The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1932-10-06
AGENT CLAIMS
n. TAX TO BE
$1,000 AN HOUR
Million Persons Find Employ
ment, Even in Slack Times
nv Railroads; Ask for Fair
Treatment

I
Treatment
The Northern Pacific Railways
tax bill in 1881 on its operating
rronertv. its lands and it's subsld-
sT company's property was
Sfi,aO for every hour Of the en-
tire year.
II w, DeGuire, executive as
s;etant of that railroad, in Ken
newick today, referred to the
heavy taxes railroads pay in dis
eussinr the problems now con-
fronting the steam lines. He point
Il ont that his railroads total tax
hill on operating property last
wear was s7,783, 900, o nits lands
S644,OO0 and 100000 on the
property of the Northwestern Inn
provement Company, wholly
owned subsidiary, making to-
tai of $8,729, 900.
he cited figures to show that
the railroads are large employers
and spenders even in period OF
depressed conditions.
sProduction of transportation In
this country today is in excess of
consumption and, to large ex-
tent. the ills of outstanding trans
portation agencies are traceable
to that fact" Mr.. DeGuire con-
tinued.
aUnder conditions which now
exist, transportation is unable to
scale down its operations to the
level of the business available.
Because there is too much
transportation, new era in that
field Of business is dawning. This
new era will place in its proper re-
lationship each of the agencies of
tnansportation-the railroads, the
cdmmon carriers on the highways,
the airplanes, the pipe lines and
even the private highway carriers
There is definite place for all Of
them, but salient facts stand out:
"The railroad continues to be
the essential carrier and no SUBJ
stitute has yet been devised.
"To handicap railroad with
heavy burdens, unsound regula-
ti0ns and Subsidized competition is
to handicap also the territory the
railroad serves.
Unless unfair burdens now i'm
posed upon the railroads are re-
moved, business generally will
continue to be depressed because
an excess of transportation, some
Of it subsidized, will impoverish
the essential carriers.
Every community served by a
railroad is certain to be impover-
tshed if the railroad is impover-
ished.
Railroads are essential, not
only because they provide the
backbone Of the transportation in
dustry and no other form of car
r1er could begin to move the vol
ume tina It's handled by the steam
lines, but also because they are in
extricably tied in with Americas
Trade and industries. Backing up
INTO many great industries is the
railroads. vast consumption of ba-
SIC materials. What the railroads
Guy is based upon their earnings
and ability to pay.
Even in these slack times. the
railroad employ more than 1000
VOU persons at an average annual
pay Of 81 ,228; the yearly payroll
y approximately $1,348, O0O, 600. s
-. Railroads in 1881 paid $685.
e 81, IN taxes-more than ST.
vv,OO0 for every working day.
Today the government units take
way from the railroads IN taxes
nore than half the earnings after
meeting only operating expenses
- the first five months Of 1920
tor instance, the operating income
y Class ] railroads was S273 ao8 :
~, which was the amount avaii-
. sDle before deducting taxes or in
- sIrest charges, while taxes total
10, : si !. ,S5l, lit or 1916 percent. In
aslS the percentage was onlv 100.
"a In. 1929 It was 22.4 percent and i
cent. eu 70 oil per-
-, The question in the minds of
tI Is public naturally is how Ionc
ls source of tax revenue to pov s
,nment units, the. meet;nr of
lge payrolls and the n,,rcb ! ID g
f aUm basic industries can com
sr. Je unless the railroads can he
Ssasscned from the threshold If
= Arupscy. If the railroads cease
pay all or even part of tha;r
S;r;dp'ul, It is certain that the In
1ausi taxpayer will be comneli-
40 = % reach into his own pockat -
49, 49, up the deficit. And the rail
m ~s, while they will share
measurably in any imnrouar,s snaie
6ecora business conditions, cannot
en oMe fully revitalized unless
ment sy OF treatment by govern
trsn . units is melted out to ali Fl.
lac. Ssnsportation agencies. and nm, rre
80. 80 the public realizes +ba uoa un-
tbs VI restoring to the railroads
loncsS BUSINESS = which rightfullv he.
comn o % them in the LIGHT Of fair
D = DC. g. Smith, A. F. Brown Geo
a refers, H. G. Fyfe. R = Reed aeJ.
G G "a :. Edwards, j. G. swavz 49, y
hrl hurdle and C. G. WilI;sn.ys e. 81, =:
BUSINESS v;c;4.. AtioiiiS were