The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1886-04-21

tinuance Of the OLD debt; II q also claimed
that net,wsithstsndins ,sit the statutes, except
taos sSe s @ SoSs snd issued S Secae Ss ro tax s
alton. yet all the certificates that had been
issued up to that time had written upon their
ssosSsp evidence ssss bonds esuss
in 1855 were to be subject e, taxation in the
fact that this exemption from taxation was
In view Of what has been stated as to the
action of the constitutional convention and
the view they took of the matter of taxing
"the f-amers Of the Constitution OF 1851 did
not have common sense" according to Gen
Beatty and that y be taol
who were better fitted for an inbeclle asylum
than a constitutional convention" But,
question Of what the constitutionai a, oonven. en-
So far as the .'.thrustlng aside of the law
true that such has been largely the case, and
that is exactly what the special message
sought TO call attention to.
If all the bonds and taxable securities of
the State had been honestly returned there
would never have been need for three per
cent rate of taxation In Ohio-1H per cent.
would have been more than ample to have
Afforded us the revenues we have enjoyed.
The injuries of this 'thrusting aside" process
ie that the farmers, manufacturers mer-
chants and other business men of the State
who are doing something to develop our in.
dustries and add to our happ ness iind wealth
necessarily have their property in such shape
that 1t can not be put into . tin box and
"thrust aside In the vaults of a bank or
safety deposit company. and consequently
ne ghbors also who can and do thus thrust
aside. their property and swear around the
As to the policy Of taxing the bonds of the
State there Is much to be said on both sides.
/ recogn Zed this when in my message used
this language: IF II were not for its che
might be said in favor of cxemptne from
taxation the bonds of our State and munioi-
pal governments to the end that we might
not tax our credit and drive our securities
| away, but keep them at home and pay the
interest on them to our own people,"
General Beatty seems to think men who be.
| the hands Of Its citizens. as other property.
| are only "demagogcal fools fit for imbecile
etc may be they are but
such men as Rufus P. Ranney and William
8. Groesbeck
The debates of the convention Of 1850 81
show that they thought nnd said. that 1t was
right to tax this species of property the
! same as any other, because It was equally
protected @ ,s ana benefited bly, by the Govern.
support. and in answer to the objection
that to tax tho bonds would be to drive them
see seem n vers,siiiy c,ther-tRat the stats o would M
| not be harmed thereby, since in their judg-
ment 1t was calculated to promote our well
|
vested In business enterprises that would.dc.
| velop our resources, or loaned on mortgage
| to those who would SO invest 1t, rather than
ties that could be thrust aside from the tax
collector. In other words they did not
| seem to think that a bond holding class was
| class. and consequently did not regret the
| fact, II such 1t should turn out to be, that to
tax the bonds would drive them out Of the
state in exchange for money that would go
| into the business in our midst,
If our credit Is SO good that VIC can sell our
bonds, as We have done, Mt a rate so low that
| our own citizens can not afford to hold them
| and pay taxes it is to be supposed that they
will not wish to buy. II we had no market
except among our own people it would be
| quite different thing, but as long us Now
| York, Boston and the money markets of Eu-
| rope stand ready to take our bonds at rates
| less than our taxes the State will not suffer
bonds abroad instead Of at home.
General Beatty further says that when
than ~ per cent. interest the Governor OF
Oh o, the Auditor. the Attorney General and
the people of the State knew that no tax
that no t tax ~ could be paid on o., them then The The
bonds were both sold and bought with this
distinct understanding" In this statement
mistake, for, on the contrary. the Governor,
Auditor and Attorney General were each
and all of the opinion that the bonds to be
bidders and particularly the suocessfui S @ bid.
III The e' claim that the Sinking Fund comm's
as one of them, had knowledge that the
bonds were not being taxed is not tenable
for the reason that while the Sinking Fund
| Commissioners hed access to the list Of own
ere Of bonds and might therefrom ascertain
who held them. It is not true that any mem
Der Of the sinking Fund Commissioners he6
were returned by the Individuals In theii
respective counties for taxation or not. The,
had nothing whatever to do with such re
turn.
So far as revaluation of real estate ia con
cerned, It is chiefly necessary to secure uni
formity Of valuation. Real estate. 8 not val
largely in excess Of personal property. The
IL can not be thrust aside. and CON.
sequently all of It gets on the duplicate
at some kind Of valuation. 1t is not right
however, that the lands Of one coucty should
| be valued at seventy-nve per cent and
twenty.f Ave per cent. Besides the manifest
States courts ase M ana ahd
twenty.six suits brought by as many different
banks, alleging that the real estate of Ohio Is
| valued on the average at not more than
forty per ceut. Of its true value, and ask ny
| that the valuations OF their shares for taxa.
| ton may cut down TO that same figure. II
| they succeed, and almost every such suit has
been snccessful though we hope to defoat
these, the result will be that no kind OF
| peCSOnhi properly cen Oe VHuQly taxed IN
Ohio above forty per cent. ct its true value
until another revaluatiOn ts had of the rea
estate This would utterly destroy the in
| tegrity OF our tax duplicate and make It i'm
possible for the State to meet her engage
! ments
The danger is ono We can avoid II we will
and ! think the danger too serious to war
rant us In taking any 7 ak about It, The rea
estate owners of tho State can far better af
ford to have a revaluatOn now than run tn,
risk Of having their burdens. OF taxation al
most doubled, as would be he necessary
/ consequences of u decision of the courts tina
lands In Ohio are appraised at only forty Pc
| cent. of thclr true value and that conse
quently NO personal property should b,
valued In excess Of that iigure.
II such y revaluat on can be had subjec
to single State Borrd OF Rev sion and
| Equalxat on, as was recommended, witt
power without limit to take from and add t.
as may be necessary to equalize county will
county, and every spec.cs of property will
every other. then there will be an end OF the
| dangers that now threaten us from lack Of
uniformity, since the Judgment of such
board, in the absence of fraud or mistake
would be final and conclusive in law, to es
tabish full and uniform valuations. no mat
ter how much 1t might differ from the judg
ment OF other men. Very respectfully,
J. B. FORAKER.
| Presidential Count Bill.