The total equalized valuation, as reported by the State Board of Equalization, in their annual report for 1896, is $1,300,000, or 4.54 per cent. of the market value, as against 11.1 per cent., which was the average rate of equalized assessment for property in the central business portion of Chicago.* The property of this company is located in three different towns, each having a different tax rate af follows: South Town, 8.344; Hyde Park, 8.464, and the town of Lake, 8.414. Taking the rate for the town of Lake, which is slightly above the average, and applying it to the whole gives $109,382 as the total of the general taxes paid by this corporation for all State, county and municipal purposes. To this must be added $133,704.59, which was the total of all receipts by the city from the company for the year 1896 for car licenses, electric light and maintenance and all other municipal charges.†

This gives $243,085.59 as the total of all taxes and public charges paid by the company in any way and for any purpose. This is $24,207.42 less than was paid, for taxes alone, by business property in the central portion of Chicago representing an equal amount of value.

The gross earnings of this company for 1896 were, according to the report of the secretary, Mr. F. R. Greene, $4,808,866. The entire amount, therefore, of all taxes and other public charges paid by this company was 5.05 per cent. of the gross receipts.

The West Chicago Street Railway Company at the end of 1896, had stock outstanding to the amount of $13,189,000 par value, on which it paid dividends of 6 per cent. Capitalizing this on the same basis as in the case of the City Railway Company, gives $15,826,800 as the market value of the stock. In addition to this there was $624,900, par value, of outstanding stock of the Chicago West Division Railway on which dividends of 35 per cent. are guaranteed, and which may therefore be reckoned as having a market value of $4,374,300. The other obligations of this road, consisting for the most part of bonds which, on the average, sell at par, amount to $16,478,000, making a total of $36,679,100. The total equalized valuation of this property is $1,100,000, or 3 per cent. of the market value.

The tax rate in West Town, in which almost all of the property of this company is located, was, for 1896, 9.094, which, applied to the equalized assessed value, gives $100,034 as the total amount of taxes paid by this company, which does not appear excessive in view of the fact that an equal amount of value in business property would have been obliged to pay $366,916.71. In addition to taxes, however, this company paid, in the way of car licenses and other municipal charges, $69,726.87, making a total of $169,760.87 or 4.22 per cent. on the gross earnings of $4,018,948, which covers all public charges of every kind. This means that this company, for all taxes, licenses and public payments, made in consideration of special privileges, pays $197,155.84 less

*The commission appointed by Mayor Swift early in 1896 to investigate the relation of assessed to true value of business property in the center of the business portion of Chicago, ascertained that the average rate of assessment was about 9.25 per cent. of the real value. To this must be added 20 per cent., the amount by which the local assessor's valuation was increased by the State Board of Equalization, making a total equalized assessed valuation of 11.1 per cent. of true value.

†See last annual message of Mayor Swift to the city council, April, 1897.

than a private citizen is compelled to pay in taxes alone upon property of equal value. In other words, the total public charges against the West Chicago Street Railway Company, amounts to $0.4629 on each $100.00 true value, as against $1.0003 paid in taxes by the common property owner.

The North Chicago Street Railway Company has capital stock outstanding to the amount of $6,600,000, par value, upon which dividends of 11.5 per cent. were paid. This would indicate a market value of $15,180,000. To this amount must be added $249,900, par value, North Chicago City Railway stock upon which 30 per cent. dividends are guaranteed, making this stock equivalent to $1,499,400 market value, and $7,931,000 other obligations, bringing the total securities of this company to $24,610,400. The equalized assessed value is $500,000, or 2.03 per cent. of the true value as against the 11.10 per cent. in the case of ordinary citizens. The tax rate in North Town is 8.974 which makes the total tax of this company $44,870 as against $242,939.10 which the business man would have to pay on an equal amount of capital invested in building properties. The total of all other charges paid by this company was $69,738.86, making a total of all payments of $144,609.86, which is $128,329.24 less than the private citizen would be compelled to pay the taxes alone.

Taxes that would be paid if assessment were 9.25 per cent. of true value and tax rate same as now ...

Taxes that would be raid if assessment were 9.25 per cent. of true value and if tax rate were same as now

Excess of tax over all present payments and taxes

$1,300,000

4.54 $28.619,500

$109,382 00

22,024 75

10,000 00

101,678 84

$243,0.5 59

5.05

0 85

if tax rate were same as now...

Taxes that would be paid if assessinent were 9.25 per cent. of true value and

Excess of such tax over all actual taxes and other payments

$500,000 2.03

$24,610, 400

$44,870 00 15,739 86

15, COO 00

39,000 00

$114,609 86

2.03

0.47

$242,939 10

128,329 24

These tables show that if we add to the car licenses and taxes all the special payments made once for all in 1896, the entire amount does not equal, in the case of any road, what it would have paid in ordinary taxes alone had the latter borne even such a rate to the true value of the property, as in the case of the low assessed property in the business district of the city. The City Railway thus paid about $243,085.59 instead of $267,933.01, the West Chicago Railway $169,760.87 instead of $366,916.71, and the North Chicago Railway $114,609.86 instead of $242,939.10.

The three roads paid in taxes and all other public charges $527,456.32 instead of $877,148.82, which they should have paid as taxes alone. In other words, the Chicago roads secure such abnormally low assessments that they save in general taxes, as compared with even the low assessed property in the heart of Chicago, far more than they pay in car licenses and all other special taxes, aside from paving between the rails and two feet each side.

