Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1871-03-07
TAXATION.


The report of Mr.. David A. Wells of
New York, one of the Commissioners APP |
pointed to examine and report upon the |
system of taxation in that State, is excit- |
ing general notice and comment. In this
he recommends reform in the system
pursued amounting as follows:
The taxation, under the direct supervis- |
ion of the State, of all corporations which
are in the light of a monopoly, or which
may be said to hold special advantages
from the State authority.
That all local taxation should be assessed
upon real estate Gland and buildngs) the
land being put in in the assessment at fifty
per cent of its value. and the buildings, as
representing more nearly the wealth of the
incumbent or owner, at their full value.
Or, as substitute for the last PROPOSE
ton above, putting the land and buildings
in at uniform valuation. and adding as
an equivalent for all taxation of personal
property. tax Of the person who occupies
the house, store, shop, or office, be he
owner or tenant. on a valuation of three
times the rental value of the premises oc-
cupied.
Beyond these three classes, special cor
porations, lands and buildings, and rental
value. he would exempt all property from
taxation. These are novel ideas and win
startle same of our assessors as well as
property holders. But Mr.. Wells claims
that his plan will do away with many of
the imperfections in the present system,
and that it will operate with tolerable
degree of equality upon individuals and
localities. He says
It would seem that there could be no essen
tial difference of opinion in regard to the cor
rectness of the proposition, that the object
which it is certainly desirable to effect, or the
end to be attained to, is equality and certainty
in assessment and collection; and, further
more, that any system which would insure
equality in assessment, certainty and economy
in collection, and comparative freedom from
annoyance to the taxpayer, will in itself
constitute the perfection of taxation. On the
other hand. when there is uncertainty and in
equality in the methods of assessments and
collection, the tax becomes mere arbitrary
exaction, repellant and destructive alike to
capital, manufactures and commerce. tits an
error, however to assume that all descriptions
of property should be subjected TO taxation in
order to insure equality and uniformity. On
the contrary, all experience has shown-none
better than that of the United States-that the
more concrete and the less diffused q sys-
TEN of taxation can be made, the better for
the people and the better for the State; for,
with the exception of direct taxes on income,
and upon those articles, so like spirits and to-
bacco, which are consumed solely for personal
qualification, taxation distributes itself with a
wonderful degree Of uniformity. If placed
upon land it will constitute an element of the
cost of that which the land produces; if upon
manufacturing industry, then of the cost of
the products of such industry upon shipping,
of the cost of that which the ship transports;
upon capital, of the cost, price, or interest,
which is paid for the use of such capital; if
upon buildings, it will be reflected upon the
income of the occupier, or upon the cost of
goods, wares and merchandise stored, ex-
changed or produced therein. In short t'to
the extent that any individual or class can
transfer the onus of tax to others by includ.
ing it in the price of his commodities or SER
vices, such individual invariably does So"
And SO a tax imposed upon articles of SER
vice of prime necessity to community, like
land or buildings, for example, becomes, in
effect, tax upon all without the vexations of
infnitesimal application. The oil opera
tors find that one well, intelligently sunk in
the right spot, will drain the whole basin bet
ter than many, with less expense and with no
disturbance to the surrounding country. But
while it is not necessary to tax all descriptions
of property in order to ensure equality and
uniformity, it is indispensable that no system
of taxation should be adopted which will not
act uniformly and equally upon all property of
the same kind, or upon all persons owning the
same class of property within the state; mas
much as if any one man is taxed, and another
man exempted on the same class or descrip-
ton of property, the tax assumes the charac-
ter of confscation. In fact, in almost every
community it is not so much the extent as il
is the inequality that constitutes the burden of
taxation, and the commission have been i'm
pressed with the circumstances that in con-
versing with the heaviest taxpayers of the
state, it has not been so much the amount paid
that is complained of, as it is, that while
the individual in question claims to pay,
his neighbors and associates in some way
manage to escape.
The SOuthorn Pacific Ra;lrnod lin l,.,.