The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-11-14

Great Britain is less han it was forty
years ago. wealth is more evenly dis
tributcd and the condition of the work
ing man has steadily grown better. In
America, on the other hand taxation has
increased and thanks to the inequality
possible under our system, while the rich
have been paying from 3 to 10 per cent
of their annual savings as taxes the
poor have been paying from % to 10 per
cent. The disproportiOn between rich
and poor has been growing greater and
the condition of the masses has been
growing worse instead of better. Today
the greater part of the property in the
United States is owned by 100000 per-
sons, one-sixtieth of the adult male popu-
lation. In thirty years, if the present
system of taxation is continued, the
United States will be owned by $4,000
persons, one-five hundrcdths of the adult
male population.
Montana is too young a state for this
evil to make itself felt as yet, but the
time is coming when the people of this
state will have the same difficulty con-
fronting them. 1t therefore seems al
most imperative that the legislature
should take steps to prevent the evil, if
possible, or at least to modify it. Can a
remedy be found? The social reformers
believe that in the modification of our
present methods of taxation will be
found a remedy which will go far toward
curing the evil. One of the methods
they propose is the graduated income
law already mentioned. and another is
a tax on land value. both of which l
heartily approve. But there is still a
third kind of tax that can and should be
| m, nlnynI NOT ,,,1x- for tIn -,r.~, - -.
creasing the of the state, but
of securing a more equitable distribution
of the burden of taxation and incident
ally a more equal distribution of wealth.
This is a succession tax or tax on inner
%itances. Such a tax is levied in En-
gland, Australia, New Zealand, and
Switzerland, while in this country Penn
%sylvania, New York, Maryland, and Mas
sachusetts have taken steps in that di-
r%ection. In Australia, New Zealand,
and Switzerland the taxation of inherit
ances amounts to a conscious attempt to
influence the distribution of property.
1t may be objected that such a tax i'm
pairs the right of private property, but
this is not the fact. The right to the
possession and enjoyment of ones own
property while living is vastly different
from the right to say what shall be done
with it after death. The right to dispose
OF property according to a mans will has
grown up. not as a necessary result of
the right of property, but as an extern
sion Of liberty to the individual, and the
laws regulating inheritance have avow-
edly the purpose of protecting the fam
ily-the immediate family of the de-
cedent. In the proposition to tax inherit
ances there is nothing which impairs this
protection. While it is believed that all in
heritances should be taxed, provided
the share of the heir exceeds a certain
amount, the inheritances of the direct
heirs, that is the wife and children,
should be left comparatively free. The
rate should be low and the amount ex-
empt large. The shares of collateral
relatives should, however, be taxed on a
graduated and progressive scale %increas-
ing with the degree of relationship and
the amount of inheritance Such a tax
would be no burden. Property which
comes by inheritance is an income re-
ceived without toll and represents SO
much new capital. 1t is an unearned in
rement OF property and for that rea-
son, if no other, may properly be taxed.
The most satisfactory basis on which
property can rest is personal toll and ex-
Oi'ioh oho WHICH, ploPCity ohiC otlCi-
wise than as a return for social service,
such a special tax finds a basis in justice.
But aside from that reason since there
is and always will be difficulty in oh
tanning from property a fair share of the
taxes it should pay, during the lifetime
OF the owner, a tax upon estates will, to
some extent, aid in relieving the extra
burden now borne by the small owners.
An illustration of this is found in a
famous estate here in Montana. This
estate paid little or no taxes during the
lifetime of the owner. 1t now passes
promptly into the hands of strangers re-
siding outside OF the state, and that too
after costing the state a large sum of
money because of the litigation that has
arisen concerning it. Yet, it will con- |
tribute but an infinitesimal portion of
that cost in the way of taxes.
But while we are seeking for a release |
from our burdens in the way of i'm |
proved methods of raising a revenue, we |
should not lose sight Of our expendl
lures. Our aim should be to redu ce |
them to the lowest possible limit con-
sistent with good government. 1t has
always seemed to me that a greater part
OF our expenditures could be done away |
with by passing laws making the various
departments OF the state self-supporting |
by means OF a system of fees. But how
ever we may look upon that question
certainly economy in the administration |
OF the laws is n of the most effective
methods Of solving the problem pre-
sented by the question of revenue and
taxation.