Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-04-28
povslr AND rsIplr rAxArIon.
An Unjust and Absurd Tax = A
Storm OF Indignation In the
State.

An Unjust and Absurd Tax - A
Storm OF Indignation in the
State.
The HERALD was the first journal in
Southern Csmbrnia to call attention to
the system of double taxation which the
State Board Of Equalization has ordered
upon the vineyards Of the State. This
order will come especially heavy on Los
Angeles county which now has more
vineyard acreage than any county in the
State or nation. The action is absurd
and unjust and should be rescinded as
soon rs possible.
Tho vine is assessed in March. IL Is
then an unproductive stick and whether
1t will produce anything Of value or not
is uncertain or unknown. The frost
might kill the product, the worms
might destroy IL or the mildew blight it.
To attach value and tax on nothing
but all expectation is the sublimity of
presumption. As announced in the
HERALD the State Board has ordered all
lands planted with bearing vines to be
assessed at 800 per acre in addition to
the usual valuation Of tillable land.
Should the vines produce q crop tho
raisins and the wine are taxed. But
these are already more than justly taxed
before the grapes are grown. They are
taxed in expectancy and then taxed in
result.
Why does not the State Board tax
every spear of alfalfa and every shade
and forest tree They have value for
fuel, sson and recognized by everybody.
But q grapevine in March has no ap-
preciable assessable value. Whatever
wine is made is taxed, which makes a
triple tax. First, the land is taxed at a
good round sum; II EN- 500 per acre is
saddled on that valuation and taxed
again; aud then the wine made and the
machinery used in its manufacture is
also taxed. Is there any right reason or
Just ce for such taxation? There are
thousands Of acres Of grea ewood brush
in this county. Why does not the
Board tax each and every root and shrub
for it might he that some man by the
strength Of his MUSCLE might remove
this brush and sell il in our streets for
co N, in the same manner that the grape
grower sslls his grapes. The farmer
pays no tax ON his upgrown barley and
wheat and corn; why should he pay a
tax on the grape vine which has no crop
on its bare branches in the month OF
Marchs As we'll might the State levy
tax ON the unborn lambs o.
flock OF sheep, or ths unlaid
eggs of a flock of hens as to tax bare
grapevine in March for might-be crop
of fruit IN the autumn.
The y, ape-growers OF South, rn Cali
fornia will bear in mind that the NER.
AID has stood by their interest as well
as hat uf all other leading industries.
aud now promptly Motif g the cLlti,a-
tors of the vine Of the danger which
is before them. They will al.o
remember that this Journal long
since recommended the abolition of all
State Commissions, and ma kc the l. cted
local officers do the business Of the state
under ths laws which they are sworn
and bonded to carry uut.
BY this abolition the State would save
800, 900 per annuM, that is now and has
been thrown away for yeas. The
grape-growers should hold a meeting in
Los Angeles and take some action 10
bring this matter before the courts for
final settlement.
The following from the San Francisco
Merchant expresses the sentiment of the
viniculturists in the central part Of the
State and is in dead earnest:
While the farmers wheat escapes tax
alton, either as n growing crop or as
| merchandise, for the bulk of it is con.
sumed or exported before the first Mon.
day in the March following the harvest.
the unfortunate vineyard owner is taxed
exorbitantly. First, his land is assessed
ut an extravagant rate. Next, he is as
sessed for his vines, rs valuable improve
ments; then his wine, which is always in
his or the dealers cellar; in the March
following, the vintage is tax. d, and if he
holds back any portion Of his Wine, that
it may mature with age, it is re-taxed
every year. The Assessor and Tax-Col-
lector bleed the vineyard.owner and wine
maker at every pore. Three-ytar-old
wine, made from vines three years old,
thus, pays six or seven taxes. before the
unfortunate planter Of the vines has re-
ceived dollar of return for his first
years outlay. If, as sometimes occurs,
his three year old vines fail to produce
any thing. by reason of pest. and it some-
times occurs that certain portions OF
even matured vineyard fails from this
cause to produce anything for two or
even three years consecutively, the as
ances. Land cleared and planted in
vines ought not to be assessed at any
higher value than land Of like fertility
that has not been cleared and planted.
While roots OF alfalfa are not assessed or
taxed, the naked vine ought not to be
assessed or taxed. The alfalfa root is
not an annual like wheat but perennial
like the vine and yet the assessor does
not place it on his roll. Why, then,
should vine roots be taxed The
product of the alfalfa root, like
that of the wheat plant, generally es-
capes taxation, because most Of it is con-
sumed before tue assessor comes around,
but that of the vine, the wine, does not
escape assessment, because in March it
has neither been consumed or exported.
When, added to all other grievances,
those Soons, called the Board of Equal
ization, fix an arbitrary and unjust val
uation ON the land on which these taxed
roots stand and on every gallon of wine
they produce, and again every year on
every gallon of such wine they can fiud
in the State, the burden becomes intol.
cradle. The vineyard owners in this
State ought to resist the assessment OF
their lands at higher rate than similar
land lying naked or sown to wheat or
barley, aud also insist on naked vine
stumps not being assessed. 1t is enough
for the wine maker to pay taxes on his
whole product every year and every
year following on so much of it as he re-
serves from immediate sale.