Ji -J c The date shows when this volume was taken. To renew this book copy the call No. and give to the librarian. HOME USE RULES All Books subject to Recall All borrowers must regis- ; terin the library to borrow books for home use. All books must be re- turned at end of college year for inspection and repairs. Limited books must be re- • turned within the four week limit and not renewed. Students must return all books before leaving town. Officers should arrange for the return of books wanted during their absence from town. (p5'^^'T) ' Volumes of periodicals i^^^^^^^^^j and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as iHfrtV'H possible. For special puT- \^ fJvt) poses they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not use their library privileges for r, the benefit of other persons. -M^'LJU-jbDj' Books of special value * and gift books, when the giver wishes it , are not " allowed to circulate. ...^ Readers are asked to re- port all cases of books - - marked or mutilated. ^ a 5.(p.V.V.jd.Y.. Do not deface books by marks and writing. 2041 Report of Committee on Taxation in re Minor Privileges KS-j A-, /\.3(«.^<».g7 Report of Committee on Taxation To the President and Members of the Merchants and Manu- facturers Association, and organizations represented at this meeting : Your Committee begs leave to submit the following report in the matter of the new corrected schedule of charges for Minor Privileges efifectivc January 1, 1917. Your Committee first sent the following letter to the Hon- orable James F. Thrift, Secretary of the Board of Estimates: January 10th, 1917. James F. Thrift, Esq., Secretary, Board of Estimates, City Hall, ' Baltimore, Md. Dear Sir : — The ^Merchants and Alanufacturers Association has received numerous inquiries and criticisms in connection with new sche- dule of rates for minor ]iri\'ileg"es, recentlv adopted by the Board of Estimates. These \arious communications having been brought to the attention of the Executive Committee, the matter was referred to the Cf)mmittee on Taxation, and in order that it ma^• be able to intelligent!}' reply to 'these various inquiries and criticisms, the Committee desires to secure all possible infor- mation in connection with these rates. AA'e would, therefore, appreciate it ^'ery much, if you woidd adxise \\'hether the charges for such privileges in other cities were used as a basis for the rates adopted hx your Board. If so, will vou be kind enough to furnish us with a comparison of rates in the various cities used as a basis ? On the other hand, if these rates were not arri^•ed at in the foregoiiig manner, wc would further appreciate it. if 3^ou would advise what basis was used in arriving at this new schedule, of rates. You will, of course, understand that the Committee is doing nothing more than making an investigation, as a result of which it ma>' be able to make some recommendation or report to the Association and that this inquiry is not intended, in any sense, to indicate that the Committee has formed an}- views in refer- ence to the matter. The Commttee ^\'ill meet, for the purpose of considering this information, on Tuesday, next, January Ifith, and we would be very' grateful if you would let us have this data, so that it may be jdaced before the Committee at that time. 'W-ry truly yours,. FRANK S. CHAVANNES, _ : '^ Chairman, Committee on Taxation. 1 To which the Corrlmittee rcceivcil the following' repl}' : Baltimore, Md., January ^^i. I'M',. F S. Chavannes, Esq., Chairman, Comnlittee on Taxation, Merchants ai1rl Manufacturers Association, Emerson Tower Building, City. Dear Sir : — Your letter of the Idth instant is received. To su])ply the information, which you suggest, would require a great deal of work — perhaps a good deal more than could be furnished you within the next week or so. There are a great man}- different classes of minor privileges which are classified according to streets for rate making pur])oscs. Information has been gath- ered from time to time, bearing u]jon the charge made by other cities for similar privileges asked for here, and the rates made by the Board of Estimates were established after consideration of the charges made in other cities and the relative value for advertising purposes of the \arious streets in the citv, and of the relative \alue of portions of the same street. Since the adoption of the Charter of ISMS, the duty of granting minor ])ri\ileges on the .public streets has been placed upon the Board of Estimates and rates for certain classes of franchises were established before the present Board of Estimates came into office. .As the City has grown, there has been more demand made for minor privileges on the i)ublic highways and therefore it has been more necessary for the Citv officials to give more consideration to this subject, .