Evening star., 1939-12-17
Towns Rest Cure
For Big Corporations
Pays in Tax Cut
Pennington Citizens
Hope Sonta Claus
Will Stoy

VW Stoy
PENNINGTON, N. j., Dec. 16 IN.
ANA).-The Fleminston rest cure
Ger tired, unhappy corporations
New Jerseys newest and most thriv-
ing Observation-Disclosures . $340,o0
treatment recently, in one hours
time.
It was about 2 O'Clock in the after
noon. Five big gray highway buses,
rolling down Main street, stopped in
the shade Of Z Sycamore tree at
No. 1T.
One hundred men and women,
with votes and proxies controlling
assets Of $2,044, ,635 900. got out of the
buses, shook hands with former
County Judge George K. Large and
some Of the other townspeople. They
met briefly in the Flemington Wom-
ems Club and heard a report on the
management of 24l corporations
scattered from Egypt to Oceania.
At 3 o'clock they got into their buses
and went back to New York City.
That was the annual meeting of
the Standard Oil Co. Of New Jersey.
Pays 90 Pct. of Tax.
And for the privilege Of holding
its meeting in Pennington, Standard
Oil this year is paying 93 per cent
of the borough tax bill of every
Pennington citizen.
Another victim of frazzled nerves
the Great Western Sugar Co.'s
paying another per cent.
And this week finds two more cor
porations-the Montana Power Co.
and the United Shoe Machinery Co.
established in Flemington, to bring
the lowest municipal tax rate in New
Jersey q little closer to the vanish
ing point.
Already, the total of all Fleming
ton taxes-borough, county and
State-has dropped from 4 rate Of
1891 in 1887 to 81 cents today.
Next year, with two more COM
panies chipping in, 1t will probably
be lower.
The four corporations that
brought this about have all found
haven In the same spot-the slight
ly drowsy law ONCE Of Judge Large.
Judge Large has had to move his
desk q little, to make room for
the multi-million- dollar corpora
tions.
At his elbow. on a table beside
the hatrack, are two letter-size
steel files. One is the omcial "home"
Of Montana Power-assets $15O,920
466. The other is the home" of
United Shoe Machinery - assets
sos, ,721 400.
Safe Constitutes Home"
In the corner is a 7-foot safe.
the home" Of Standard Oil Of
New Jersey-assets $2,044,6 ,635 900.
Another safe, beside it, is the domi-
cile Of Great Western Sugar-as-
sets $s2.4o1,s59.
The corporations own nothing In
Flemington but those flles and
safes. Not q single building, not q
stick Of once furniture. Probably
they never will. Yet Standard Oil
and Great Western Sugar paid
Remington = total Of $39o, o,14s in
taxes this year-and were very
happy to pay 80 little. Next year
they will pay again. So will the
two newcomers. And by that time
there may be others.
So Flemingtonians are looking
forward to q day when their VIII
lage, with 2,700 population, will
rival Dover, Del, as the home Of
multi-million dollar corporations.
The success of the Flemington
rest cure" rests upon two simple
propositions-both discovered, Flem-
ingtonians say, by shrewd, stocky
black-eyed Judge Large. These
are:
l. That $4,000, 900 900 corporations
get unhappy, just like people.
2. That, like people, they appre-
ciate a kind word.
So Flemington is giving them the
kind word.
"And nothing else" says Judge
Large firmly. There's nothing foxy
about this. We've got . low tax
rate and we treat them fairly and
that's all there is to It,"
Moved Out Of Newark.
Standard OIL Of New Jersey, in
1896 and 1887, was acutely unhappy.
For some years 1t had been domi-
ciled In Newark, but . new commits
sioner Of finance, Reginald Parnell,
had celebrated his taking ONCE by
slapping a $500 000, 900 assessment
against the Intangible assets
meaning the stocks, bonds and other
securities-of Standard OIL.
A protest to the State Board Of
Tax Appeals brought the assessment
down to $4,000 900. Standard Oil
paid a tax Of $4,000, ,o00-and
promptly moved its "home" to Lin
den, N. J.
Linden, in turn, joyously levied an
omitted assessment" Of SIS, 1000, 900
Standard Oil paid $l,5oo,oo that
year.
That was when Flemington got its
running StarC rs corporation rest
cure" Standard OIL moved its on
cial home into the ofIlce Of Judge
Large-and overnight the assessed
valuation of the borough jumped
from $2,74l, 900 to $52,007 .049.
The next year, Great Western
Sugar, which had been unhappy at
Plainfield, moved to Flemington.
In one year the borough tax rate
dropped from $293 to II cents
County taxes dropped, too. only a
little less spectacularly. The State
rate. Of course, was unchanged. The
result:
Sol Yesser, shoemaker, paid $l35
In taxes thorough, county and State)
on his two-family house, in 1887
This year he pays $25. His shoe re-
pair machinery was taxed $3.50 in
1887; this year the tax is 65 cents
A garage owner paid $297 .16 in 1887.
This year he is paying $751;
santa Claus can't even come
close to this DEAL" says Frank e
Green, proprietor Of q Main street
drug store. Santa Claus brings