The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1872-01-20
The "PoII-Tax" a Misnomer.

~
A correspondent who signs himself Tax
paySr, but not Voter" asks several questions,
which we will endeavor to answer. lie COM
mences by saying that he is an alien here, never
having become naturalizcd under the Hawaiian
laws. lie is, however, a taxpayer to a considera-
bic extent, and otherwise contributing materially
to the support of the Government. Among other
taxes, he is assessed for and pays a poll-tax. The
very name of this tax, in his view, implies that
those who pay it are entitled to vote at the
general elections by the people. but this right is
denied to him here. He asks why this particular
tax can be enforced in his case without being
accompanied with the privilege of voting. We
beg to inform our friend that the reason why this
is so is simply because it is in accordance with
the statute law Of the realm. Section 480 of the
Civil Code provides that, " An annual poll-tax of
one dollar shall be paid by every male inhabitant
Of the Kingdom, between the ages Of seventeen
and sixty years, whether a Hawaiian subject or an
alien, unless the person be excused from such
payment by law, or by the assessor of the district
in which he resides, or account Of age, infrmity
and poverty"
The principle that aliens have no voice in the
affairs of the Government of the country is, we
take it, well enough understood by our CORE
spondent. as is undoubtedly the other well-known
principle, that they are liable Of their means to
contribute for the support of the Government
under which they live and the protection of
whose laws they enjoy. All the taxes and
imposts he pays without any objection or murmur,
except the poll-tax, and this he protests against,
as being unjust in his case, because he is not n
voter.
In this connection it may be stated that under
the Constitution of the new Kingdom of FIJI,
denizens have conferred upon them the right of
suffrage, without denationalizing themselves, a
species of liberality that is not known in Hawaii
nei.
Undoubtedly there is something in a name,
Shakespeare to the contrary Notwithstanding, and
the one dollar per annum now exacted from our
friend by the name of a ~poll-tax, might not
appear to him 80 large q sum if the sound of its
name did not remind him of a right which does
not accompany the tax. "To POLL originally
meant to number or register persons as electors
who were entitled to vote for civil officers, and
hence the I" poll " came to be known rs the
place of election. We hear the remark in this
connection-' At the opening or close of the
poll, - that is at the beginning of the register of
voters, or the close of the same. That the term
g p~oll-tax,' - as applied to those who are not by
law entitled to vote, or who do not care to
qualify-which last constitutes a very large pro-
portion of the outside populations IA mIsnomer,
we concede, but as to whether our correspondent
would find his objection to paying it sustained on
an appeal to the Courts, We are not prepared to
say. We are, however, of the opinion that the
- - l. - --A 10TH 4In, ,unlAu
Another communication on the subject of the
right to vote, comes from a fireman, who states
that he has paid his taxes, other than PER- 0nal-
from which he is exempt by law by being an
active member of a fire company,-but that his
tax receipt does not bear the words, d" Qualified
to vote" If he is qualified under the law, he
should have been SO recorded by the assessor,
whose duty is made especially plain in that
regard, and his receipt from the Tax Collector
should " bear conspicuously upon it in printed
letters, the words qualified to vote"
The legal qualifications of a voter, it may be
well to recapitulate here, from Section l Chapter
80, of the revised Code
Every male subject Of the Kingdom who shall have paid his
tax.s, who shall have attained The age of twenty years. and
shall have been domiciled il the Kingdom fer one year immedi-
ately preceding the election and shall he possessed OF real
property in this Kingdom 10 the value, over and above all in
cumbrances, Of $3.50, or of leasehold property, on which the
rent is S2j per year, or Of an income Of not less than
SIS per year derived from any property, or some law
ful employment, and shall know how 10 read aud write, if
born since the year 1910, and shall have caused his name TO be
entered on the list Of voters of his district, as hereinafter pro-
vided, shall be entitled to one vote for representative or repre-
sentatives of that district provided. however. that no insane
or Idiotic person, or any person who shall have been convicted
Of any infamous crime within this Kingdom. unless he shall
have been psTdoned by the King, and by the terms Of such
pardon have been restored 10 sill the rights Of a subject, shall
BE- allowed TO vote and no other persons than those qualified
as in this section provided shall be allowed TO vote at any cleo
ton for representatives 10 the Legislative Assembly of this
Kingdom. QS6S, p. ~
Tho Mail Service.