimated, and proof taken thereon. No success | full attempt was made to shake the
 substantial correctness of these es- 1 inmates. which were proved by the great weight of the testimony
 UNTENABLE OBJECTIONS.
 The chief objection was as to the I values of the rights-of- way in the country. It was insisted that the meth | cd of arriving al the value of country
 rights -of-way was erroneous because
 in the estimates of value of the land
 actually included in the right -of-way, an additional amount per acre was added for what is called damage value and the expense of acquiring
 or condemning the property, etc. The l respondents insisted that the separate strips of land used for the right-of- way, should be valued at so much per acre, as where farm lands are sold in
 a body, and that the fact should be ig-
 nored, in estimating the cost of re- production, that railroad must not
 only pay for the value of the land actu- ally taken for the right-of-way. but also the damages on account of the diminished value of the parcel not taken. In consequence of the construc-
 ton of the road through the property
 from which the right-of-way strip was
 taken. It was shown by the decided
 weight of the testimony and Is also a
 matter of common knowledge. and has
 frequently been decided by the courts,
 that in estimating the cost of obtain
 ing right of way, the damage to the value of tho land not taken, and the further expenses, such as the procur- Ing of deeds, etc, are proper to be con i sidered in addition to the market price of the land actually taken. in estimat
 ing the cost of reproducing the right of-way. In the language of the rail- ] road commission of the state of Wash : !, ington, Tn order to reproduce the 1 right-of-way used for railroad pur- poses it Is necessary to pay in addi- tion to the market value of the land taken, prices ranging from such to 800 l per cent in excess thereof. to cover
 the consequential damages to the land not taken. and because of the neces- | stiles of the railway company to have
 the particular land sought The value claimed by the complainant for the right -of-way in the country amounted to a little more than 10 per cent of the total right-ofway values claimed by the railroad, and as to the valua : tions Of the rights of-way in the coun- try. the difference between complain- :
 ants and respondents witnesses, the damage value" etc. being eliminated, does not amount to more than $500. As to the value of lots used in towns and rights-of-w therein, no increased value was claimed on account of dam ages to adjacent tracts or lots, and respondents witnesses fixed the value of the real estate and rights-of-wa at Opelika. Montgomery and Selma at a higher figure than claimed by the complainant
 The master found that the repro duction cost of the roadway and equip ment tsXcluding In the computation the value of the intangible property and current assets and "other real estate not used in the business) was as fol- | lon