The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-11-24
STATE TAXATION.
.sln. BELLS MINORITY REPORT.

The State Tux Cun,mission's preliminary
Majority Report sne,l FOR Careless.
ness nnd tnnccuracy In Prc,aises a /,
'ti'' mid Erronsous Cancellations.
1 1t will be remembered that when the
preliminary report Of Tho State Ink Com
mission was submitted TO Governor jack
son, 1t was stated Tint Mr.. Joseph Bell, Of
this city, q nlembcr OF the, Commission,
would present minority report, us he
disagreed in many respects with the con-
clusions Of tho other commissioners. To
tho preparation Of this report Mr.. Bel has
given much time and labor, and it has just
been Issued from tho press. 7tyH}yJs e
The minority report opens with aquota-
ton from Section +: Of tho act creating this
Commission which says: "The Commis.
sloners shall ascertain and report such
facts and suggestions as'will enable the
Legislature to give effect to Section of
| AAtt'e'u lppi LNC SpIlSLItUtlbll,
Section Of Article 10 Of the Constitution
reads us follows: "TaXation shall be equal
and uniform throughout the State, and all
property, both real and personal, shall be
taxed IN proportion TO its value, to be rs.
certalned as directed By law. No one
| species OF property from whicha tax may
be collected shall be taxed higher than
a'y other species Of property OF equsl
me different views taken OF this SEEM
ingly plain provision are referred to. One
view is that 1t contemplates tiat every per-
son in the State shall be taxed in proper
ton to what he is worth after the payment
oi his debts; and the other that It means,
virtually: "All property in the State boil,
real and personal shall be assessed, with
out any deduction, at its full value and
shall hc taxed thereon ut uniform rnte,"
MIR. Bell thinks the former view the
proper one.
TIE TWO CLASSES OF PROPERTY. t.t |
The differences between real estate and
personal property, in regard to taxation,
are clearly and succinctly stated. Some OF
these observations are worth quoting:
"One vital fact connected with the prob
lens OF taxation and OF State development
in Vest Virginia is, that k,e rulue Of he
real essa'c u deIendtnt upon tie au,onnt Of
perSonal property upon and ncar il. As
this iact IL oil much importance, and seems
to great extent to have escaped public
attention, few words in illustration OF it
will not be out OF place.
ut is matter 0i common observation
that land is low in price where money il
scarce, and has higher value where It is
abundant. Strictly speaking, the land is
OF small value wherever there is but little
personal property, either money or things
readily convertible into money, Us horses,
cattle and merchandise, and is OF greater
value wbercthcre is more OF such property.
This is found to be uniformly the case
eyerywhcrein the State, and explains why
| 1t 10 that land i'll thccounty Of Mcdowell,
where there is only $4,000 worth OF per-
'onal property in the whole county, is
worth but hfty.seven cents per acre; while
IN Ohio county land, where the assess-
ment OF personal property exceeds six
milsionsof dollars, averages $500 per acre.
EFFECT OF POPULATION.
"The common impression that the vari
alton in the value OF land is owing to the
difference in the density of the population
IS erroneous, except III so iar that the
larger population generally, although not
uniformly, possesses the greater amount
81 personal property. As an instance:
Mason county has more population than
Harrison, with about the same territory,
but rs the personal property is materially
less, so is the value Of land pcracre, Mason
helns rated at Sl5,20, and Harrison at
$n25S. .f .l,ls
Another illustration is furnished bv
Jackson and Berkeley counties, which are
very nearly. OF the same area and popula.
lion, but rs the personal property OF
Berkeley is much the greater so is the
value Of tho land, the one being S2o. 10
and the other S4.40 per aero. "2Es7s5 s..t-5SS:s'
< 1T is impossible that land in any COM
munity should have any substantial value,
unless there be persons within reach who
have the means to buy it. The land can
notprodnce anything without the invest
ment OF personal property in some form
upon it; even the standing trees cannot
hc turned into timber, nor the game
killed, without the expenditure ~oi more
or less personal property <
METHODS OF TAXATION.
Aside from the speculative value OF
land, it is held, real estate has no value
which is not derived from the presence OF
personal property. Personal property,
however, disappears When taxed. There.
fore the tax laws should have regard for
these facts. S4
One view oi taxation is that the offices
OF an assessor should he arbitrary and
inqulsitorlal, compelling every citizen to
disclose al the mlnuti,r of his bupincss.
This view. Alr. Boil declares, is adopted
by the Commissioners who made The
majority report, and he quotes from that
paper, which advises that, there should
be noihalf or timid measures The tax
payer must he watched and must be CON.
PEELED to reveal everything about his
business; nothing whatever is to he kept
back. "Evcry man should make 4 full
showing up, "a sort Of Doomsday Book.
"The law should be stringent enough to
make the risk OF m untruthiul list too
great to be profitable" The taxpayer
must be intimidatod into making satis.
factory return. Suggestions OF this char.
actcr abound throughout the document
1t is stated that the objection TO disclosing
private affairs is mcrelyu prctcxt for thol
No'""i'Cc VI '"A"'Iou. Livery sleHl OF
property Of whatever kind or character
must be taxed; no offsets are to be allowed +
to any one on account OF debt, and, the
assurance is confidently given, THAT
everybody will be entirely satisfied with
hemethod established" !&;@ ~ {. iiS8 !
70 these views Mr.. IIelf takes exception, !
i'll these words N ~, - Y: !.s M y,a
;i"In.the opinion Of the writer, justice be-
tween. the State md the taxpayer should I
be, Tander our Constitution, The funda: {
mental principle, governing taxation. !
ANY uniairncsS in tho Law will hn met hu {