Weekly Trinity journal., 1879-01-11
MORE FOLLY.

actions Of that body; since it seems
certain no good can come out of this
Nazereth, we have avoided boring our
readers with much Of its proceedings
But occasionally the Convention excels
itself and by some unsccountabs and
unusually unreasonable proceeding calls
anew for csnsure. The last instance Of
/ this character occurred in the committee
Of the Whole, ON Tuesday last when by
large majority the Delegate, voted to
strike om the following provision rec
commended by the Committee on Revenue
and Taxation
Section 9. The Legislature shall
provide for the levy and collection OF an
annual poll tax of not less than two dol
lars, for school purposes, on every male
inhabitant of this State over twenty one
and under sixty years OF age, except
paupers, idiets, Insane persons, and In
dans not taxed. Said tax shall be paid
into the State School Fund"
During the course Of the cursory and
wandering debate on The doomed section
quoted, it was plainly manifest that
majority OF the Delegates present opposed
the levy Of any poll tax whatever for any
/ purpose, and a provision expressly pro-
hibting such levy will doubtless be made
a part of the new instrument. This great
reformatory, anti Chinese assemblage,
| which would net allow even the Cons.i-
tution of the United States to stand be
tween them and their windy war upon
the Mongolians, now de eiberately deter
m ines to take from the State Government
the only power it had TO tax this ohjec-
tionable element Of our population. View
the matter az you may, the result will be
the same. This action relieves tho Chi
nese from the payment of about all the
taxes they do pay, and places proper
tionately increased burden Of taxation
upon the industry and enterprise of the
moro energetic property holding whites.
Let us look at the facts and figures. bear.
ing directly on the subject in our own
county.
The rate Of State and County taxation,
upon personal property and real estate
for the year just closed was 81 rs on each
800 valuaton-csrtainly KS great n.
property here can bear. The Assessment
Roll shows, in round numbers $868, 600
taxable property in the county, the total
tax on which amounts to S23, $500. Of
the property assessed only S63 900 is
owned by Chinese and the tax on this is
Sl,TO0 or about one-fourtees of the
whole. The number of adult Chinese
males res dent in Trinity County is fully
equal to the number Of adult white
males, yet the property tax which they
pay is rs one to fourteen. On the other
hard there is collected in the county.
annually, $50 Road and 800 Poll and
Hospital taxes, aggregating $l3,350, OF
which amount the Chinese probably paw
one. half, which is their Just proportion.
nder the Rew rule proposed by the bril-
liant minds Of the Constitutional Con-
ventlon, the Chinaman will. pay none of
these Poll Taxes, but as the same amount
OF revenue will have 10 be derived for the
purposes Of County Government this
$l3,35O will have to be collected bv as
sessNelt on property in addition to the
SZ3,SO0 heretofore levied. That is the
So66, 600 of taxable property in this coun-
ty will have to pay $4,000 taxes, or
about ~ per cent. The Chinese. form
ing one Ralt of cur adult male population
VIII pay one fourteenth of this amount,
or about $4,000, while the whiteproperty-
owners forming the other halfw have
to settle to the amount Of $34, 400. Such
is the proportion in figures and the pre-
portion oftrouble in collecting taxes is
about the same though in reverse order !;
.hat is, it is about fourteen times as hard
to collect from a Chinaman as from
white man.
Under existing laws the one thousand
Cinnamon in Triaity County-and there
are fully that many-pay 81 ZOO property
tax Hnd nearly $1,000 poll taYe. or
about $500 in all. Under the law as
the Convention would make it, these
same Cinnamon would pay 81, 800 prop
erty tax and no poll taxes whatever. The
Conventions action, if approved by the
people, would relieve the Chinese of this
county of the payment of $4,000 taxes
yearly and place that additional burden
on the property Of the whites. This
same proportion will also hold good in
many If not all the counties of the State.
The above array of facts and figures
should preve a conclusive argument
against the abolishing Of Poll Taxes in a
State conditioned as is California, al
Though it is oHlya comparison betwssn
whites and Chinese. Were we to include
tho large number of impecunious whites
who own no taxable property and paw
only poll taxes, the proportion against
those who do own property would appear
even greater than we have endesvorsd
to show. The striking out of tho section
above qdoted should in itself insure the
defeat of the new Constitution when sub
mitted to the people, aud should retire to
private life every Delegate in the Con
vention who so far forgot the interest OF
the State as TO vote for the abolition of
Poll Taxes in the present condition of its
affairs.
AssEsAsszzssIz-z-EsNuzzNSsS