All the taxes and special payments of the three leading roads in 1896 were 4.42 per cent. of the total or gross receipts of $11,941,524. The general taxes were $253,376.00, or 2.12 per cent. of the gross receipts. The other payments were $273,170.32, or 2.29 per cent. of the receipts.

MONTREAL.

A few comparisons in the matter of taxation and rates of fare may be made between Chicago and other cities.

The following letter from R. Wilson Smith, the Mayor of Montreal, will explain the 10 rates of fare and special licenses in that city:

"1. The street railway company is not entitled to charge more than 5 cents for the conveyance of a passenger from one point to another, and that it is bound to give transfers from one line to another without any additional charge. The company is bound to sell tickets in all its offices and cars at the rate of 6 for 25 cents and 25 for $1.00, and to provide tickets for school children at the rate of 10 for 25 cents, and also workingmen's tickets, available between the hours of 6 and 8 in the morning and 5 and 7 in the evening, at the rate of 8 for 35 cents. After midnight till 6 in the morning, the company has the right to charge 10 cents for each passenger without transfer.

"2. The company is bound to construct its railway at its own expense and put the roadway in the same condition as it was before the laying of the

same.

"In order that you may fully understand the position of the city with regard to the construction of the railway, I will here cite the section relating to that question:

"Sec. 7. In the construction of said railway, the company, after having made the excavations and laid down the rails and other apparatus belonging to the road, shall, under the supervision of the City Surveyor, remove all the surplus of grounds and other materials arising from said excavations, and the city shall have the right to reconstruct, at the expense of the company, that part of the street wherein the company shall have made excavations for the construction of said railway, in order to place the same in the same condition as it was at the time the excavation was made; and for that purpose, to make use of the materials which may be considered the most advantageous, provided such materials be of the same kind as that already used for paving the part of the street so excavated at the time such excavation was made, and to charge the cost of the same to the company; and should the city take advantage of such excavation to substitute another kind of pavement in such street or streets, in whole or in part, then the city shall be entitled to recover from the company an amount equal to the expenditure to which the latter would have been put, if the portion excavated by the company had only had to be restored to its original condition.

"Sec. 8. If at any time after the rails of the company shall be laid a new grade is established in any street where the rails of the company are laid, or if a new pavement is ordered to be made and is made by the corporation in any such street, the company shall perform at its own cost the necessary work to conform to such new grade or pavement.

3. The company pays to the city a percentage upon the amount of its gross earnings as follows:

"1. The franchise is given for a period of 30 years from the first of August, 1892, and after the expiration of the said term, or after the expiration of each term of 5 years thereafter, the city shall have the right, after 6 months notice to the company, to assume the ownership of the said company, its real estate, etc., on the payment of the value to be determined by the arbitrators, with an additional 10 per cent. thereon.

“5. There is no other street railway franchise in existence in the city of Montreal."

If the rates of license or rental which the Montreal company pays in addition to its regular property taxes and street paving were applied to the three

great Chicago companies, on the basis of their gross earnings, the result would be as follows:

It appears that if the Chicago companies paid 11 per cent. of their gross receipts in addition to their ordinary taxes and paving, until 1922, or 25 years from now, and were under obligation to sell their plants to the city at the end of that time at their true value, they would be doing no more for the city than is required by Montreal. In the latter city, which had but 216,650 population in 1891, the operating expenses, despite low wages, were about the same per passenger as in Chicago. The Montreal company paid a 7 per cent. dividend and placed 212 per cent. more in its surplus in the year ending September 30, 1895, the capital per mile of track being $66,520.

The introduction of electricity reduced the proportion of gross receipts to operating expenses and taxes from 82.68 per cent. in 1891-92 to 59.2 in 1894-95. This means a saving of 23.48 per cent. of leach fare, or about 1 cent to the company in four years in the cost of carrying each passenger.

BALTIMORE.

Since 1882 all the Baltimore street railways, in addition to ordinary taxes and paving between the rails, paid to the city for park purposes 9 per cent. of their gross receipts in the old city limits as they were prior to 1888. This park tax, as it is called in Baltimore, prior to 1882, had been from 12 to 20 per cent. of the gross receipts, but was reduced in 1882 to 9 per cent. in return for a reduction of fares from 6 cents to 5 cents. These old city limits extended several miles in each direction, but were greatly enlarged in 1888 by the annexation of most of the suburbs, and to these annexed districts the 9 per cent. park tax does not apply until 1900. The Mayor's secretary of Baltimore writes as follows:

"The receipts from the park tax during the year 1896 were $243,896.89. The railway companies also pay a license of $5 per car, as a public vehicle, and the regular state and city levies. The tax on receipts in the annexed districts does not go into effect until 1900."

The two leading companies of Baltimore are the Baltimore Traction Company and the City Passenger Railway Company. The first company, in 1895, reported its operating expenses as 54.2 per cent. of its gross receipts of $1,179,191. This is a larger expense than the Chicago roads average, and indicates that in spite of lower wages in Baltimore they are in poorer condition to pay taxes than Chicago because of the smaller traffic and the hilly nature of the city. This traction company paid interest in 1895 on its outstanding bonds.