\fter all, the taxing of minor ]irivileges is not a ne\v matter. Ft seems so, onlv because the Cit}- officials have found that many persons ha\e been enjoying for }-ears privileges on the^public highways to which thev are not entitled and for which the\' are not ])aying and a wholesale policy of charging for encroachments u])on the |iuhlic highway is now embodied in the City Charter, Section :'>7. title. "Grants of Franchises," and it is made the duty of the Board of Esti- mates to exact and demand a charge from every one who enjoys these privileges. If vou ha\e not received a schedule of the rates in force, I will ask the Chief of the Bureau of Minor Prixileges to send \ou a copy for your consideration. If vou find the rates in the schedide should be revised, and will inform the Board of Estimates of your reasons for such re\'ision, due consideration will be ac- corded them. In connection with this subject, ma\ I call your especial attention to Section 8T of the City Charter, aho\c referred to. Very truly vours, (Signed) J.\MES F. THRIFT, Comptroller. C. H. S. To which your Committee replied as fullows: Jaiuiary l.'Sth, lili;. Air. lames F. Thrift, Comjjtroller, City Hall, Baltimore, AI<1. Dear Sir : — Your favor of January I'^th addressed to Air. Chavannes, re- ceived, for \\'hich please acccjit our thanks. 1 shall take pleasure in bringing same to the attention of our Committee on Taxat'on and Legislation at their next meeting. What the Committee is ])articularly anxious to have is data shovi'ing that similar charges to the same extent are exacted in other cities and if this information is available, 1 am sure the Committee would appreciate having it. \^er_\' truly yours, ROBERT J. BEACHAM, • Secretary. All of which was submitted to the Executi\e Committee of the Merchants and Manufacturers .Xssociation in a .special meet- ing assembled on January If), 191". The Executi\e Committee directed the Secretary on January 19th to send the following letter to the Honorable James F Thrift : January 19. 1917, Mr. James F. Thrift, Secretary, Board of Estimates, City Hall, Baltimore, Md. Dear Sir : — Follow'ng up your fa^•or of recent date, together with m\' reply. After an exhaustive in\cstigation into charges for minor pri\-ileges in other citx's -n ^•arous parts of the country, and a compar'son of the same with the new schedule of charges recentl}- adopted b>- the Board of E^stimates of Baltimore Cit}-, the Executive Committee of the Merchants and Manufacturers .As- soc ation is led to believe that there is need for a readjustment of this schedule, — and in accordance therewith it has instructed m'- to request your Board for a suspension of the enforcement of this new schedule during a j'leriod of further investigation, not to exceed thirt\' days. The Executive Committee has further instructed me to sug- gest the advisability of a conference between the Board of Elstimatcs and representatives of this Association, for the ])ur- pose of endeavoring to agree on a schedule which will be 3 mutually satisfactory to the Board and to the business interests of Baltimore. Trusting these matters will recei\e your favorable considera- tion, I am, Yours very truly, ROBERT J. BEACHAM, Secretary. To which the Secretary recei^'ed the following replies : Baltimore, jNId., Januar}' 20, lOlT. Mr. R. J. Beacham, Secretary, Merchants and Alanufacturers .\ssociation, Baltimore,' Md. Dear Sir : — Your letter, under date of January l!t, 191 T, asking that the Board of Estimates sus])end, for a period not to exceed thirty days, the minor privileges charges now in force, and suggesting a conference between this Board and representatives from your Association, has been received, and will be referred to the Board of Estimates for consideration at its meeting on Tuesday, Jan- uary 33rd. You will be notified of the action taken by the Board. Yours \erv truh, " JAAIES F THRIFT, Secretary. C. H. S. Baltimore, Aid., January S.l, 191T. Mr. R. J. Beacham, Secretary, Merchants and Manufacturers .