Gubernatorial Messages 763 



for the cases where a railroad or telephone or tele- 

 graph line runs through several different communi- 

 ties. 



Many representatives of corporations owning 

 franchises heartily approve of having them prop- 

 erly taxed ; and I am confident that, in the end, this 

 will be of positive benefit to the franchise owners, 

 and in no way oppressive to them, save as all taxes 

 are oppressive to all owners of property. 



The line of cleavage between good and bad citizen- 

 ship does not follow the line dividing the men who 

 represent corporate interests from the men who do 

 not; it runs at right angles to it. We are bound to 

 recognize this fact, to remember that we should 

 stand for good citizenship in every form, and should 

 neither yield to demagogic influence on the one 

 hand, nor to improper corporate influence on the 

 other. There is no intention of oppressing people 

 who have put their money into franchises. We rec- 

 ognize that, as in the case of all legitimate business, 

 they benefit not only themselves but the community 

 at large. If a franchise is worth very little, it should 

 be taxed very little ; but where the franchise is of 

 great value, it certainly should be heavily taxed; 

 and the value is of course based upon the use of the 

 city's or State's real estate. Such use of the public 

 real estate should not be given without substantial 

 returns ; returns not only in the way of service to the 

 public, which of course a street railway or a gas 

 company gives, precisely as the proprietor of a 

 grocery or dry goods store gives it, but also in the 



