| From the Richmond Daily Dispatch |
| |
| March 19, 1863 |
| |
| The railroads and taxation |
| Railroad bonds
are now commanding a premium, so that the cost of construction may be
regarded as the value of the road for taxation. In 1856 the
Legislature commuted the taxation on the value of railroad
property to the tax on passengers and freight. It becomes a
curious matter of inquiry how this commutation effects the general
subjects of taxation as property. The cost of the construction of the
Virginia Railroads other than the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
and
Northwestern Virginia Railroad, amounts
to thirty six million twenty-five thousand six hundred and forty three
dollars and eighty nine cents. That portion of the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad within the limits of
Virginia cost about twenty millions, and the Northwestern Virginia Railroad
about five millions, which, together with the other railroads, amounts
to sixty one millions twenty-five thousand six hundred and forty-three
dollars and eighty nine cents. For the six years which have transpired
since the passage of this law, the taxes on the property would have
amounted to one million five hundred and eighty seven thousand six
hundred and sixty five dollars and eighty-six cents. The taxes
committed under the act of Assembly, and which have been paid into the
treasury, amount to two hundred and thirty- four thousand four hundred
and ninety dollars and thirty cents, showing an actual loss to the
State in six years of one million three hundred and fifty-three
thousand one hundred and seventy dollars and fifty-six cents. The
railroads which are receiving this bounty by law are mammoth
corporations which have caused thirty millions of the public debt on
which the people at large are paying a tax at the rate of one per
cent, on the value of all their property. Now, it becomes a question
of very grave importance to the taxpayers, whether they will any
longer consent to receive from the railroads the mere pittance which
this tax on passengers and freight brings into the Treasury. The whole
of the railroads combined pay less than $50,000 per year under this
commutation, and if they were taxed upon the value of their property
it would amount to six hundred and ten thousand two hundred and
fifty-six dollars and forty three cents, thus showing a loss to the
State, or in other words, a bonus to tax-railroads, of at least five
hundred and fifty thousand dollars per annum. It might be as well for
the Legislature to look into this matter, and correct what appears to
be a growing evil, and which operates so prejudicially on the masses
of the people, and footer monopolies which at all times have been
regarded as dangerous to the liberties of the people. |
|