mission, and a tax of one per cent on net income.1 Some of the southern commonwealths impose special licenses on the railroads. Finally, we find in a few commonwealths special taxes levied on special railroads.2

This survey will suffice for a picture of the actual chaos. The theory and criticism must be left to the following essay.

4. Taxation of Telegraph and Telephone Companies.

3

The taxation of telegraph companies has undergone an evolution similar to that of railroads, although not quite so extensive. In the majority of commonwealths, telegraph property is included by the local assessor in the general tax list and pays the regular rate of the general property tax. In a few cases it is separately assessed by special officers, but still pays the general rate. In a few other cases again telegraph companies pay on the value of their property, but at a fixed rate which remains constant from year to year. In nineteen commonwealths, however, telegraph companies pay a special tax based not on property but on other elements. The system of taxing gross receipts prevails in ten cases. Five commonwealths tax the companies on mileage, the rate generally decreasing with each additional wire.5 Mississippi imposes a privilege tax of $3000. But if the line is less than one thousand miles long, the tax is one dollar per mile. Tennessee grades the tax according to the population of the towns; Virginia levies a property tax, a one per cent gross earnings tax

1 Ala. Code, § 1128; N. C. Laws of 1889, chap. 216, sec. 37; chap. 218, sec. 22; Va. Acts of 1883-84, chap. 450, sec. 20; and Code, § 1312.

2 Del. Laws of 1873, chap. 368, and many subsequent laws referring to other railroads; Ill. Laws of 1851, p. 71, § 18; Pa. Laws of 1861, no. 100, p. 88; N. J. law of March 23, 1865; cf. third annual report of the N. J. state board of assessors for 1886, p. 23; N. C. Revenue Law of March 11, 1889, sec. 37.

Me. Rev. Stat. title 1, sec. 48; N. H. Gen. Laws, chap. 62, sec. 14.

4 Ga. Laws of 1888, no. 123, sec. 7; Ind. Rev. Stat., Elliott's Supplement (1889), § 2112; Minn. Gen. Stats. vol. ii, chap. 11, § 1313; N. J. law of April 18, 1884, § 4; N. Y. Laws of 1881, chap. 361; N. C. law of March 11, 1889, sec. 39; O. Rev. Stat. § 2778; Pa. law of June 7, 1879, sec. 7; R. I. Pub. Stat. chap. 27, sec. 10; Vt. Rev. Laws, § 3663.

* Conn. Laws of 1889, chap. 178; Dak. Acts of 1887, chap. 141; Del. Laws of 1889, chap. 460; Ky. Gen. Stat. chap. 92, art. 4, § 4; Wis. Annot. Stat. § 1216 a.

and a license tax of $250; Alabama, a privilege tax of $500, together with a tax of one dollar per mile of line. The tendency seems to be toward the mileage tax; for several commonwealths (e.g. Alabama and Connecticut) which formerly levied a gross receipts tax have now substituted the tax on mileage. On the other hand Minnesota, which formerly (since 1867) levied a mileage tax, changed it in 1887 to a gross receipts tax. This shows the utter lack of uniformity or principle in American taxation.

A special tax on telephone companies has lately been imposed in all but two of the same commonwealths. In ten cases, the tax is the same as that on telegraph companies.2 In the remaining cases the tax is slightly different. Thus in Connecticut it is twenty-five cents per mile of wire and seventy cents for each telephone transmitter; in Georgia, one dollar for each telephone station or box; in Indiana and Kentucky, one per cent and one quarter of one per cent respectively on gross receipts; in New Hampshire, the usual property tax; in Mississippi, a tax graded according to the number of subscribers; in Wisconsin, a "license fee" of one and a half per cent on gross receipts; and in Virginia, a general property tax, a license tax of $100, and a gross earnings tax of one per cent.3

5. Taxation of Express Companies.

What has been said of telegraph companies applies almost equally well to express companies. Thirteen commonwealths tax them on gross receipts. In Kentucky a license tax of $500

1 Miss. Laws of 1888, chap. 3; Tenn. Code, sec. 617; Va. Laws of 1883-84, chap. 450, sec. 24; Ala. Acts of 1889, no. 103.

2 Ala. Acts of 1889, no. 103; Me. Rev. Stat. title 1, sec. 52; Minn. Gen. Stat. vol. ii, chap. 11, § 131 h; N. J. act of April 18, 1884, § 4; N. Y. Laws of 1881, chap. 361; N. C. law of March 11, 1889, sec. 39; Pa. law of June 7, 1879, sec. 7; R. I. Pub. Stat. chap. 27, sec. 10; Vt. Laws of 1882, no. I, sec. 23.

3 Conn. Laws of 1889, chap. 178; Ga. Laws of 1888, no. 123, sec. 7, § 2; Ind. Rev. Stat. (1889), § 2116; Ky. Rev. Stat. chap. 92, art. 4, § 5; Miss. Laws of 1880, p. 17; Wis. Annot. Stat. § 1222 a; Va. Laws of 1883–84, chap. 450, sec. 24.

4 Ala. Acts of 1889, no. 103; Conn. Laws of 1889, chap. 221, § 4; Dak. Acts of 1889, chap. 120; Del. Laws of 1889, chap. 461; Ind. Rev. Stat. (1889) § 2108;

In

to $1000 is imposed in addition to the local property tax. some of the other southern commonwealths a license tax of fixed amount is imposed. In Tennessee, this ranges from one to two thousand dollars according to mileage. In Virginia, express companies pay not only the general property tax, but also a tax of one per cent on income. In New Hampshire, they may pay,

in lieu of the "license" on gross receipts, a fixed sum of five dollars per mile. In Ohio, they are taxed on gross receipts at the general rate of the property tax.1

From the fact that the large express companies are generally unincorporated, the question has frequently arisen whether they are liable to the corporation tax. In Vermont and Pennsylvania all persons or joint stock companies are expressly included in the law. In New Jersey the law applies only to corporations, to the manifest benefit of the unincorporated companies. In New York the liability of the express companies has recently been affirmed by the court.2 There is of course no good reason for their exemption.

