William Howard Taft

“ It was agreed between the parties that the average value for assessing farm lands was 61 per cent. The railway companies contended that the rate as fixed by the Council was very much higher than this for them. The three judges in the District Court found that the Executive Council might reasonably and without arbitrary or intentional discrimination reach the conclusion that the properties of the two companies in Iowa, tangible and intangible, were not assessed by the Executive Council in proportion to their actual value substantially more than the 61 per cent. imposed on farm lands. ”

“ By section 1334 of the Code Supplement of 1913, a railway is obliged to submit to the Council for its information many details concerning its property, tangible and intangible, upon which to base an estimate of the value of the total property. These include the par and market values of the stocks and bonds, its net income and many other circumstances. Thus, the Executive Council assesses the value of railways in the state directly. It acts only as an equalizing tribunal, however, upon assessments on farm lands as between counties. ”

“ It is not enough, in these cases, that the taxing officials have merely made a mistake. It is not enough that the court, if its judgment were properly invoked, would reach a different conclusion as to the taxes imposed. ”