Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1882-01-28
LETTER on STATE DERr, NO.
Kate of Taxation.

Editor Chronicle:
Governor James d. Porter in his
open letter to Harrington, published
in 1873 shortly after the defeat of
the sos proposition, says:
"Public opinion is fixed upon one
point, not to exceed an additional
levy of 80 cents, making the State
tax 40 cents. This has been the
pledge of the Democracy for the
past four years
This had, indeed. been the pledge
of the Democracy for more than
six years, ever since they had re-
gained control of the State, that
there should be no settlement of the
State debt which would involve the
levying of tax of more than 40
cents. When John G. Brown ran
for Governor in 1872 and advocated
the passage of a funding bill, he
pledged the people that the interest
on the new bonds could be paid
with d forty cent tax. When he
was elected he recommended to the
legislature forty cent levy and it
was fixed at that rate. When at
the close of his administration it
had become evident that this
would not pay the interest, he re-
fused TO recommend an increase.
In his farewell message in January
1915. he says:
'The revenues by the valuation
of 1873 at the rate of four mills, are
scarcely sufficient to meet the de-
mands upon the treasury. Then
the problem for your solution is, to
make up the present deficiency
without increasing the present
rate"
Governor Porter in his opening
message of the same month, says:
''The rate of taxation cannot be
/ increased without infiicting irrepa-
IA BILE injury upon the people"
The democratic convention which
met at Nashville the next year,
1876, after disclaiming any thought
of Reputation, declares:
"For the present, however, oe-
cause OF depression i'll business,
shrinkage in values, the prostration
of all industries and ilnpoverish-
ment of our people, we are unable
TO endure and are therefore opposed
| to any increase of taxation"
Rather than increase the rate 40
cents, the State refused to carry out
the settlement which the legislature
had made in 1878, and compro-
mise was rendered necessary. In
every proposition for compromise
that was discussed, 10 cents was
fixed as the highest rate that could
be levied and finally when the
1908 bill was passed, 40 cents was
fixed as the rate of taxation under
which it should be carried success
fully into execution.
Well might Governor Porter say
then that public opinion was fixed
upon this point; nor was public
opinion at all unreasonable in fixing
this as the limit. In most of the
States of America, all or nearly all
the expenses of government, the
support of lunatics, the pay of jurors,
the costs of criminal prosecutions,
the board of prisoners in Jail, and in
some of the States, the expense of
public schools is paid ont of the
State treasury. In Tennessee by
singular arrangement, these expen-
ses are about eqallly divided be-
tween State and county, so that the
State levy in itself, affords but little
idea of the actual burden imposed
upon the taxpayers. 1t may be
safely asserted that the average rate
OF taxation, State and county, over
the state is very little less than one
per cent, while in Montgomery
county in consequence of our local
debt, it is more. To this must be
added pOll-taX of from one to two
dollars upon each male citizen I'M
der the age of fifty years, in the
state. When it is remembered that
this is outside of all city or munich
pal taxation, it is easily understood
why Governors Brown and Porter
and every prominent state-credit
democrat in Tennessee, has COM
mitted himself to the position that
a Al cent levy is the utmost that
can be endured.
Let us see then whether this rate,
together with the tax upon mer-
chants, privileges &C., and the in
come derived from clerks and the
lease of the penitentiary, is suffi-
cient to pay the current expenses of
the state and the interest on our
state debt under the 1908 bill.
y careful inspection of the comp
trOllers reports for the ten years of
democratic administration in Ten
neSSee, from 1871 to 1881, will show
that what is commonly known as
the privilege tax, being the income
derived from merchants, clerks,
lease of penitentiary and all other
sources except property tax, did
not upon an average pay the cur
rent expenses of the state by more
than two hundred thousand dollars
a year. For most of this time the
state levy was 40 cents and the tax
upon privileges with few eXcep-
tions, was as high as it is now.
From October 1871 to January
1881, period of 8 years and 3
months, the receipts from privilege
es &C., amounted in the aggregate,
to $4,O12,79O. For the same period
the current expenses of the state
amounted to S6,42S,G72. So that
the latter exceeded the former by
-, Ais, 1872 in the aggregate, or in
round numbers, 100000 per an
mum.
The current expenses for the next
four years must be unusually heavy,
since there is the penitenriary to
rebuild; the lunatics of our state