172 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
towns of a county, the burden was thrown upon those which 
had already paid. 1 
But the “old difficulty” returned,, 2 and again in 1872 a 
penalty was provided against delinquent counties, with the re¬ 
tention of all moneys due the county from the state except school 
moneys. 3 The “old difficulty” disappeared. 4 
2. The Corporation Tax. 
The state taxation of corporations began in 1848 with tele¬ 
graph companies, 5 and has since been extended to a large 
number of corporations. The four general methods of the ad¬ 
ministration of the tax are seen in the “license” system, the 
taxation of railroads and certain other carriers, the taxation of 
street railways and electric light and power companies, and the 
taxation of steam vessels. 
A. The License Tax. 6 
This was the first form of the corporation tax used, and it is 
still used in the case of many corporations. The method em¬ 
ployed is practically that of self-assessment. The tax is gener¬ 
ally estimated by the state treasurer upon the basis of reports of 
the required data made by the corporations to him, and paid 
directly to him. At present all insurance companies are li¬ 
censed by the commissioner of insurance, the company report¬ 
ing the required data to him, and sometimes also paying the 
tax through the commissioner. The tax is enforced by money 
forfeitures, forfeiture of license, or sale of the corporation's 
property. 7 
iS. Proc. in Weekly Wis. Patriot, Feb. 26, 1859. 
2E. g., A. J. 1862, p. 641; Secy. State Rpt., 1866, p. 37. 
3L. 1872, c. 158: R. S. 1898, s. 1124. 
4A. J. 1873, app., p. 7. 
5L. Feb. 1848, p. 257, s. 3: R. S. 1898, s. 1216. 
6The validity of this “license” system has been upheld as constitu¬ 
tional (M. & M. R. R. Co. v. Board of Supervisors, 9 Wis. 410 (1855); 
Kneeland v. City of Waukesha, 15 Wis. 454 (1862); Fire Dept, of Mil¬ 
waukee v. Helfenstein et al., 16 Wis. 136. But see Atty. Gen. v. W. L. 
& F. R. P. R. Co., 11 Wis. 35). 
7 A general example is L. 1891, c. 422: R. S. 1898, ss. 1222g-j. 
