Excerpt from The History of Railroad Taxation in Michigan: A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Department of Literature, Science and Arts of the University of Michigan, for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Almost a half score of years have gone by since the extension in Michi gan of the property tax to railroads. This achievement resulted from a controversy - known as the equal taxation controversy - concerning the merits of the property as compared with the income methods of railroad taxation which left little unsaid or undone that would show merit or defectiveness in either of these systems. The people of the state indeed underwent a severe educational discipline in matters per taining to railroad taxation and the taxing law which was enacted should embody, seemingly, the best current intelligence with regard to this kind of legislation.

It is the purpose of this study to examine the nature and the workings of this tax and also the purely financial aspects of the reform from which the new measure originated. The displaced gross income tax will be discussed, principally because it affords a basis for comparisons, and a still earlier tax - the one on securities - will also be noticed in order to show the beginnings of some administrative methods which have been successively applied to all the taxing systems that have been employed by the state. Finally a critical examination will be made into the peen liar disposition of railroad taxes which has always prevailed in this commonwealth.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.