, 1874-03-16

tho mon who own tho farming lands actually pay
ono-half tho tax Which la collected In tho State
on laid rsp'fy c Sa aa S
Ito rost Of tae State e144, 100000 Of
peteonal property Of eyory description. So,
Of the9 80 psr cont Of pcraonal proporsy notually
found, one-Lalf ID founi on tho farms Tho
missing s7B5,000,00 full valuo) OF personal
property not found by tho Assessor iB owned ana
hold by those who aro not OH tho farms. Tho
enumeration ' Y Of personal property on tho farmH
THO result Of those figures Ii that Of the enttro
tax paid to Tho State under tho assessment Of
1873, over 80 per cent
rALls uroN TIE LAND.
Thla ts shown % follows:
Whole valuation at 60 per cont. 81 1885, 1os 319
1ands.... 6s2,41 GOT
Town unI city lots ots................. 317, ,ly1..ae
Railroad lands aud lois... 1894 ,N0
Total lands, lots, and property per- .... -.-
tanning TO lnuilH. 5, ,051, ,910, o03
Railroad psrsonal property. 6o,s7asU3
All other parsonal property. l4s,2oa,so9
Here II plain o.ibt Of tic fact snat soaot.
ing tho 1.-Two stock, tools. and implements, crops
. on hand. ETC., with the land, aud al part
OF It, tho land pavs co. per cent Of the
ta1es Of tho State Of Illinois. Under onr law,
aascHsment for State; PURPOSES governs all taxes
per cent OF all local taxes. In 1871 the agg,e-
gato tax collected in this State (exclusiYo Of
taxes la citicB for city purpoaes) wns 8l8 500 000
In 1873 it will bo s24,0oo,ooo. This tax will 10
Tax on lands and appureuances. .31o 200 900
N railroad Personal property. l,440,uoo
fe1soAa1 PfoPeEsY.....-..... 3,3d0, ,oo0
.$2S, ,o10, COO
This System Is ono Of unmitigatod despotism.
It oppresscs production, and rostrictB It, It Ia q
levy on tho growing corn; 1t Ia rental upon
the p!oX.
ESCAPE or PERSONAL PROPERTY
from taxation, Illinois il not alone. The same
thing exists In every other State wllore tho yalua-
tion system ,prevlils. III aropott mado to the
present Legislature Of Now York. ,le ComrnIs-
s!onors declare; We are satisfied that less Than
1o 3 per cert Of TIE personal property Of the State
t!ao@ 70 taxa!ion finds a place on tie rods Of the
that tho rnlo holds good throughout tho State
that thoae who own tho cheapest farms and
houses and lots, aud hayo to battlo hardest with
lno.t me LOT subsistence ne compelled to pny tho
York Commissioners lily describe ihe condtion I en
Of thing inee e:araoie from the ct ompt to Tux by
valuation. In this State We hayo shown TINT 50
PER cent Of the entire taxable property is nevcr
foot aud mere Of lind IL reported, 81 nor cent Of
the personal property ia never discovered and
Of that which III discovered oue-hntf ia inseparo-
land 4o - !%'o
Nov what wo propose is: That the tux on
IRnds sud town loss, 1.-Two stock, otc ha ropealcd
and tIat al properly lie placed Oh an eouu]ity.
1lat tho means OF taxation by valuation bo laid
aslde, and thas the State execute the other Bys-
tom provided in the State Constitution.
We have given an estimate Of the reyenuo
from licenses. That royonuo may to increased
hy an Increase In tho rates OF lcenso. Every
dollar ot That M revenue would DO collected, aud
}u10t1 rs H..
modc OF taxing capital stock aud debts Of rail-
xoad corporations BY valuations, let Tue State
aaopt TINT mode, which has hoen declared by tho
1nta,a HnHa stass snprems Court to be proper and
TAXING THE GROSS nEoErpTe
81 such companies. This rule implied, in adj
dition to horse-ra,tway corporations, gas COMM
mics. expross aud transportation companies, In.
eurance telegraph mud oil other Biln!lur comua.
mics, With tax on tue sales Of manufactures,
YOU'D produce at very moderate rates OF eacL
c!asa revenue far exceeding any possible wants
Of the State,
state Of illinois in 1873 WAS not loss tnun $780,
Vo9,ooo. tax Of 2 mis on tho dollar OF tioss
aalea, or ono-hfth Of por cent, would
PRODUCE MonE REVENUE
tnah the present tux Of 8 Clio mills on all tho
personal property Of every description assoeaed
III the whole State. It would moreover be realily
and cheerfnlly paid without any cost for culloo-
sion. Ihe grosH receipts Of railroads. horse rail-
rca VILE, gas eompanles, insurance companies, ex-
Eraph companies, for 1878, will Average aGo. i0-
to0 moderate tax on these roceiptH woufd
produce ten tmo8 tho amount OF reyenua fiat
can ever DO collected from the capital stocks und
debts and tang1epropelty Of tlego cornu atjnna
by tho valuation System.
Tue cost Of collecting the revonue upier tia
valuation ayBsonl can Dost DO shown by the law
nude g. By * tho Auditor Tor 1873. He had to raigo
81 900, 600 Tor school purposes. In order to rsso
I'm
tion, aud taxes .uucoGected, etc., Lo lixod
rata to produce 81 ,207 .451 This was
an allowance OF over 20 por cont for
cot and lesses H. i1 collection 1 n other
additional to pay tho cost Of collecting it. Abol-
tsb the valuation systemt and adopt tho other.
and thawhole royonlle will bepaid into tho Coun-
ty Treasury and State Treasury annually or semi
annually, with no cost, save such percentage Oh
the State may allow County Troasurors, which
ought not to exeeod per cont. The fact that
the valuation system must be retained for ooun-
ty PURPOSES, furnishes 10 reason why 1t may not
be abolished for State PURPOSES. Tho valuation
OF 1873, or 1874, may be allowed to stand as the
basis for county tnxation indefinitely. There is
no raqun ement In the constitution for an annual
assessment for State taxation. The present one
may bo continued indefinitely until another Ia
mado.
,.ta AZ It ts likely II the valuation systom be abol
!ahea aud tho State resort to the other conHti-
.utsona! mode OF taxation, that tho State reye-
auo ~all DO double or treble what is needed for
6eaee a hurpoaos, an equitable arrangement could
nes tue surplus, the aaiae " to to be be- credited r.
s.aa ~ @ef sesy for county PURPOSES Thus, II the
~ m OF tne surplus falling to county be
SSh Ga saa ah ,he levy for county purposes be
tsnth, '~~ "oo'o W 1eauoaa QUE
m,. WHAT WOULD as cor RID or:
f,cia.ta nss change IN tile law would enable the
Eosa1Iz"tiop !" ssollsh polish ths etate Board Of
~ sss Md fssppa.lhllty fos ill., ~ ssssssasas