The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1866-01-11
V. Welding in 1866 an excess Of $780,.

still imperfect, and ought to be amended
A tax Of three mills on the principal O
six per cent. bond is the same as tal
of five per cent. on the interest
recommend that the law be so amend
ed as to require tax Of five per cent. t.
be paid on the interest accruing on al
bonds. This will make FIVE, six or sever
per cent. bond bear equal burdens. The
corporation should be required to make it tt
the Auditor General, instead Of the State
Treasurer, and have its account settled in
the usual manner, with severe penalty
for noncompliance. This tax, if pro:
perly regulated, will become one of the
most reliable sources of income to the
State Treasury, and should receive the
early and careful consideration Of the
Legislature.
Some method should be adapted by
which the officers of the State can learn
the whereabouts of the officers of forei gn
corporations liable to taxation under our
laws. As the law is now enforced, but a
small proportion Of these institutions pay
any tax into the treasury. If all corpora
tions, both foreign and domestic, were
required to keep complete record of the
names of their officers, places of business,
&C., with the Auditor General, it would
greatly facilitate the collection Of taxes
due from them to the State.
Our license laws require amendment
Nine-tenths Of the theatres pay no license
at all, and in the city of Philadelphi
alone, nearly three thousand persons,
liable, under the laws, annually fail to
take out licenses as venders of merchan-
disc This is from no fault of the county
officers, but arises from the fact that these
people are allowed to appeal fron, the de
cision of the mercantile appraiser, to an
alderman, and from the judgment of the
alderman to the county court. The re
suit is that the year for which they are
required to pay license generally expires
before the caes can be reached. | sug-
gest that licenses be collected in the
same manner as other taxes. The law
requiring corporations to pay bonus for
their charters, should be so amended as
to compile the first payment to be made
Immediately upon the organization of the
company. Had this been the law dur
ing the past year, the State would have
received an income of Sl50,000 more
than she has derived from this source,
most of which will now be lost.
BY the estimate, hereto annexed, of
our receipts and expenditures for the
coming year, it will be seen that our re-
ceipts are expected to reach the sum of
SIS, 426,000, and our expenditures, dur
ing the same period, the sum of $685.
O00 BY levying tax of one per cent.
on the capital Of banks, and the exercise
of proper diligence in collecting eur tax
es on corporations, Licensees &c, the re-
ceipts can readily be made to reach S.
900, 900; while the expenditures, with
the least possible effort, can be reduced
to s3,000,000' Under these circircum
stances, it is worthy of serious inquiry
whether the finances of the State are not
now in condition to dispense altogether
with the tax on real estate, leaving it to
be taxed only fer county and township
purposes
1t should be the endeavor of the State,
as far as possible, to collect her revenue
from sources that cannot be reached by |
and towns At the time Of
creating the last war loan, the first thing
seized upon for its repayment, was real
estate and now, that war is over, why
should it not be first to receive the ben
efts Of peace? From all parts of the
country we hear the cry, high rents, and
much Of the necessity for this advance
arises from the high local taxation rem
lered necessary to liquidate debts incur
ed by counties and towns to pay bounties
or the war. Prcsuming that our receipts
will be S5,426,0 1000 90
Dur expenses, 100000 90