The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-04-15

a
or this provision arises from the com
plexity of social Affairs and industries and
from the dishonesty of too many property
owners. 1t is intended to thwart and
foil the ingenuity OF those who have hith-
erto escaped their Just share of taxation.
But the farmers are greatly excited over
the valuation of land under the new law.
And why? For the plain and simple
reason that from time immemorial the
va'ustion OF land, even more than that of
personal property, has been everything
but fair" The statute of 1881 made IL
the duty Of the assessor to value the real
estate at its full fair cash value. estimated
at the price it would bring at fair voun-
tary private sale" The law of 1891 says
the assessor shall value the land at
its full, true, cash value estimated
at the price il would bring at a
fair voluntary private sale, not at a
forced or sherfs sale" In each law
the same e.emrnts pointed out as
those which shall be considered in fixing
its value. The new law simply saws to
those who own the land: You shall no
longer be false and insincere in this mat
ter. You must value your real estate at
what il is worth and not at what YOU know
it is not worth" 1t is parsdoxical to see
a merchant insure his storehouse for S.
Yet such is common. It is common 10
hear men talk of the sacrifice of property
sold under the hammer" Yet when
the assessor calls these same men give
forced sale values" as ''fair." The law is
a strong, sincere and Just effort to compel
every particle of wealth, in whatever
form its owner may have clothed 1t.
to bear its part OF the burden
of taxation. These are the only sections
OF the law that affect the agricultural peo-
pie, and no farmer will complain of law
that compels exact and equal taxation.
Other sections of the law, however, fairly
bristle with penalties against concealment
of property. The assessor is armed with
unusual and extraordinary power to COM
pei corporations-banks, railroads and in
surance companies, etc.-to reveal their
hidden riches and share with the farmer
their Just portion OF the taxation. II the
assessor does his duty the operation of the
law wi inure TO the benefit of the farmer.
If he has not the courage and ability to
execute the law the censure should iall
on him.
Many people are unduly and intensely
excited and claim that taxes will be about
doubled. This information comes from
the same persons who knew the reforms
of 1889 were all failures. Let US see
false.
The taxable property of Gibson county
last year was Sl0lll ,925. The amount Of
taxes levied in the whole county, includ-
ing delinquent, was Sl96, 1925, of this
amount So, 0S5 SO was for state purpose.
The balance was for the use of the county
and the various townships and cities
therein. This would show a necessary
| local tax, that is a tax for other than
state purposes, OF about Ia per cent. less
/ than derived from pool tax and loss from
! delinquency. Now suppose the new as
sessment law doubles the valuation OF
property in the county-increases it say
| from Sl0O00.000 TO S2O,0O0,000. There is
| a certain amount OF money needed for
| local purposes and the merest novice can
see that as you increase the valuation
| YOU decrease the rate. If you double the
1 assessment you diminish the rate one
| half. You decrease more even than this,
] for, bv reason of the new law, more than
| 100000 of property that has never been
taxed for any purposes viii be compelled
! to bear its share OF county
taxation. Take for illustration, the
| single item of railroads. They are valued
under the last assessment at 500, % in
| this county. They could not be pur-
| chased for less than 81 100000 and will il
! Justly assessed OF themselves add an ad-
! ditional million almost TO the valuation
| of Gibson county. For every dollar of
! tax paid in the county last year one part
went to the state and fourteen parts were
used for local expenditure. If the new
| assessment decreases the county tax one
| fourteenth bv reason of the taxation of
| property heretofore untaxed, this will
/ equal the increased taxation for state
purposes. Will it do il? II it does not
| it Will show one of two things TO be true;
either that assessors have been unable or
untrue or that many people heretofore
unsparinglv censured for the concealment
! of property are innocent.
/ Last year the man whose property was
valued at $500 paid a state tax OF IS cents.
! This wear the same valuation of property
| Will nav to the state Sl.44. This is true Of
| the theory that the assessment doubles
the value of the property. But, as here
! tofore shown, if the county tax is decreased
one-fourteenth the increased state tax will
! be exactly eoualed. While it is no doubt
true that the taxable property of the
county will pay alarger amount for taxes
under the new law than under the old, II
is equally true that the tangible and I'M
coucealable property, that has hitherto
borne all the weight of taxation, will not
pay a farthing more to the million than il
| paid under the old law.
Under the new law Indianas valuation
of property will reach near S2,000,000000.
| With an Is cents levy her state debt
should rapidly melt away. Her additional
! revenue is a financial necessity and legis-
lative ingenuity could not more happily
devise the means of obtaining it. From
the foundation of the government TO the
present no patriotic citizen has ever muir
INJURED at a just and necessary tax how
ever high. The social upheavals have been
against unnecessary taxation.
Indiana, even under the new law, has
state taxation much lower than the vast
majority OF American commonwealths.
! That part of the state debt that the demo-
cratic party placed upon it is for the in
stitutions of which every citizen. when
properly informed, ought in justice to feel
proud.