Statement of the Case. cables, fixtures, instruments, machinery, appliances, apparatus and real estate, constituting a plant for the transmission and conveyance of telegraph messages, which said telegraphic plant extends into and through every State and Territory of the United States, the Dominion of Canada, and under SEC. 7. Said state board of tax commissioners shall first ascertain the true cash value of the entire property owned by said association, company, copartnership or corporation from said statements or otherwise, for that purpose taking the aggregate value of all the shares of capital stock, in case said shares have a market value, and in case they have none, taking the actual value thereof or of the capital of said association, company, copartnership or corporation, in whatever manner the same is divided, in case no shares of capital stock have been issued: Provided, however, that in case the whole or any portion of the property of such association, company, copartnership or corporation shall be incumbered by a mortgage or mortgages, such board shall ascertain the true cash value of such property by adding to the market value of the aggregate shares of stock, or to the value of the capital, in case there shall be no such shares, the aggregate amounts of such mortgage or mortgages, and the result shall be deemed and treated as the true cash value of the property of such association, company, copartnership or corporation. Such board of tax commissioners shall, for the purpose of ascertaining the true cash value of the property within the State of Indiana, next ascertain, from such statements or otherwise, the assessed value for taxation, in the localities where the same is situated, of the several pieces of real estate situate without the State of Indiana and not specifically used in the general business of such associations, companies, copartnerships or corporations, which said assessed values for taxation shall be by said board deducted from the gross value of the property as above ascertained. Said state board of tax commissioners shall next ascertain and assess the true cash value of the property of such associations, companies, copartnerships or corporations within the State of Indiana, by taking the proportion of the whole aggregate value of said associations, companies, copartnerships or corporations, as above ascertained, after deducting the assessed value of such real estate without the State, which the length of the lines of said associations, companies, copartnerships or corporations in the case of telegraph and telephone companies within the State of Indiana, bears to the total length of the lines thereof; and in the case of palace, drawing-room, sleeping, dining or chair car companies, the proportion shall be the proportion of such aggregate value, after such deductions, which the length of the lines within the State, over which said cars are run, bears to the length of the whole lines over which said cars are run; and in the case of express companies, the proportion shall be the proportion of the whole aggregate value, after such deductions, which the length of the lines or routes within the State of Indiana, bears to the whole length of the lines or routes of such associations, com Statement of the Case. the Atlantic Ocean to England and to Cuba;" and that the plaintiff, by reason of rights under contracts with various persons and corporations in the United States and in other parts of the world, and under letters patent from the United States, and valuable franchises granted by the United States and by New York and other States of the Union, (but not panies, copartnerships or corporations; and such amount so ascertained shall be deemed and held as the entire value of the property of said associa tions, companies, copartnerships or corporations within the State of Indiana. From the entire value of the property within the State, so ascertained, there shall be deducted, by said board, the assessed value for taxation of all the real estate, structures, machinery and appliances within the State and subject to local taxation in the counties and townships as hereinbefore described in item No. 5 of sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this act; and the residue of such value so ascertained, after deducting therefrom the assessed value of such local properties, shall be, by said board, assessed to said association. SEC. 8. Said state board of tax commissioners shall thereupon ascertain the value per mile of the property within the State by dividing the total value, as above ascertained, after deducting the specific properties locally assessed within the State, by the number of miles within the State; and the result shall be deemed and held as the value per mile of the property of such association, company, copartnership or corporation within the State of Indiana. SEC. 9. Said state board of tax commissioners shall thereupon, for the purpose of determining what amount shall be assessed by it to said associa tion, company, copartnership or corporation in each county in the State through, across, into or over which the line of said association, company, copartnership or corporation extends, multiply the value per mile, as above ascertained by the number of miles in each of such counties, as reported in said statements or as otherwise ascertained, and the result thereof shall be, by said board, certified to the auditor of State, who shall thereupon certify the same to the auditors, respectively, of the several counties through, into, over or across which the lines or routes of said association, company, copartnership or corporation extend; and such auditors shall apportion the amount certified for their counties, respectively, among the several townships into, through, over or across which such lines or routes extend, in proportion to the length of the lines in such townships. SEC. 10. To enable said county auditors to properly apportion the assessments between the several townships, they are authorized to require the agent of said association or company to report to them, respectively, under oath, the length of the lines in each township; and the auditor shall thereupon add to the value so apportioned the assessed valuation of the real estate, structures, machinery, fixtures and appliances situated in any township, and extend the taxes thereon upon the duplicates as in other cases. Statement of the Case. by Indiana,) and by many municipalities in those States, and by the governments of England and of Cuba, was "enabled to do a large and profitable business, by