The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1890-03-05

K
ulr as worth something below
10000, yet in the following month '
r a little later the same owner found ]
hat his place was worth vastly more ;
nd sold a two thirds interest for (
,ver S350,000, and at the same time
wanted to appeal because the assess
II thought the place worth over
100000. Another property was re-
,urned at about $4,000, and it Is
said that about the same time $780,
100 was offered and refused for the
same property.
Some sugar plantations have been
taxed at total valuation Of very /
little over the net profits for the |
year, and complaint was made of !
that assessment! The assessments !
Of rice plantations on Oahu and, to
some extent, on the other islands,
were based on a valuation of $500
per acre for lease holders interests,
and this, even where the rents paid
ranged from $50 upward But the
valuation was based on the prodac
tivity of the property as we'll as
saleable value. These few illustra-
tons. taken from the tax records,
show clearly enough that the bur
den Of taxation in these Islands is
not upon the wealthy. but, as in
nearly every other country in the
world, is upon the poor and those
least able to bear them 1t is much
harder for the kanaka in the back
woods to pay his So personal taxes
and the 81 or 81 on his land than
for the sugar planter to draw his
check for $1,000 or $4,000 We have
seen that taxation is not for the sole
purpose of revenue, but in some cases
is to encourage the development
Of trade, or some other method of
beneftting the people at large, or it
is to discourage monopolies Or GER
tain forms Of business. One of the
crying evils of Hawaii is its land
ownership. Two immense estates
are said to own over one-third of the
Kingdom. With one, the lands are
inalienable; with the other nothing
is sold if it can be avoided, or if an
income can be derived from rents.
If these estates could be cut up and
sold in reasonable farms to small
holders, it would probably add so
per cent. to the receipts for taxes on
lands in the Kingdom, and permit of
a development in other respects
which would materially increase the
public revenue and the animal pro-
duction of the country. 1t is pro-
per question to ask why the govern
ment should be deprived of revenue
merely because few land owners
| desire to hold vast tracts and keep
them waste; also why the burden OF
taxation should be increased on the
poor thereby. For the benefit of the
country it might be we'll if system
of taxation could be SO devised as tC
bear heavily on the ownership OF
land in excess Of some given area.
making due allowances for certain
uses, but looking toward forcing the
sale of large tracts Of fertile lands
kept waste, or undeveloped. Some
further revenue might be derived
from licenses. A tax could we'll be
sustained upon corporations as such
At present there is no tax except a
$25 stamp on the charter.
Some method should devised tc
compel more equal sharing Of
taxation by the sugar industry The
treaty prevents any duty upon the
sugar product, and nothing can OF
ought to be done to imperil either
the treaty or the industry While i
is generally admitted that an income
tax is one of the fairest which car
be laid, yet the objections are SC
many that it does not seem wise a
present to attempt that. But Law
compelling the planter as we'll a:
others from year to year to make al
exhibit which will show the real ne
proceeds of the business; from
which value can be placed upor
the property, would be productive O.
a more nearly equitable valuation
1t is the method used to-day to ascer
tain taxable value of the rice industry
and no valid or just reason exist
why the sugar grower should not b,
taxed upon the same basis. DaviC
A. Wells in his famous report in New
York in 1871 advocates the repeal o
laws taxing personal property a
such, and in place thereof and of ex
listing laws to raise revenue from
licenses, specific taxes ON move
ables and taxes on immoveables
Perhaps our conditions do not re
quire such very radical changes
but we must recognize as fact tina
with Us the burdens of taxation
press most heavily upon the poo
and are not equally shared by tn,
wealthy, and that such change
onght to be made as shall as nearly
as may be equalize the burdens.
i Applying to taxation in Hawaii
the four principles of DIR. Adam
Smith. it seems clear: 1st, that tn
burdens of taxation are not borne by
the citizens in proportion to thei
respective ability. "a, that the take
are practically enough, certain il
amount and time of payment Blu
it is doubtful, Sd, whether our take
are payable either at the times or il
manner most likely to be convenien
to the tax payer. They are payabl
now from November 1st to Decembe
18th of each year, although take
may be paid prior thereto. At tina
time the sugar industry require
fewer laborers than at any other tim
in the year, the crops are all in, an'
money is likely to be less free. It i
true that rice crop is coming off a
that time, but so is a crop being Gu
in May and June, and at that dat