\ssociation, Baltimore, Md. Dear Sir: — ■ Your letter regarding tax on \-arious minor privileges was pre- sented to the Board of Estimates at its regular meeting" Januar\ 23, 1917. The Board was of the o]Mnion that all questions relat- ing to minor ])ri\ileges costs should be treated on the same basis, so that e\-entually ex-erybody A\ill be paying for encroach- ments of every kind, whether old or new ; that the Board could not see its way clear to sus])cnd the O])eration of the schedule as requested; that the present rates would be enforced subject to such modifications as experience will show to be justified; that the Board will gladly gi^•e audience at its regular meetings on Tuesda}' of each week l)etween 11 :i)i) and 1:00 to anv indi- \-idual or committee or association that may desire to appear before it in reference to minor privilege charges. Yours tru]^', I'.OARI* OF ESTHIATES. (Signed) C. H. Sumwalt, Clerk. Your Committee has com])ik'il data showinj^ charges for Minor Pri\ ik'ges on the ilcms in the I'laltimore list, in \c\\ York, ]-)Ost<)n, Phihulelphia, St. Pouis, Chicago, Llcxcland, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Rochester, St. Paul, Cincinnati, BuiTalo, Washington, Richmond, Detroit, Jersey City and Kansas City, all of which is made a part of this report. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A'our Committee has not unilertaken to form or ex])ress an opinion upon the question of the legality of the charges imposed in this ne\\' schedule. Undoubtedly, the Cit\' has the legal right to impose charges for many of the privileges on the list. We are advised, h«we\er, that there are so man)' legal ques- tions in\'olved, that each case must, to a great extent, stand upon its own basis. For example, the City may have the right to charge for such privileges where hereafter granted, and \'et may not be entitled to make the charges apply to cases where such franchises are alread}- being enjoyed. Alan}- people have already paid flat sums for such privileges, and the Cit\' may in such cases be debarred from exacting any further charges. It has been suggested that where the City has permitted buildings to be erected in a certain wa) , on the understanding that no charge therefor would be exacted, and where the owner could not remodel his building, except at a heavy cost, the City is estopped to imi^ose this burden upon him, as an alternati\e to paying new charges now imposed. We might add, that the equity of this suggestion appeals for- cibly to your Committee. In man}- cases, it is e^-ident that the \-alue of what are now- termed "Special Privileges," has alread\- been taken into account by the Cit}- in the valuation and assessment of the property, on which valuation taxes are now being paid. A great \'arietv of similar questions are suggested to your Committee, w-hich it is not necessary for us to enumerate, but which illustrate the impossibihty of attemi)ting to apply an}- one general rule to all the cases covered b}- this schedule. Certain!}- your Committee thinks that some of the items on the list are pro])erl}- the subject of a special charge, and un- doubtedly also in some cases the charge imposed b}- the schedule is not unreasonable, and it is because of the realization of this fact that your Committee has already suggested and emphati- cally urge again that a re\-ision of the schedule be attempted. In its present form, howcxer, it imposes many charges which your Committee deems to be unwise from the standpoint of the C\t\. and unjust from the standj^oint of the jjroperty owner. So far as the rate of charges is concerned, man}' instances ha\'e been brought to the attention of your Committee, where the amount payable under this schedule would be so large that it is not to be belie\ed that the City Officials themselves would be willing to enforce the schedule, if the result in these cases was brought to their attention. The comparison which we have already made of what is now l)roposed in Baltimore with what is done in other cities, shows that Baltimore stands in a class completely by herself in this respect, and while, of course, it is not necessarily an argument against Baltimore adopting th-s policy that other cities do not adopt the same polic_\-, certain!}- a step should not be taken without good reasons which will put Baltimore business people at a great disadvantage, compared with those conducting a similar business in other cities. Your Committee feels also satisfied that in numberless cases the enforcement i)f these charges will not only work a hardship, but a great injustice u])on the persons affected, and believes that a radical re\ision of the schedule is essential, and that its enforcement should certainh' be suspended until this revision could be made. As a practical suggestion, your Committee i)ffers for the con- sideration of the .Association a resolution, hereto appended, and as we understand that this question is to be acted upon, at a meeting attended, not onl}- b}- the members of the Merchants and Manufacturers .\ssociati