Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-10-03
New Series, Vol. 20, No 40.
TAXATION.
Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.

d voted upon by the people of Ohio in No.
# yember is the proposed amendment to
: Constitution relating to taxation. This
: is political question, of course, but il
n is not partisan, and may therefore be
e discussed and voted upon without re-
= gard to party interests and upon business
: principles exclusively.
E The proposition is to unite the hands
g of the Legislature, or in other words to
g unite the hands of the people. Near
l forty years ago the present Constitution
l was adopted, and in addition to laying
/ down fundamental principles 1t included
: matters largely legislative, and further
more made it difficult and practically al
most impossible to amend it. As a con-
, sequence but few amendments have been
adopted. And yet, in many respects,
Ohio has outgrown her constitution.
The methods of doing business have
undergone wonderful changes in the last
third of century, and as consequence
changes in legislation are required, and
in no respect is this so apparent as in
that which relates to the methods of
taxation.
The aim of the trainers of the Consti-
tuition was to secures system that would
be equal, and that would discriminate,
if at all, in favor of real estate, and
against personal property. The result
has proved to be the reverse of what was
expected. The effect is to discriminate,
not directly it is true, but indirectly
against real estate. The latter thrives
upon the industries of the people, and
anything that depresses the latter bears
heavily upon the former.
This grows out of the aim to reach
property that is fugitive in character.
The latter can always find hiding place,
and it does. The result is that which
comes under the head of personal in
the tax duplicate is almost altogether in
vestments in industrial pursuits Money
and bills receivable are not returned for
| taxation, and will not be, under our
present system; nor can they be reached,
even where twenty-five per cent. is paid
to informers to hunt them up. This has
been fully demonstrated.
Look at the tax returns made in April
in Ohio, and there is hardly money
enough reported to buy weeks food for
the people. Does anybody suppose Ohio
is as poor as that? Nobody, of course.
But money is fugitive commodity, and
it finds hiding place, and in way, too,
that satisfies the conscience of people
who make tax returns,
1t is the same with regard to bills re-
ceivable. These do not appear in tax
returns. Neither do stocks or bonds
that are taxable under the laws of Ohio.
How many of them are to be found on
the tax duplicate in any county in Ohio?
Next to none; and you might appoint
informers in every county, and the
amount would not be increased. Recent
ly an effort was made to catch some
stockholders in the Big Four Railroad
and the Ft. Wayne Railroad in this city
and they were caught, but they have
not yet paid the taxes and will not, ex-
cept at the end of a lawsuit that will
terminate in Washington. And the alb
surd feature in this connection is that
no attempt has been made to collect such
taxes anywhere in Ohio except in Ham
ilton County; and another feature is that
search with fne-tOOth comb would
not now find holder of such securities
in Hamilton Comfy Figuratively
speaking, they took wings and flew away.
That is where the fugitive business
comes in.
There is surplus money enough in
Cincinnati to carry the debt of this city
and county at four per cent, but be-
cause of our tax system the owners of
the wealth are forced to look elsewhere
for investments, or if they own city or
county bonds, lie about them when they
come to make tax returns. OF course
nobody would pay par for four-per-
cent. bond and pay tax of two and
on the bond. 1t is not
worth while to discuss that proposition.
The same remark applies to the bonds of
the State of Ohio. The bonds about
which we are writing, by way of illus
tration, are in point of security as good
as those of the United States, vet our
people buy the latter because they are
free from local taxation, while they will
not touch our State or municipal bonds
because they are subject to local taxa
tion.
Then again, the mortgage debt of the
people of Ohio-that is, money borrowed
On real estate, aggregates over three
hundred million dollars. How much of
his is on the tax duplicate? None.
Mortgage notes are held abroad, and the
interest goes abroad. What a tremen-
lous stream of money goes out of Ohio
every year to pay interest, while our
,wn people find it difficult to find reliable
,ecuritieSl
On real estate mortgages the interest
laid is ga 4 per cent, whereas but for
,ur ridiculous tax law, which produces
10 revenue, it would be one or two per
,ent. less. This means that the double
axation of real estate mortgages costs
ohio borrowers indirectly three to five
Millions a year, while it brings praeti-
ally nothing into the State or municipal
TeaSurieS.
Merchants and business men need not
,e told how tremendously our bungling
AK system operates against our indus
ries. 1t places Ohio at great disad-
antage as compared with other States
With which we are in business cOmpeti-
ion.
What is wanted in Ohio is a simplifi-
alton of our tax system that will in
rease the income and reduce the rates
that will invite capital instead of re-
elling it. This can not be had under
ur present Constitution. Hence the
Importance of adopting the proposed
NJ. NJ. SOUTHwORTH, one of the emf
emily anti-slavery agitators of New
: -ork, and one of the first members of
he Republican party, committed suicide