6. Taxation of Palace Car Companies.

The special tax on these companies, which is found in a few commonwealths, is based sometimes on gross receipts, sometimes on other elements. Thus we find in Alabama a privilege tax of five hundred dollars, together with one dollar per mile of track over which the sleeping car company operates; in Arkansas, a "public highway tax" of three dollars per mile; in Dakota, a tax of three per cent on gross receipts; in Georgia and Iowa, a tax at the usual rate on non-resident companies, proportioned to the number of cars and miles run; in Indiana, a tax of ten per cent on gross receipts; in Michigan a three per

Me. Rev. Stat. title 1, sec. 55; N. H. Gen. Laws, chap. 63, § 1; N. J. act of April 18, 1884, § 4; N. Y. Laws of 1881, chap. 361; N. C. act of March 11, 1889, sec. 39; Pa. act of June 7, 1879, sec. 7; R. I. Pub. Stat. chap. 27, sec. 11; Vt: Laws of 1882, no. 1.

1 Ky. Rev. Stat. chap. 92, art. 4, § 6; Tenn. Code, sec. 617; Va. act of 1883-84, chap. 450, sec. 22; O. Rev. Stat. sec. 2778.

2 People ex rel. U. S. Express Co. vs. Wemple. Decided in 1889.

cent and in New Jersey a two per cent gross receipts tax on palace, parlor and sleeping cars; in New York a one half of one per cent and in Pennsylvania an eight tenths of one per cent gross receipts tax on palace and sleeping car companies, in addition to the general corporation tax. In some of the southern commonwealths a license or privilege tax of stated amount is imposed.2 In Virginia, however, the companies are taxed on their property at the usual rate and also one per cent on their income.3 In some cases railroad companies are taxed for their sleeping cars, but may then recoup from the sleeping car companies.4

7.

Miscellaneous Taxes on Corporations.

In addition to the taxes already mentioned, a few commonwealths levy taxes on other specified corporations. These are mostly of very recent date. In order to make the survey complete they will be noted here. We find in Alabama a tax of one per cent on the gross receipts of cotton pickeries and seedoil mills; and on the gross income of gas-works, water-works, electric-light companies, ferries, toll-bridges, public mills and gins, and cotton compresses. But as the tax is levied only after deducting the expenses for carrying on such business, the tax is really on net income. In Connecticut there is a tax of two per cent on the gross receipts of rolling-stock companies. In Kentucky we find a tax on the stock of turnpike companies at the rate of seven per cent on net dividends; also a tax on gas companies and street railroads, as well as a "tax on city corporations," which is in reality simply a tax on coffee house licenses in Frankfort. In Louisiana there is a tax on the gross receipts of horse railroads. In Maine there is a similar tax, but with a graduated scale of one tenth of one per cent for every thousand dollars. In Massachusetts we find a tax of one

1 Ala. Acts of 1889, no. 103; Ark. Laws of 1887, no. 128; Dak. Acts of 1889, chap. 120; Ga. Laws of 1888, no. 123, sec. 8, § 3; Ind. Rev. Stat. (1889) § 2120; Io. Rev. Stat. §§ 2023-2025; Mich. Gen. Stat. § 1228; N. J. act of April 18, 1884, $2; N. Y. Laws of 1881, chap. 361; Pa. act of June 7, 1879, sec. 7.

2 Tenn. Code, sec. 617.

8 Va. Laws of 1883-84, chap. 450, sec. 22.

4 Mo. Rev. Stat. § 6899; Ga. Laws of 1889, p. 34.

twentieth of one per cent on the capital stock of mining companies (for the purpose of coal mining or extracting carbonaceous oils). If the company is incorporated in the state the tax is four per cent on the net profits. We find in Massachusetts also, a commissioners tax" on the gross earnings of gas compagas nies; a "gas-light companies tax" on the appraised valuation of their property to defray the expenses of the gas-méter inspectors; and a tax of one quarter of one per cent on the monthly dues (excluding fines and premiums) paid by shareholders of corporations, saving-fund and loan associations. In Michigan there is a special tax on mining, smelting and refining companies of seventy-five cents per ton of copper, one cent per ton of iron and five mills per ton of coal obtained. But the real estate of mining companies is taxed only on the excess over six hundred and forty acres. There is also a tax of two per cent on the gross receipts of special freight lines or car-loaning companies, and a like tax on the gross receipts of surety and guaranty companies. In New Hampshire there is a tax of one per cent on the stock of building and loan associations, and a like tax on the capital and deposits of trust companies and similar corporations. In New Jersey there is a tax of eight tenths of one per cent on the gross receipts of oil or pipe-line companies, and a tax on gas and electric-light companies of one half of one per cent on gross receipts and five per cent on dividends in excess of four per cent. In New York we find a "pool tax" on racing associations, five per cent of the gross receipts for admission. In Pennsylvania, electric-light, street passenger railway, pipe-line, slack water navigation, canal or other transportation companies pay eight tenths of one per cent on gross receipts, in addition to the general corporation tax. In Rhode Island there is a tax of one quarter of one per cent on the deposits of trust companies. In Vermont we find a tax of one per cent on the deposits of trust companies, and of two per cent on the gross receipts of steamboat, car and transportation companies (other than railroads) incorporated in the state. In Virginia, steamship companies and transportation companies in general are taxed on their property and also at the rate of one per cent on their