Louis Brandeis

“ Obviously there could not be any increase in traffic receipts during the year 1918, in which the tax is laid. Appellants argue that the assessed valuation of the lands would probably be greatly raised in later years, that the assessment upon the railroad property would probably not be raised, that the proportion of the annual burden imposed upon the railroad would diminish from year to year, and that, in course of time, the aggregate of the taxes levied upon each piece of property would be thus adjusted, so as to correspond to the benefits received. ”

“ The tax laid imposes upon the railroad, which can receive no direct or immediate benefit, a very heavy burden, and the lands, which will receive a large direct (and possibly immediate) benefit, are required to bear only a very small part of the burden, The market value of the 12,000 acres may increase largely before any additional land is cultivated, or even before the improvement is made. The railroad can derive the indirect benefit, through increased traffic, only after the drainage of the wild lands has been effected and the reclaimed lands are being cultivated. ”

“ A proportion of the franchise of a railroad may, consistently with the federal Constitution, be included as real estate within the district. To justify an assessment upon property, the benefit from the improvement need not be a direct one. It may, in case of a railroad, consist of gains derived from increased traffic. ”