Los Angeles herald., 1891-01-08
WHAT SHOULD Bs DONE. AND AT ONCE.


The question of taxation has been al
lowed to become in California a great
incubus on the property-holder. Al
though we have an astonishingly small
state debt, our affairs are most extrava-
gantly mismanaged. The expenditure
of over twelve millions of dollars by the
last legislature was an unexampled rec
ord OF prodigality. Unfortunately. the
responsibility for these colossal expendi-
lures was divided, the Democrats having
had control of the senate, so that the
issue did not figure as largely in the last
campaign as it should have done. To
every arraignment of the extravaganza
of Gov. Waterman's administration that
was made by Democrat, the invariable
reply was, "Well, where was your Demo-
cratic senate? ?" There was force in this
reioinder that no fair-minded man could
evade, and the Republicans were thus
allowed to escape much of their personal
and party responsibility.
But dropping any partizan view of the
matter, the whole system of taxation OF
the state of California is wrong. 1t is
not only wrong, but it has features of
injustice that range between downright
piracy and fiat burglary. The delin-
quent system is an outrage. If man
is unable to pay his taxes at given
moment, the state should buy his prop
erty in and hold it for a reasonable
time, charging him only fair rate of
interest. No mans misfortune should
be allowed to cost him more than at the
rate of 10 per cent. year. To exact
more, or to permit more to be eXacted,
is robbery of the boldest kind. Our de-
linquent tax law is relic of barbarism.
Then the system of collecting our taxes
is radically vicious one, and in San
Francisco their distribution is on an
equally vicious plan. The taxes are
gathered in lump sum. A large pro-
portion of the money thus accruing is
sent to Sacramento, where it is sup
posed to be Theoretically sealed in the
vaults OF the state treasury. "A strong
movement is now on foot, which ought
to materialize in the present legislature,
to have the taxes collected semi-annually.
A quarterly collection would be much
better. Under such system the money
collected from the people would be
quickly returned to the channels OF busi-
ness. As to the boards which are gath
cred in the vaults of the state treasurer
at Sacramento, they ought to be loaned
out, according to some provision OF the
law, in the several counties of the state,
on a pro rata of the contributions of
those counties to the state taxes, to the
highest and best bidder. This would
prevent their being gambled off by the
sons or other favnrtes OF state treasur
ers, and would enrich the treasury.
Every year severe money stringency
is created in San Francisco by that pro-
vision of the law which forbids the
spending OF more than one-twelfth OF the
taxes raised in that city in any one
month. This law ought to be repealed,
and the unappropriated portion of the
taxes Of San Francisco should be let out
to the highest and best bidder, as is now
done in the city of Los Angeles.
The measures suggested would make
money matters much easier, and would
aid very materially in the development
of the state. At this time OF the year,
owing to our faulty tax system, money
is always tight, interest rules high and
there is general constipation in busi-
ness. All these evils could be done
away with by common sense system OF
taxation.
For years the HERALD has been clam
oring for the abrogation OF the mortgage
tax. No worse policy could be conceived
than that of erecting a breakwater
against the inroad OF foreign coin. All
such exactions have, in the end, to be
paid by the borrower. But a lender is
frequently most capricious individual.
There are so many quarters from which
demands for money emanate that he can
take his choice, thus rendering more
miserably restricted the non-choice of
the borrower. Ii the capitalist finds
himself hampered in any respect, he
simply turns his attention in some other
direction, in which he is effusively well
coined.
The potentialites of DEVELOPMENT in
California are simply illimitable, and to
bring them to anything like right
standard we should have ample coin.
How silly, then, to bar out the man
with the money bags? All in
telligent communities Welcome the man
with shekels with the same eagerness
with which the cities OF ancient Greece
greeted the gold-laden asses of Philip OF
Macedon. Many years ago there was a
grave question in the minds of multi
tudes of inquiring and observing people
as to whether Cincinnati or Louisville
would be the great city of the Ohio val
ley. In the judgment of many, Louis
vile had the decided advantage. Just
at the critical time, however, great
demagogic agitation sprang up in Ken
lucky, new constitution was adopted
which contained "cinch" on capital
lists; and Ohio, which was too wise for
any such nonsense, pulled the rag from
the bush, with the result that Cincin-
natl, like Eclipse, was first, and Louis
vile nowhere.