and by means of said telegraphic plant, and not only earn an amount which would be equivalent to rent upon said property, in case the same was owned by another corporation and leased by complainant, but also to make a profit for complainaut in addition to said amount so applicable as rent of such telegraphic plant." That the "portion of said telegraphic plant, situated within said State of Indiana, is of the actual cash value of $686,126, the said cash value being ascertained by taking the cost of original construction, as nearly as the same can be ascertained, and deducting therefrom a sum partially equal to the depreciation of the plant; and could be replaced by an entirely new plant of the same extent and location, and of far more valuable and lasting material, for the sum of $1,226,625.” That the pretended statute of March 6, 1893, was not a law of the State of Indiana, (for reasons not insisted on in this court,) and that on July 11, 1893, the plaintiff, reserving its rights to contest the validity of that statute, filed with the auditor of the State a statement and return, as therein required a copy of which was annexed, and which included substantially the same objections as were stated in the bill, and showed that the entire mileage of the company was 189,576 miles, 6436 of which were in the State of Indiana; that it had no real estate, machinery and appliances in Indiana subject to local taxation; that the cost of its real estate in other States was $5,013,326, and the amount of its outstanding mortgage bonds was $1,211,000. That the state board of tax commissioners on August 21, 1893, made its assessment and valuation of the plaintiff's property in Indiana, deducting the real estate, structures, machinery and apparatus within the State and subject to local taxation, at the sum of $2,297,652, and at the rate of $357 per mile of telegraph line; "and, in fixing said valuation upon complainant's said property in Indiana, acted under and by virtue of the assumed authority of said pretended statute, approved March 6, 1893, and placed upon complainant's said Statement of the Case. property additional values, beyond the true cash value of complainant's said property as measured by the cost of replacement of the same, making reasonable allowances for deterioration. by adding values of complainant's business, property and good will, both in and outside of Indiana, and franchises granted by the State of New York, the United States and foreign countries; and in witness thereof caused to be entered upon the official record of said board, required by law to be kept by said board, on said August 21, 1893, the following statement and certificate: "In accordance with the requirements of the act of the general assembly of the State of Indiana, approved March 6, 1893, the state board of tax commissioners, after full consideration, does hereby assess and value telegraph, telephone, palace car, sleeping car, drawing-room car, dining car, express and fast freight joint stock associations, companies, copartnerships and corporations, transacting business in the State of Indiana, which assessment and valuation is as follows, to wit: Assessment and valuation of telegraph and telephone companies in the State of Indiana by the state board of tax commissioners for the year 1893, exclusive of real estate, structures, machinery, fixtures and appliances subject to local taxation within the State."" The first line under that heading was: "Western Union Telegraph Company. Miles, 6436. Per mile, $357. Total, $2,297,652.” "That the state board of tax commissioners, during its said session in the year 1893, did not attempt to specify or describe the property of complainant, falling within the description of real estate, structures, machinery and appliances subject to local taxation. "That, in making said assessment, said state board of tax commissioners assumed to take as the basis thereof the value of the entire capital stock of complainant, at a valuation per share based upon the price of the shares of complainant's capital stock dealt in in the stock exchange market of New York City, dividing such aggregate value by the total number of miles of telegraph line of complainant, wherever situated, and both in and outside of Indiana, and thereby obtaining a pretended valuation per mile of the telegraph line of com Statement of the Case. plainant, amounting to the said sum of $357 per mile, which said pretended valuation per mile said board, acting under the authority of said pretended statute, imputed to and imposed upon each mile of the whole number of complainant's telegraph line in Indiana, thereby imputing to and imposing upon the whole telegraph line of complainant in Indiana, which is of the length of 6436 miles, said pretended valuation of $2,297,652, which said pretended valuation is grossly excessive and far beyond the true cash value of complainant's said property in Indiana. "That said state board of tax commissioners, in reaching said valuation of complainant's said property in Indiana, did not consider and assess the value of the property of complainant situated in Indiana, otherwise than by pursuing the requirements of said pretended statute. "That neither on April 1, 1893, nor at any time prior or subsequent thereto, was there any market value for all the shares of the capital stock of complainant;" that the whole number of shares was 948,200, of the par value of $100 each; that the number of shares sold or speculated in on April 1, 1893, on the New York stock exchange, was 1168 shares, at the average price of $94.50, and only a part of those was actually delivered; and that the price so obtained did not fairly represent the actual value of the plaintiff's property. "That any price at which any or all shares of complainant might be sold, by any holder or holders thereof, whether such price be calculated upon any market value or upon actual value, includes, amongst other things, a consideration of franchises of great value owned or exercised by complainant; granted by the State of New York, by the United States, by Canada, by Great Britain, by Cuba, and by other States, countries and municipalities; a consideration of complainant's good will, its past earnings from every source, its probable future earnings from every source, the business ability, enterprise and skill of the present managers of complainant's business, the probable continuance of business ability, enterprise and skill in the future management of complainant's business; the contract and other relations of complainant to powerful |