174 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters . 
age rate of taxation on all the property in the state upon the 
basis of the returns in the office of the secretary of state, and 
applies this rate to the railroads. 1 
This system of taxation had already been applied in 1899 to 
certain other carriers, formerly paying a license tax. Under the 
earlier system, upon the payment to the state treasurer of an 
amount computed by the railroad commissioner on the basis of 
reports made to the latter, the treasurer issued the license 2 
When the new system was adopted in 1899, the taxation was 
accidentally put into the hands of the old state board of assess¬ 
ment instead of the tax commission, which took charge in 1903. 
The procedure is practically the same as in the case of railroads, 
though the commission has not such large powers for this pur¬ 
pose. 3 
C. The Taxation of Street Railways, etc. 
Since 1895 street railways, and since 1897, also electric light 
and power companies, pay a license tax to the municipality. A 
proportion of the tax is paid by the municipality to the county 
treasurer as a state and county tax, and the county treasurer re¬ 
mits the state’s share to the state treasurer. 4 Till 1899 the 
state had no check whatever on the localities with respect to 
these taxes, but since that time the assessors have reported the 
names, etc., of railways in their districts to the railroad commis¬ 
sioner, and the railway companies have also made a report to 
him. 5 
D. The Taxation of Steam Vessels. 
Just the reverse of the above method is pursued in the taxa¬ 
tion of steam vessels of a certain class by the system adopted 
in 1901. The tax is paid to the state treasurer on the basis of 
a statement made to the secretary of state, and the state treas¬ 
urer pays to the county treasurer the county’s share of the tax.® 
iL. 1903, c. 315. 
2E. g., L. 1883, c. 353; L. 1899, c. 112, s. 7. 
3E. g., L. 1899, c. 112; State Tax Comm. Rpt., 1903, p. 9. 
*L. 1895, c. 363; L. 1897, c. 223; L. 1903, c 197. 
5L. 1899, c. 308; L. 1899, c. 329; L. 1901, c. 417. 
6L. 1901, c. 192. 
