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sight further arise as to whether or not under the peculiar provision of our
charter the intangible property could even be taxed as real estate. It
has not been necessary at this time to carefully investigate that question,
but the result of my investigations as far as they have gone leads me to be-
lieve that notwithstanding the powers given in our charter may not be quite
so broad as those given in the state tax laws, yet nevertheless the intangi-
ble assets of the corporation may be reached as part of the reality.

In the case of the City of Dallas vs the Dallas Consolidated Street
Railway Co. in which tax on the franchise as a separate item was upheld by
the Supreme Court, this language is used. "Construing our general laws in
reference to the method of rendering the property of railroad companies
for taxation for state purposes, we held in the State vs Austin and North-
western Ry. Co. that the franchise of the railroad was not assessable as a
separate distinct entity from its physical property, but that we neither
held that such franchise was non-assessable nor that under the statutes
then in question its value was not to be estimated in determining the
valuation of the property of the company for the purpose of taxation.

The opinion then deals with the charter of the city of Dallas and
holds that under its charter it had the right to assess the franchise of
the company as a separate item. The provisions of the Dallas chapter with
regard to this question are much broader than ours and are much broader, of
course than the general tax law, and the decision in that case is only
valuable as bearing upon the case before us in that by the words above quoted
it very clearly repudiates the idea that the Austin and Northwestern case applied
and held that the franchise was in no event taxable, and it is upon the ex-
press holding in this case that I largely base by conclusion that the in-
tangible property of the Gas Co. may be assessed in connection with its
physical property, and that the physical property in connection with it must
be assessed is determined by the general law and the Austin and Northwestern
case and is the real property of the Gas Co. in the present instance.

From what I have stated it will be seen that not only is the machinery
by express terms of the charter as well as other fixtures actually upon