Gubernatorial Messages 769 



by the law itself. There can be no possible oppo- 

 sition to putting it in the law by any man who is 

 anxious to tax corporations as other property is 

 taxed, and who believes that this end can be attained 

 by taxing them as realty. Either by taxing them 

 as realty we shall tax them at their full value, or 

 we shall not; if, as we hold, the former is the case, 

 it would be unjust to tax them for more than their 

 full value, and this would happen were not these ex- 

 isting taxes deducted. 



If it is claimed that the particular method of as- 

 sessment by the State Tax Commission may be im- 

 proper or unjust, provision can be made for the 

 same appeal to the courts that now lies in the case 

 of any assessment on other kinds of property. 



Accordingly, I recommend the enactment of a law 

 which shall tax all these franchises as realty, which 

 shall provide for the assessment of the tax by the 

 Board of State Tax Commissioners, and which shall 

 further provide that from the tax thus levied for the 

 benefit of each locality there shall be deducted the 

 taxes now paid by the corporation in question. 

 Furthermore, as the time for assessing, the largest 

 and wealthiest corporations, those of New York and 

 Buffalo, has passed for this year, and as it will be 

 preferable not to have the small country corpora- 

 tions taxed before the larger corporations of the 

 cities are taxed, I suggest that the operations of the 

 law be deferred until October first, of this year. 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 



