Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-03-20

Money on hand. 1ss2. 1887.
Ohio. ...............St e l6c SEQ 49, 1872, 12i
Geauga 55a.o55 Ills
Here. again, a wave of poverty has
flooded the whole State. in tolerablv
equal proportions. Honey is evidently
rapidly vanishing. for the total stock of
the State has fallen off ST.. OOO 600 in five
years, diminishing ttreaty-fce per cent.
in Hamilton, but only twenty per cent.
in Geauga. We now look at
Credits lSs2 1857
Ohio, ......---..... sIOi8as,93s s1o6.173s9s
Hamilton -..----... 6.5.l,S59 5,.S5,9l5
u eauga. .-----.-.-.----- 0tu.693 a34, 40
Here we see that Ohio. as State. is a
money lender to the extent of one per
cent more in 1887 than in 1882 But
again the poor agriculturists of Cincin-
natl come to the front. with loss of
SS36.00O or 1915 per cent. of their total
stock, while the loss in Geauga county
is only about one-third as much, or .
trife over 4 per cent.
HOW OHIO WATCHES Go.
In reviewing this sad picture of de-
cline, one is reminded of GolGsmith's
melancholy words:
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.
But in Ohio, it appears that men accu-
mulate and wealth decays; for the popu-
lation of the State has largely increased.
while apparently its wealth is ebbing
away. Truly was it said by the wise
man of old. that riches have wings"
for the disappearance of money from
Ohio conclusively proves it. Looking at
the returns of carriages. one is tempted
to think that the principal reason why
they have wheels is to enable the
owners to take them out of Ohio: and as
for the watches, they are certainly not
open to the accusation so often brought
against French clocks, that they will
never GO Ohio watches certainly can
and do go with rapidity and steadi.
ness not often equaled.
THE MOoN-sTRUCK THEORISTS
Figures like these might be collecte>
not only from the statistics of Ohio, but
from those of every State and country
under the sun, where statistics are kept
and personal property is taxed. They
are the moon-struck theorists, who, in
contradiction of all the facts and all the
experience of the world, persist in the
vain endeavor to tax personal property.
and in the absurd assertion that this
form of taxation tends to relive farmers.
Farmers cannot conceal their sheep
and oxen, their plows and implements;
and they have enormous difficulty in
concealing their wealth in any form.
because their affairs are so well
known to all their neighbors. If they
have any money in bank, all the vii
lage knows it. If they have loaned
money or sold goods on credit their
debtor is pretty sure to be some one in
the immediate neigh borhood: and all
the circumstances are known to fifty
people. The average farmer, when
making his returns to the assessor is
afraid to understate his wealth very
greatly, because he could hardly look
the assessor in the face after doing SO,
being conscious that, if the assessor
does not already know the truth, he can
with very little difficulty find it out for
himself But in large towns and cities,
Gcarcely any man knows, intimately, the
affairs of his neighbor, and the assessor
knows least of all. People are reputed
to be worth 81. 900, O00,~ who in reality
are not worth $50. 900: and others are re-
puted to be worth only $780, 900. who in
reality are worth $4,000, 600. Even if
the amount of any mans wealth is APP
proximately known, none of his neigh
bors know how that wealth is invested
unless it is put in real estate. The as
SCISSOR therefore has absolutely no means
of ascertaining the value of any mans
personal property, except by returns
from that man himself. or from the cor
porations with whom he may happen to
invest. If an Ohio man makes his prin-
cipal investments in corporations out
side of the State. the assessor is entirely
at the mercy of the taxpayer. He can
tell any number of lies with impunity.
The assessor rarely or never examines
his books of account; and. If assessors
once began to make such an examina-
ton many rich men would cease to keen
books of account at all, as it is notorious
that they did when the income tax was
N existence. All things combine TO
make it easy for the assessor to reach
the farmers personal property and diff
fcult for him to reach that of the me--
chant, banker or city capitalist.
To Be continued