Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-09
LEA ON THE TAX BILL.

An Open Letter From the Philadelphian-
Real Property the Fairest Basis-Al-
legged Absurdities of the Pending Meas
ure-Its Obscurity Dangerous-How to
Relieve the Taxpayer.
| Mr. Henry Charles Lea, of Philadelphia, OF
| Harrison letter fame, has transmitted the 1ol-
lowing open letter to State Senator Penrose on
| "The Bill for Local Taxation
| have looked over the "Act to provide rev.
| enue for local purposes" of which you kindly
| sent me copy, and take the liberty of calling
| your attention to some of its remarkable lea
| lures. may premise that, as large holder OF
real estate, feel the burden of local taxation
| acutely, and having comparatively but a small
amount of capital invested in personal prop
| erty, tangible" or intangible, l should proht
| largely by any legislation which should snl1t
| the burden from real estate owners to capl-
talists, if it can be done without indirectly
| causing greater evils than it removes. l can,
therefore, sympathize with the objects OF the
| bill, even though l think Its methods unwlse,
| and that if enacted it would inflict serious In
| jury on the prosperity of the State.
As heavy taxpayer, / have naturally given
the subject of taxation some thought for many
| years past, and my conviction is settled that
real property is the surest and fairest basis on
| which to levy the public revenue. 1t cannot
elude the assessor, as the great bulk of per-
SO nal property can; its value can be estimated
with reasonable accuracy, and is not subject to
violent or sudden fluctuations; moreover. the
tax levied upon 1t is sooner or later oihused
through all classes of the community by the
medium of, rentals in a voluntary and equi-
| table way. Besides all this the land owner is
| specially interested in inviting capital and
! business to maintain or increase the value
of his ground. Legislation which
attracts business to his neighbor-
hoou helps him; legislation which
cripples Injuries business hurts him more
than it does the trader or manufacturer di-
rectly affected for they can remove to a more
hospitaple region, while his investment is i'm
movable. The difference between land at S25
an acre and SIS square foot is simply that the
latter is surrounded by capital and business
while the former is remote from these sources
of value. or all classes in the community. the
land owner is the one most interested in having
capital and business untrammeled to earn the
largest profits. He gets, sooner or later, his
share in those profits and it is suicidal for him
to drive away that which alone give his land
its special value over Government lands in the
Territories.
Personal Property Elusive.
Experience has shown, moreover, that all de-
vices to secure the complete and equitable as
sessment of personal property have proved
failures, except when it is in the hands of cor
porations. Nothing is more elusive than in
tangible personal property. After legislative
ingenuity is exhausted, the assessor must rely,
for the most part on the honesty of the taxa
BILE, which results in the honest paying both for
themselves and for the dishonest If the pres
sure becomes too severe for the honest capital
is easily transmitted elsewhere and is lost to
the community. The craftsman of the bill un-
der consideration has spared no pains or rigor
to accomplish his purpose, and has only
succeeded in inventing system odiously and
inSutferably inquisitorial to the honest taxable
destructive to the privacy which is the right OF
every citizen in his private affairs. and wholly
inefficient to prevent, detect, or punish fraud,
despite the lavish threats of fine and imprison-
ment. Thus section II threatens three years at
hard labor and fine of 81, 900 for corrupt COM
bination between an assessor and taxable
person" wholly overlooking the fact that as
both are liable to the punishment each can de-
pend on the silence of the other. just as we
have already found the same principle work in
rendering nugatory our statutes against
bribery. In fact, the enormous power which
this bill lodges in the hands of the assessor.
throws too much temptation in their way for
not to expect that it would be largely
abused on the one hand for oppression and on
the other for unlawful gain. The wise legisla-
tor will always take into account the weakness
of human nature and will not imagine that by |
piling up penalties he can avert the conse-
QuenceS OF exposing IL TO TOO severe strain
The impoSsibility of accomplishing the OBJ |
1ect aimed at in the blll-the subjection to local
taxation of every fragment of personal prop
erty owned by each taxable in excess of $500 in |
value-is sufficiently proved by the grotesqus |
provisions for the assessment of tangible per- |
sonai property. Each taxable is required by !
section to present to the assessor a complete |
inventory of everything owned by him, and |
business firms and corporations are expressly |
made taxable persons" for this purpose The |
mlnuteness with which this Is to be done is lu. |
dicrn1 sly uStratpd bV the NTH sDenial llansa
in this section prescribing that musical instru-
ments," including. presume, jews-harps and |
tin trumpets, shall not be omitted. Every |
householder thus must hand in a catalogue of |
all the contents of his house, every business |
concern full and detailed account of stock, |
every manufacturer a complete statement of |
all materials, tools and machinery. Everyone,
moreover, must set forth in detail all debts and
accounts due to him, for if he fails to enumer- |
ate any of them they become outlawed and un- |
collectible but no permission is given to de- |
duct liabilities, so that all business indebted |
ness within the State will be taxed twice, |
which will be severely oppressive to the |
debtor class
Every Taxable a Rogue.
There is no provision that any values are to be ]
affixed to these enormous inventories, for the
bill regards every taxable as rogue and will
not trust him, but it imposes on the assessor |
the impossible task of affXing to every item |
"the price or value the same would sell if such |
piece or parcel of the same were sold singly or |
separately at bona rde sale after full public |
notice" 1t seems incredible that preposter-
GUS suggestion should be made to a legisla- |
tive body, but suppose the franer of the bill |
had in view only the simple contents of barn |
or farmyard with their comparatively easily |
ascertainable values and never contemplated |
the consequences of applying his plan to the |
complicated interests of a large city. Even he, |
however, suppose can imagine what would |
be the task of the assessor on whom would fall |
the valuation of the inventory of Mr. Wana- |
makers grand depot, or Messrs. Cramp &
Sons shipyard, or the Baldwin Locomotive
Works. Such system as this would be ihop. |
erative through its cumbrous Impossibility. |
and it would disappear under storm |
of public ridicule and detestation, |
but not before it had had time TO |
work unimaginable annovance to the people, |
A minor evil would be the swarm of assessors |
let loose upon the community. like the locusts |
of Egypt for 1t would require several hundred |
in our own city to value the contents of the |
houses stores and factories of Philadelphia,
which are estimated, believe at between Vs.
O0O and O0O00. Another evil would be the me- |
cessi1y under Section D. lines 4243, of preserv-
ing ali these voluminous inventories, the accu.
mutation of which in a few years would require
vast storehouses.
To crown the offensive absurdity of all this
Section 81 requires that all these lists with their
valuations shall be printed, and a copy be de-
Iivered to every taxable. With the obscurity
customary in the bill it is not stated whether