The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-01-20

| occupation. This NAV be illus
trated by the occupation tax i'm
i.pOsed on merchants. which. undHr
the present law, is divided into six
classes, having reference to the
amount of goods purchased. and
ranging proportiOnately from five
to two hundred dollars taxes inI-
posed. SO with the occupation tax
upon liquor dealers, and especially
under the law known rs the bell
punch law, the object of which was
both to tax the transient property
in the hands of of the dealer. and TO
tax the use of it, which entails more
expense and trouble TO the country
than any other property of the same
value. 1t was law eEinently Just
in itself Except that IT made the per-
son who paid his money for the Hse
indictable if the punch was moi
rung1 Ii il could have been pro-
perly executed, it-wOulda have, as il
has been estimated, produced mil
lion Of dollars of, revenue, which
might have been proiitably used III
the More efficient prevention and
punishment of the crimes and other
evils which the use of liquor inflicts
upon the country; or it might have
been used in the course of time, by
change of tho constitution. to ex-
empt from taxation every citizens
homestead in the State of Texas.
So Of the. drummer. tax. which is
founded On the same just principle,
having reference TO the mode in
which trade is now carried on. Our
own mercantile houses that send out
travelling agents pay an occupation
tan in addition to their annual 0d
| eGlorem tax. They transact their.
business inhnaking sales in just the
same manner that-is done by .mer-
camille shouses sloested at any place
outside iof. the state, as IN st. Louis,
Chicago. New York or New Orr
leans; and, therefore, to require an
occupation s-tAAl upon = all alike,
EltefherT hey travel for 9 house out
OF orkia the Estate isssimplEInot TO
discriminate aEaiRstthe trado pfsoar
oRnAnlerehaRtsoF hicll wsAll beIun-
iusfs1Az .tae.BfT tsIrzzas .sAS u
SOS WitfiVa: nircts asompany, thai
hay bring into and travel oyer The
tate awithf eReahnpdrsa tn O1sand
tSllaEs sWsntIE Of kRrppe Esg, used tor
prDfit end pRateateds vWhileginI It's
transit~sH could not be taxed as
permanent, property bysan al a.
loren tax, on. account of its tempo
rary use within the state. and there
fore an occupation tax is the proper
ono 10 be imposed. ...---.-
An occupation taxes, therefore, IL
the poir! of view here presented,
should have relation to the amount
and kind Of property used in any
occupation that is taxed. and then
it is only an approximate mode OF
reaching such property when it can
not be Justly or. adequately reached
by an al Ual0Fem taxation. An eX-
animation of the ComptrOller's re-
port will show the great increase of
revenue derived from the adoption
of this policy by the Sixteenth Leg
islatnre i'll the passage Of laws
relating 10 taxation. The al cdlOrem
taxes are assessed upon the perma-
ncnt property every year, the great
er portion of which consists in
farms, lots, and other lands, and is
1
ined il will be found that in proper
ton to the amount and value ofthis
kind of property il is less expensive
to the government by litigation in
the courts, and otherwise, than any
other property, and still il pays
the greatest amount of taxes pre-
portionately through a series of
years. Another consideration in
favor of this species of property
is that n vast amount of it in
Texas is not in cultivation, even i'll
the settled portions of the state, ana
thereby non-productive of values.
except prospectiyely. Ii, therefore,
this legislature should find it prac-
ticable to diminish the taxes, rs /
trust it may to some extent, it is
respectfully submitted that it should
be in the al GdlOTem taxes, which
bear the hardest upon permanent
property that in the main entails
the least expense upon the govern
ment in its use and for its protec-
ton. s.sf4
An incomet tax is not adapted to
this country, at this time, because
we have few incomes to tax, unless
we should consider the net profits
of business, combining labor and
capital to be incomes, which would
he IL misnomer, as that term is used
as indicating an object of taxation.
On the other branch of this prop
| osition, the honest and economical
collection and disbursement of the
revenues to those entitled to it by
the rendition of useful public SER
vice, without favoritism or extrava-
gance, ample guides are found in y
few plain rules, such as that real
efficiency is true economy, and
adequate means are necessary tG
procure il in the administration of
public as well as private affairs. For
while cheap labor in the public SER
vice tends to inefficiency on the one
hand, if to nothing worse, iavoritism
leads to dissatisfaction and cOrrup-
ton on the other, without ensuring
efficiency Almost every public SER
vice has sufficiently like il some sim
liar service in private employments
that would furnish an approximate
standard of compensation. IL is
only by q reference to and action
upon some such standard, that fully
competent services can be obtained
in public employments, which is
essential to good government.
Nothing short of q want of ability
pecuniRrily TO afford it should ever
/ preventihe state from furnishing the
means to secure competent service
in all of its departments, according
to the amount aud importance of the
work 10 be done. Neither patriot
ism nor the love of uofiice without
something like adequate eompensa-
ton. will be sufficient to procure
such services permanent. The Six
tecnth Legislature, upon the stand
ard indicated, diminished the sala-
RIGS of some of the clerks in the de-
partmsnts,' and of some other oil-
GERS and employees, without any aP
parent detriinent To tho public SER
vice, rs yet exhibited. On the other
hand provision was made for dis
trict attorneys i'm a number of dis
tricts, which increased the expense
.of the prosecuting officers OF such
districts by the salaries allowed
them. In those districts, the i'm
proVeincnt in tire execution of its
laws was manifest, from the greater
number Of convictions, and of con
viets sent To the penItentiary. Only
those familiar instances are referred
to now, but attention will again be
called to this branch of the subject,