NEW JERSEY. 



569 



shall provide suitable seats for the use of the female 

 employed so employed, and shall permit the use of 

 such seats by them when they are not necessarily en- 

 gaged in the active duties for which they are em- 

 ployed ; to provide for and secure the raising of reve- 

 nue for the execution of the public duties of main- 

 taining public schools, preventing the destruction of 

 property by fire, preserving the public health, sup- 



Eorting'the poor, maintaining police and keeping the 

 ighways and streets in a safe condition for public 

 use, within the limits of incorporated cities, towns, 

 and municipalities, in cases where the local or mu- 

 nicipal authorities or officers fail to provide for the 

 performance of such duties (covering the case of Eliza- 

 beth) ; to enable incorporated towns to construct wa- 

 ter-works for the extinguishment of fires, and sup- 

 plying the inhabitants thereof with pure and whole- 

 some water ; to provide for drainage and sewage in 

 densely populated townships, in which there is a 

 public water-supply ; providing that in cases of tele- 

 graph, telephone, or electric-light wires attached to 

 Buildings, no lapse of time shall justify a prescription 

 of any perpetual right to such attachment ; to pro- 

 vide for the formation and regulation of co-operative 

 societies of working-men ; prohibiting cities having a 

 bonded debt exceeding $13,000,000, from expending 

 in any one year more than 90 per cent, of the amount 

 levied during such year for all city purposes ; enact- 

 ing that any person who served in the military or na- 

 val force of the United States during the late war, 

 and who received an honorable discharge, shall be 

 entitled to the same exemption from taxation as now 

 granted by law to members of the National Guard of 

 this State ; to provide for the employment of the in- 

 mates of any prison, penitentiary, jail, or public re- 

 formatory institution within this State ; to prevent 

 the discharge or escape of sludge acid into or upon 

 the waters of this State ; to organize and establish a 

 State Board of Agriculture ; for the better securing 

 and enjoyment of wages to workmen and laborers in 

 the State of New Jersey ; to provide for the imposi- 

 tion of State taxes upon certain corporations, and for 

 tho collection thereof; for the protection of dairymen, 

 and to prevent deception in sales of butter ; relative to 

 interest on arrears of taxes and assessments in incor- 

 porated cities ; for the encouragement of free libraries 

 in cities ; to abolish and prohibit the employment 

 under contract of convicts and inmates of prisons, 

 jails, penitentiaries, and all public reformatory insti- 

 tutions in the State of New Jersey. 



Corporate Taxation. The Legislature at the 

 last session devoted a large portion of its time 

 to framing and perfecting two laws with refer- 

 ence to taxation one dealing with railroad 

 and canal property, and the other with the 

 miscellaneous corporations of the State. The 

 report of the Comptroller shows that if these 

 laws are acquiesced in there will he sufficient 

 money obtained thereunder to defray all the 

 legitimate expenses of the State without im- 

 posing any direct State tax. The franchises of 

 the railroad companies are taxed. With refer- 

 ence to the acts the Governor says : 



The act of the Legislature, while it is a great step 

 in advance, does not impose upon railroad corpora- 

 tions the same burdens that are imposed upon the 

 property of individuals. It limits the rate that shall 

 be paid to the State to half of one per cent. ; it limits 

 the amount that shall be paid to the localities to one 

 per cent., and exempts a large and valuable portion 

 of railroad property from all local burdens. These 

 companL.3 pay under the act of 1884 less than 57 per 

 cent, of the amount they would pay if their property 

 should be assessed the same as individual property. 



The State Board of Assessors have imposed upon the 

 railroad and canal companies of the State a tax of 

 $977,628.76 for State purposes, of which $256,529.44 

 is upon the franchises of the companies. They have 

 also imposed taxes for local purposes amounting to 

 $388,523.50. The amount due to the State for the taxes 

 of 1883, under the provisions of the act of 1876, will 

 be about $740,000. The amount can not be accurately 

 stated at this time, because of a dispute as to the 

 valuation of some roads, and the litigation with the 

 New Jersey Central Kailroad Company. 



The act should be amended so as to secure a fair tax 

 on all express companies, whether corporate or not, 

 doing business in this State. It should also be amend- 

 ed with reference to taxing palace or parlor car com- 

 panies. The assessors have determined that under 

 the wording of the act the tax is confined to business 

 done exclusively within the limits of the State ; this 

 yields merely a nominal tax. ^ It should be amended 

 so as to compel them to certainly pay at least a mile- 

 age proportion of their entire business, so that the 

 State should receive its fair proportion of tax on the 

 gross receipts of these companies. 



The law with reference to the taxation of oil or pipe- 

 line companies is evaded or does not reach the largest 

 oil company which it was intended to reach. That 

 company returns that its business is only the manu- 

 facture of petroleum products. Its capital stock is 

 $3,000,000. The company which transports the oil 

 for its use only pays the State about $1,400. 



The amount assessed against miscellaneous corpora- 

 tions under the act will be about $200,000. Of this 

 amount $120,000 will probably be collectible. The 

 act needs amendment so as to secure efficient means 

 of enforcing the collection of the taxes levied there- 

 under, and for a forfeiture of the charter or a prohibi- 

 tion of doing business in this State where tne taxes 

 remain unpaid for a certain defined period. 



When the State attempts to secure a uniform rule 

 with reference to the taxation of railroad and canal 

 companies, it is met with the claim upon the part of 

 certain corporations that they have irrepealable con- 

 tracts on the subject of taxation, which relieve them 

 from the burdens imposed on other corporations. 



But the Governor thinks that a remedy exists 

 in the fact that most of the companies have 

 charters that are repealable, and give the State 

 the right to purchase the lines on payment of 

 their cost. 



Finances The following statement shows the 

 aggregate amount of moneys received and dis- 

 bursed by the Treasurer during the fiscal year: 



In addition to the income of the school fund 

 the Treasurer holds leases for lands under wa- 

 ter, given by the Riparian Commission, amount- 

 ing to $1,434,819.47, on which amount 7 per 

 cent, is due, payable semi-annually. 



The Agricultural College fund, amounting 

 to $116,000, is all invested in bonds of the 

 State ; the interest, $6,960, has been received 

 and disbursed for the maintenance of Rutgers 

 Scientific School. 



