Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1891-04-16

the Legislature in reference to the ia,
bill before that body. The more the
people learn of this odious measure the
greater is their opposition to its unequa
and inquisitive features. One of the
| finest dissections the bill has received il
contained in letter from Henry C. Lea
of Philadelphia, to the Senator of his
district. The bill is one that strikes
home to every man, rich or poor, and
therefore it should be regarded as a mat
ter of personal Importance by every tax
payer in the State. 1t has already pass
ed the House, and unless vigorous oppo-
sition is made will pass the Senate.
How any set of men could take upon
themselves the responsibility of framing
and passing such law is impossible to
understand. A portion of the letter
written by Mr.. Lea is here published,
and the TRIBUNE requests those of its
readers, who interest themselves in the
questions of taxation, to give it their
attention. Mr.. Lea writes:
l have looked over the "Act to provide
revenue for local purposes" of which
you kindly sent me copy, and / take
the liberty of calling your attention to
some of its remarkable features | may
premise that, as a large holder of real
estate l feel the burden of local taxation
acutely, and having comparatively but a
small amount of capital invested in per-
sonal property, tangible" or intangible,
/ shnt1l1 t,rofit 1orpal, hx,o laoiclntin,,
which should shift the burden from real
estate owners to capitalists, if it can be
done without indirectly causing greater
evils than it removes. | can, therefore,
sympathize with the objects of the bill
even though think its methods unwise,
and that if enacted it would inhct seri-
GUS injury 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 eude the assessor, as
the great bulk of personal prop
erty can; its value can be estimated
with reasonable accuracy, and is not
subject to violent or sudden fuctua-
tions; moreover, the tax levied upon
it is sooner or later diffused through
all classes of the community by the me-
dium of rentals, in a voluntary and
equitable way. Besides this, the land
owner is specially interested IN inviting
capital and business to maintain or in
crease the value of his ground. Legisla-
ton which attracts business to his neigh
borhood helps him; legislation which
cripples or Injuries business hurts him
more than it does the trader or manu-
facturer directly affected, for they canre-
move to more hospitable region, while
his Investments is immovable The differ
ence between land at twenty dollars
an acre and twenty-five dollars a square
foot is simply that the latter is sur
rounded by capital and business, while
the former is remote from these sources
of value.
OF all classes in the community the
landowner is the one most interested
in having capital and business un-
trammeled 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 gives
his land its special value over Govern
ment lands in the Territories. Ex-
perience has shown, moreoy er, that all
devices t. secure the complete and
equitable assessment of personal property
have proved failures, except when it is in
the hands of corporations. Nothing is
more elusive than intangible personal
property. After legislative ingenuity is
exhausted, the assessor must rely for the
most part on the honesty of the taxable,
which results in the honest paying both
for themselves and for the dishonest. If
the pressure becomes too severe for the
hnnnst 90 nitol is nasilu trn 10 mi tal alca
where and is lost to the community.
The craftsman of the bill under consid-
Grafton has spared no pains or rigor to
accomplish his purpose, and has only
succeeded in inventing system odiously
and insufferably inquisitorial to the
honest taxable, destructive to the privacy
which is the right of every citizen in
his private affairs, and wholly inefli.
cient to prevent, detect, or punish fraud
despite the lavish threats of fine
and imprisonment.
Thus Section II threatens three years
at hard labor and fine of $1,000 for cor.
rupt combination between an assessor
and taxable person" wholly overlook
ing the fact that as both are liable to the
punishment each can depend on the sill
ence of the other, just as we have already
found the same principle work in rem
dering nugatory our statutes against
bribery. In fact, the enormous power
which this bill lodges in the hands of the
assessors throws too much temptation in
their way for us not to expect that it
would be largely abused on the one hand
for oppression and on the other for un-
lawful gain. The wise legislator will
always take into account the weakness
of human nature, and will not imagine
that by pling up penalties he can avert
the consequences of exposing it to too
severe strain.
The impossibility of accomplishing the
object aimed at in the bill-the subjec-
ton to local taxation of every fragment
of personal property owned by each
taxable in excess of three hundred
dollars in value-is sufficiently proved
by the grotesque provisions for the as
sessment of tangible personal property.
Each taxable is required by Section D to
present to the assessor complete IN
ventory of everything owned by HIM,
and business firms and corporations are
expressly made taxable persons" for
this purpose The minuteness with
which this is to be done is ludicrously
illustrated by the fifth special clause IN
this section prescribing that musical
instruments" including presume,
jews-harps and tin trumpets, shall not
be omitted. Every householder thus
must hand in catalogue of all the con-
tantc nf ~, b,n.a. ayaVy huSinaS! ppn-