New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-10-30

1881 passed. an acU WulCu h"uo Az VIZ
the Controller to levy and collect 1or tho uSo
of the State, tax from certain corporations
sincorporated under the laws OF this otato vi
Incorporated under the laws OF any oIno !,
Estate or country, doing business In thls ota'e.
Under this law there was paid into the otate
Treasury from October /, 1881, to Juno l,
1890 tbe handsome sum of 1866, 500 W.
Direct,v after tbe law was passed the Con-
troIIor ~ tbe State EXPRESSED the opinion In his
annual report that the revenue when wouiu
eventually be reached under it would amount 10
Sc. 900 900 annually, and the hguIes ABOVE
given show that his estimate was reasohaoio'
Another niece of work In the same direction
accomplished by the Legislature of 1880 was the
passage of a law providing for the taxation Oh
foreign banks. From this source considerable
revenue will be yielded to the State. Tho
creation of tho Tax Commission OF 1881 Is also
to be placed to the credit of the Repuolcahs'
That commission was composed OF men tnoI-
oughly competent to grapple with the PROF.
lens presented for their consideration, anu
the recommendations contained IN thelr re :
ports were generally felt to be sounu anu
practicable. The value in dollars ana cents
of what the Republican party has thus ac-
complished for the taxpayers OF the state Is
very large. The Controller reported In jan
uary last that the State tax for the current
fiscal year was 2l4 mills-the lowest since
1856. What made the tax so low The re-
nort tolls us. @Tbe reduction" it says, " OF
- the rate of taxation for State purposes 10 the
"aboye low figure is attributable to the revenue
"derived from the tax put upon the FRANCHISE
@or business of corporations by act chapter o1%
l." OF 1880 and to a judicious use or the veto
apower by Governor Cornell" And the report
adds that if the Legislature will enact into
"statutes some of the recommendations made
- nv the Tax Commission OF 1881 it will be but
q n few years before the entire amount neces-
q sary for the proper maintenance of the State
Government can be collected, UlHOut @pyiH9
{" am tar on the SereraI countess"
Such an exhibit as this makes an excellent cam
paign document. 1t is not a fair promise it Is
a grand performance 1t Is one OF the many
good and wholesome results OF Republican rule
in New-York. By their fruit we shall know
them-poltica parties as well as trees. The
ReDublicans have dealt with the tax question,
and the fruit is millions of dollars annually
mourning into the public treasury. The Dem
ocratic Legislature of 1882, urged by the Con-
troller to enact into statutes the recommends
lions of the Tax Commission to the end that
the State Government might be speedily main
tanned without levyng any tax on the cOw-
ties, not only declined to respond to that re-
ouest but neglected to consider the tax ques-
ton in any of its salient phases. The rad
ical difference between Republican and Dem
ocratic administration was never more sig
nally illustrated.
1t is only fair to add that the platform
which the Democracy adopted at Syracuse con-
tains a beautiful expression of regard for the
taxpayers and several sentences filed with
sorrow at the thought that the burden of taxa
ton is not equally distributed.