The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1880-03-20

Commercial A0Orrtisrr .
MARCH %.

AFTER WEEKS OF vigorous battling, the she'd
ding Of much ink and the display Of rhetoric
and well-,urned periods against the ADVERTISERS
position on the currency question, the Gazette Of
this week gracefully wheels into the line where
we have been standing all along, declares we
have none too much silver coins in the country
for business needs, and opposes the proposition of
putting a duty on silver imported here. Well.
better a late recantation than none at all.
A WRITER in the Gazette advocates the recon
struetiOn Of the Supreme Court. He would
Abolish the system Of Circuit Judges and Increase
the number q judge Of the Supreme Court 20 I'VE.
On Maui and = third on Kauai. leaving two In Honolulu,
and leaving II 70 the Court 70 decide which q the four
on each island. besides attending 10 the business pre-
circuit
ave justices sit In bancO in Honolulu for the hearing and
justices could easily attend 70 the business Of this place"
This may sound very well in theory, but We
apprehend it would fail in practice. We doubt
If either Of the present judges Of the Supreme
Court would care to reside on Hawaii, Maui or
Kauai And would the necessarily attendant
members Of the bar on those Islands find suf-
cient law business to make a living? Then
again, provision would have to be made for a
regularly employed clerk Of the Court and an
interpreter for each leland. We are however of
opinion that it would be an improvement on the
present construction Of the Supreme Court were
there four instead Of three judges, so that in
case Of the absence Of one from the country there
would always be a majority here.
In OUR issue of last week it was stated that
Government had IN contemplation a measure to
be brought before the coming session of the
=. -
and revision Of the taxation laws but we are
not informed as to the nature Of the amendments
that will be proposed. We are not aware that
there have been serious or well-grounded COM
plants that taxes generally are burdensome or
excessive in this Kingdom, but that they are
somewhat unequal in their operation is conceded
by all who have given the matter serious consi-
deratiOn. The sum Of five dollars, which is the
amount Of the taxes paid towards the support Of
Government by the man who owns no land or
other property, bears no propOrtiOnate COMPARE
son with the amount paid by the large owner Of
real estate, houses, goods and ships. IL is gener-
ally a harder task for the poor man to scrape to-
getber his five dollars than it is for the rich man
to give his cheque for one hundred or FIVE hun
dred dollars, as the case may be. And thus taxa
ton operates unequally.
Another tax which operates u~nequally on the
poor and the rich, is the road tax. The kanaka
who owns no land and who goes barefoot, pays
two dollars a year towards keeping the roads IN
repair and the rich landed proprietor, who may
own miles of territory bordering on the roads,
besides a carriage, carts, oxen and horses, pays
no more than two dOllars-and if be is over fifty
years of age, or If the rich person Is a woman, he
or she is exempt from the tax. Justice would
seem to demand that those who get the most ben
/ a6f Eror, tho ruhIic rooda ahnuId oODfribt,fa the
most for keeping them in repair.
The law of 1876 in relation to taxation, is in
violation Of the principle of the Constitution,
wherein It is declared that each member OF So
ciety has a right to be protected by the govern
ment II the enjoyment OF his life, liberty and
property, and therefore he shall be obliged to
contribute his proportional share to the expense
Of such protection. We refer now to the system
of double taxation which has been ~practiced since
the enactment Of the law OF 1876, whereby real
property Is not only assessed at its full value, but
any mortgage that may be upon the property is
also assessed for the full amount of the bond.
Thus a house and lot that may be properly valned
at $4,000, and which is mortgaged for its full
value, is made to pay taxes to the government on
$4,000. The practice which was followed pre-
vious to the enactment Of 1876, was that when
the creditor was taxed for the amount Of a debt
owing him. the debtor was allowed to deduct
that amount from the value of the property
pledged as security. This was fair, Just, and
L lCO IL WIN II
provision above alluded to, as thereby each per-
son would be contributing his proportional share
to the support Of Government. But the present
system is clearly double taxation.
Another illustration is afforded IN the case Of
plantations, the capital stock Of which is taxed
to the corporation, and the shares as well, to the
individual owners.
In looking over our exchanges we notice that
this same question Of double taxation has recent
Iy been discussed in the Legislature of California,
| - l. I~.Aw1u To- rhfok ua ornEanA rua varu
strongly maintained and also in the Legislature
Of Massachusetts,. We read that there are about
$3.50, 900 900 in the latter state of mortgaged
property, on Whish the mortgagors are compelled
to pay taxes. The relief needed, and which is
now asked of the Legislature for the third or
fourth time, is that the taxes on this enormous
amount Of property shall be paid by the mOrtga-
gees to the extent Of their interest in the property
taxed. This great injustice in Massachusetts, as
well az in Hawaii, falls heavily upon the indus
trious and ~middling classes, through the existing
laws, which not only tax at full valuation a house
which the representative owner has not paid for,
but also tax at full value the mOrigaged debt
secured by the same piece Of property, thus effect
ing double ta1atiOn upon many pieces OF proper
ty. Last year a bill OF relief was passed in the
Massachusetts, House OF Representatives, but was
defeated in the Senate.
An analyzation Of the principles upon which
the tax on mortgage notes is based. and tho va
lidity Of the law imposing It, may be illustrated
as follows suppose a has S0fOOO anu ID mas
IS, 1000, in cash, for which they are taxed, and
with these amounts they jointly purchase a piece
Of real estate, which is assessed for the sum paid
$40, 900. In such a case. under tbeexisting
law, they will be taxed for IS 900 each. Alter
wards b purchases AS interest in the property
forS5 900, and gives a mortgage for that amount;
thus, although b has in fact no more property
than he had before, but has simply created a
debt Of IS, 900, yet he is taxed on $4,000, and
A is taxed as before, for $4,000: Under these
al mn 49,
only $4,000 Of property exists.
The foregoing fairly illustrates the whole the
DRY and practice Of our present system. And we
submit that the point is plain, that to tax a bond
and mortgage on landau estate in land-as
personal property, while the same land pays a tax
as real estate for it's full value, without reference
to the mortgage, is double taxation on the same
property. and is unjust, burdensome, and uncon-