Maricopa Company v. Arizona

After the organization of the territory of Arizona, certain land situated within its geographical limits was set apart as an Indian reservation, for the use of the Pima and Maricopa Indians. 11 Stat. 401. The tract is known as the 'Gila River Reservation.' The Maricopa & Phoenix Railroad Company owns and operates within the territory of Arizona 24.16 miles of railroad track, all of which lie within the geographical outlines of the territory, as named in its organic act, but 6.24 miles are within the reservation just mentioned. This portion was constructed under the authority of an act of congress which provided that the railroad should be 'authorized, invested, and empowered with the right to locate, construct, own, equip, operate, use, and maintain a railway and telegraph and telephone line through the Indian reservation situated in the territory of Arizona known as the Gila River Reservation, occupied by the Pima and Maricopa Indians.'

'Sec. 2. A right of way one hundred feet in width through said Indian reservation is hereby granted to the said Maricopa and Phoenix Railway Company, and a strip of land two hundred feet in width, with a length of three thousand feet, in addition to said right of way, is granted for stations for every ten miles of road, no portion of which shall be sold or leased by the company; with the right to use such additional ground, where there are heavy cuts or fills, as may be necessary for the construction and maintenance of the roadbed, not exceeding one hundred feet in width on each side of said right of way, or as much thereof as may be included in said cut or fill; * * * and provided, further, that before any such lands shall be taken for the purposes aforesaid, the consent of the Indians thereto shall be obtained in a manner satisfactory to the president of the United States.'

This act moreover contained a stipulation reserving the right to amend, alter, or repeal its provisions. The tax laws of the territory of Arizona provide as follows:

'The president, vice-president, general superintendent, auditor or general officer of any corporation operating any railway in this territory shall furnish said board, on or before the first Monday in June in each year, a statement signed and sworn to by one of such officers, showing in detail the whole number of miles of railroad in each county, also the whole number of miles owned, operated, or leased in the territory by such corporation making the return, and the value thereof per mile, with a detailed statement of all property of every kind, and the value located in each county in the territory; second, also a detailed statement of the number and value thereof of engines, passenger, mail, express, baggage, freight, and other cars or property owned by such railway, and on railways which are a part of lines extending beyond the limits of this territory. The returns shall show the actual proportion of the amount and full cash value of the rolling stock in use on the corporation's line which is necessary for the transportation of the freight and passengers, and the operation of the railroad in this territory, during the year for which the return is made. The return shall also show the amount and value of property hereinafter designated in this section, and such furtner information shall be furnished as the board may in writing require. If said officers fail to make such statement, said board shall proceed to assess the property of the corporation so failing, and shall add thirty per cent. to the value thereof as ascertained and determined by the said board. The said property shall by valued at its full cash value, and assessments shall be made upon the entire railway within this territory, and shall include the franchise, right of way, roadbed, bridges, culverts, rolling stock, depots, station grounds, buildings, telegraph lines, and all other property, real and personal, exclusively used in the operation of such railway. In assessing said railway and its equipments, said board shall take into consideration all matters connected with said road necessary to enable them to make a just and equitable assessment of said railway property. On or before the third Monday in June in each year said board shall transmit to the board of supervisors of each county, through or into which any railway may run, a statement showing the length of the main track of such railway within the county, and the assessed value per mile of the same as fixed by a pro rata distribution per mile of the assessed value of the whole property herein specified, with a description of the whole of said assessed property within the county by metes and bounds, or other description sufficient for identification. And the said assessment and pro rata shall be made with reference to the value of the property belonging to said railway other than the main track, situate in each county and municipality through or into which said railway extends. Where the railroad of a railroad corporation lies in several counties, its rolling stock must be apportioned between them so that a portion thereof may be assessed in each county, and each county's portion must bear to the whole rolling stock the same ratio which the number of miles of the road in such county bears to the whole number of miles of such road lying in this territory.'

Under this territorial law all the franchises and rights, and the roadbed, track, rolling stock, etc., of the railroad company, were assessed at a valuation of $7,000 per mile for 24.16 miles of track. The corporation paid the tax on the mileage outside of the reservation, but refused to pay on the 6.24 miles situated within it. Statutory proceedings to compel the payment of the tax culminated in a decree against the company. From this an appeal was prosecuted to the supreme court of the territory. 26 Pac. 310. There the decree below was substantially affirmed, and the corporation was ordered to pay $1,212.39, with costs; this amount being recognized as a subsisting helf 'upon all the property of said Maricopa & Phoenix Railroad Company, situated in said county of Maricopa, and described as follows, to wit: The 24.16 miles of main track, with franchises and right of way.' In consequence of this recognition of lien, it was moreover ordered that a copy of the decree should authorize the tax collector to sell so much of the property as might be necessary to pay the taxes, penalties, and costs. The case was then brought here by appeal.

Harvey S. Brown, for appellant.

Mr. Justice WHITE, after stating the case, delivered the opinion of the court.