The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1879-01-23

viction of the guilty than csuld be procured
by the old plan of whipping and hanging.
Ii may be doubted whether our plan Of leas-
ing and working the convicts outside of the
penitentiary is favorable TO reform any more
than whipping and hanging. Still the other
ground holds good even under our defective
plan. and it would be contrary to the spirit
of the age not TO continue In the effort TO
perfect il as fast as may be found practical
bic, so as to accomplish both of its leading
objects. This should be done as far as
practicable in such way as would incur as
little expense to the State as possible In
this connection also are laws for properly
imposing and collecting taxes. Our system
of taxation is founded on the correct princi-
ple-that as the leading objects OF govern
ment are the protection of persons and Of
property, so an ad valOrem tax should be
levied upon property and poll tax upon
persons. An occupation tax should hard
iy be supposed to be levied as a drawback
imposed upon one occupation in preference
to another equally lawful, but rather as a
means of taxing property of a transient ma
ture passing through the hands of those
taxed in such manner as cannot generally
be reached and identified in the ordinary
way of levying an ad valorem tax. There is
an annually large amount of such transient
property that is a fruitful source of litigation
and consequent expense to the government
that is not adequately reached either by
the occupation tax or by the ad valOrem
tax asse ssed upon property owned on the
first day of January every year. The tax
designed to be levied upon the annual pro-
duction may not, and actually does not,
reach the bulk of because large portion
of that which is produced, such as cotton,
wool, wheat, beef canned, cattle and other
marketable stock is transported out of the
State before the first day of January. From
the habits of trade, since we have rail-
roads, the stock on hand of a grocer
merchant, on the first day of January, is
not an accurate, or even an approximate
criterion Of the amount of property that
passes through his hands and is consumed
during the year. This may be verified by
reference to the assessment of goods,
wares, etc, in any county. In Galveston
county, for instance, it is only Sl,75l, 1872,
which amount may be sold annually by one
or two houses in the city of Galveston. 1t
might not be proper to reach
this transient property in both
wholesale and retail houses, nor by
taxing both that which is produced and
that which is consumed during the year,
because that would to a considerable extent
result in double tax upon the same values.
| This deficiency in the tax laws operates to
the prejudice of the agrlculturist whose
capital is invested in land, improvements
and farming stock permanently kept on
hand, and is reached by his property being
assessed on the first day of January in each
year; whereas, the retail merchant and gro
Ger, from the present habit of ordering and
paying for additions to his stock monthly
or quarterly, during the year after the first
day of January, escapes taxation on the
bulk of the property which he sells and
consumes during the year; which very
property is generally more expense to the
government in its protection than the more
stable and permanent capital of the agricul
turist. The transitory property is not adj
equately reached, therefore, by either ouI
occupation or ad valorem tax. Virginia, i
is reported, is successfully reaching it by {
tax upon the retail of liquors according tC
the quantity sold, and this may lead the
way to reaching it by tax upon retailer:
generally, resulting in tax upon the prop
erty annually consumed, rather than upor
that produced, which our tax laws now in
effectually attempt to do. That would also
distribute the burden more generally than
it is now done; because there are a grea
many more consumers of such property tina
is retailed than producers of that which il
now taxed.
There is also a great deficiency in thu
payment of the poll tax, a correction o
which demands the most rigid remedy tina
it is practicable to apply. The amount o
land bid in by the State and held up indefi
nitely, also demands remedy. Any maj
who is able to pay his taxes and willfull,
fails to do so is resolving protection, and
citizen participates in the rights ant
privilege of citizenship without rendering
consideration to the government thereto
and imposes an undue burden upon othe
persons, it is a gross injustice that should no
be tolerated in this or any other Safe
There is another class of persons the specia
protection of whom incurs expense, which i
not, as yet, adequately compensated 70
by any mode of taxation that has beef
adopted here. There sce those who travel
for business or otherv sc, on railroads ant
steamboats,, who might be reached by an oc
cupation tax on common carriers Of passen
gers assessed by their number, or by tn
length oftravel within this State This protec
ten to the traveller is a thing of real valu
which the government holds itself bound t
furnish by the remedies afforded for injurie
and losses for travelling on railroads ant
steamboats,, which have largely increased
the expenses of the government, and whicl
lis not compensated for by the ordinary ia!
on railroads and steamboats,, 1t being n,
special benefit to them. These common
carriers pay taxes on their property a
other persons for their own protection, anC
| Nr No rio Of
persons whom they carry. This subject ha
not, until lately, been of sufficient impor
lance to deserve attention. In our presen
emergency it is proper for the government
to require compensation for its protection
general and special, wherever substantial
rights are protected that necessarily in
crease its expense. Though 1t may be diff
suit to make the protection and the compen
satiou for it exactly equal, it is certain tina
if we stand still and rely only upon our oil
modes of adjustment, amidst the new IL
dustries and accrual of rights and develop
ments of wealth, we will fall short of a ful
appreciation of the progress of the age an
close every year with crippled resources
entaiiing upon us an accommodating deb
which khas already reached over five mi
lion of dollars since the late civil war, wit
large deficiency bill every session of tn
+ Legislature to foot up.
The enatment of proper laws and tn
proper execution of them in the courts {
, the country, and in the collection and di:
bursement of taxes, together wit
! the operations of the executive de
, partments constitute the government prope
, If cur attention could be devoted to thel
solely, or even mainly as was the case
! our former period of cheap government an
, low taxes, we would have no difficulty wit
, proper adjustment of occupation and pc
: taxes in sustaining vigorous governmeI
: with an ad valorem tax of twelve or fiftee
cents on the one hundred dollars worth
property, instead of the fifty cents now in
/ posed
Gradually, and much more in the Ia:
ten years, the State has been assumin
other and extraneous burdens beyond IL
: capacity of the productive wealth of Il
: country to sustain, as is plainly evinced b
the constantly accommodating public deb
Some of these burdens are due to our frol
tier position in the Union and our extensiN
: territory, and others of them are taken c
to an extent not common in young and i
: trinsically feeble States. Reference is hel
: made to the protection of the frontier an
our police force to the penitentiary and j
: enlargement; to our free common scho
:, system: to our schools for the blind and Il
3 deaf aud dumb; to the establishment of {
!, Agricultural and Mechanical college,
!, styled; to our Lunatic Asylum to our qua
u antine establishment; to our pensions,
Texas veterans and 10 our former INN
c grafton bureau.
Al. Il, RI,