TABLE 7.—Grand Summary of Railroad Appraisal of 1900 as to Seventy-eight Incorporated Railroads.Physical Appraisal.
TABLE 7.—Grand Summary of Railroad Appraisal of 1900 as to Seventy-eight Incorporated Railroads.Physical Appraisal.
TABLE 7.—Grand Summary of Railroad Appraisal of 1900 as to Seventy-eight Incorporated Railroads.
Physical Appraisal.
The Result of the Michigan Work.—Any undertaking must be judged by its results. The Attorney-General's report for 1906, on pages21and23, states:
"These cases are among the most important in the history of the State. They constitute the last step in subjecting railroad property in Michigan to taxation on the same basis and at the same rate as other property is taxed, and secure practical uniformity and equality of taxation between railroad and other property.
"As a result of these cases the various railroad corporations paid in taxes $4,787,478.15, and as penalty thereon $1,158,321.18, a total amount of $5,945,799.43 for the years 1902, 1903 and 1904. The 1905 tax being paid soon after the decision of the Supreme Court, nothing was paid under the former law (specific tax on earnings) and, of course, there was no penalty on the 1905 taxes as they were paid before May 1, 1906."
In short, the roads are paying to the State of Michigan an average of $1,595,826.05 more per year than they paid under the old law, and to date the State has received about $10,750,000 more from taxes than it would have received under the old specific tax law.
Railroad development in Michigan has received no appreciable check, and notwithstanding a 2-cent fare and the bearing of an equal burden of taxation, the properties are maintained, and improvements, double-tracking and betterment of general standards fully keep pace with similar work in other States.
Of course, it must be recognized that other forces besides the appraisal helped to bring this about. The appraisal of 1900 furnished the information. Public opinion compelled the passage of the needed laws, and the magnificent legal work of Attorneys-General Blair and Bird, Congressman Townsend, and Judge Knappen, and their associates, loyally supported by Professors Cooley and Adams and the appraisal staff, were all factors in securing the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States.
5.Bulletin 21, U. S. Bureau of the Census, p. 78.
5.Bulletin 21, U. S. Bureau of the Census, p. 78.
6.Bulletin 21, U. S. Bureau of the Census.
6.Bulletin 21, U. S. Bureau of the Census.