Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1891-11-11
THE TAX SOLUTION.


ize Profits and Opportunities.
The table in preceding article indi-
Gates the kind of public taxation II is
proposed to employ to regulate the
class methods out of existence. TAX
ing for granted that the avenue needs
at any particular time necessitated an
initiatory rate of one mill on the dol
lar, that rate Is assessed against all
values not exceeding $4,000. Upon
values exceeding $40, 600, two mills Is
assessed up to $40, 900; three mills
against all from S2O,O to $50, 600, and
so on.
The objects sought In this plan de.
mand. of course, that properties be as
sessed to their real values, as a system
of undertaking and evading will be
bound to work in favor of the classes
and to result in converting the taxa
ton into some other form in practice if
not in theory.
for taxable purposes would have to un-
dergo some modification, as will be
seen, in order that this plan might serve
its chief purpose of being regulator
against the form of wealth organiza-
ton which is hurtful. What form of
wealth concentration is hurtful and
what not? That form is hurtful which
constitutes a monopoly and enables
proprietors and managers to control an
entire line of properties or operations,
and to dictate terms to employees who
must have work and to consumers who
must have certain classes of commodi-
ties. That form is unhurtful which is
not arranged in a monopoly, as is the
case of a man who Is possessed Of big
fortune invested in a variety of enter
prises-in a farm, mill, a mine, a
store and so on, and who does not at
tempt to corner commodities, but on
the contrary stays out of corners and
thereby assists by his independence of
action to break them down.
If we were to sub-divide properties
according to ownership merely, as is
done now, and tax accumulately we
would make a mistake, because we
would cause no distinction between
the rich man who was a monopolist
and the rich man who was not, and
would create no tendency to dissipate
monopolies. Hence the subdivision
must be with reference to kind as we'll
as to ownership. An ideal instance
will illustrate what that subdivision
should be and why.
We will suppose that Mr. Goldsmitter
is worth two million five hundred thou
sand dollars, five hundred thousand of
which is in western lands and the two
million dollars in steel goods manu-
featuring plant belonging to a trust
controlling all like plants in the coun-
tr5. We wish to cause Mr.. Goldsmitter
to divide his investments up into a
variety of independent and monopoly
free enterprises. Instead of taxing him
at the two million five hundred thou
sand dollar rate we will tax each class
of property separately at rate CORE
spending to its worth The land we
will tax, as property belonging to its
class, at the five hundred thousand dol
lar rate. See the effect. Mr.. Gold.
smitter will dispose of all his land ex-
cept one hundred thousand dollars
worth (salable) to actual settlers upon
easy terms. and invest the proceeds as
they accrue in other classes of enter
| prises. being careful not to over.invest
in any particular clasA In other
words, finding way to reduce his tax
alton by ceasing to be land monopol-
ist, he does so. What he will do, Others
will do and land monopoly will be
ended.
Mr.. Goldsmitter's steel plant we will
tax at the rate corresponding to the
value OF all the properties in the trust.
We will tax his plant at rate oorre-
spending to its real value, two million
dollars. Then, If the plant be three
times as large as complete plant need
be, he will divide it into three plants,
dispose Of three of them and invest the
proceeds in other classes of enterprises
and become general competitor with
others in other enterprises. As he will
do, will do all monopolists who are SUBJ
jected to the cumulative tax and the
monopolies will disappear.
So much for the manner of assessing
and sub-dividing which Is g necessary
part of the praposed plan of taxation
and which, combined with the tax it.
self is what is needed, and all that Is
| needed, l believe, to accomplish in a
plain and easy manner the greatest
| amount of reform possible to be at
tanned by single and simple measure.
1t will be urged by the advocates of
| monopoly that cumulative or grad
uated tax, such as has been proposed
In this series of articles, is open to the
| objections, first, that it would be tar.
favoring the poorer classes, and, sec
ondly, that it would act as a drawback
TO industrial development through
making it difficult for large enterprises
to arise and exist even where largeness
was essential to the greatest amount of
perfection and economy in management
and production. Let US see how much
truth there is in these objections.
Mr.. Goldsmitter may claim as a iustif-
cation for controlling half dozen or
more townships of land in the west
that he is engaged In the raising of
beef cattle, and that the raising of
beeves upon scale requiring that
amount of land is attended with
greater saving of expense and cheapen.
ing OF individual beeves than is possible
upon any snaaller scale. Likewise he
may claim that articles of steel NAV be
| manufactured more cheaply in large
than small plant If this be true does
not taxing system (snswering the first
| obJection) which bears equally upon
| all capital exact greater proportion
from the incomes of small operators,
and is not the cumulative plan simply a
tax-equalizing scheme, serving to cor
rect gross inequality. and put all
upon fairer footing? This rnest GER
tainly is the case, so thai the hrst OBJ
lection falls Sat
As 10 the setcad objection. what is to
hinder people from going into the beef
/ raising, steel manuf acturing or any
other business upon large instead Of
a small scale, even though they must
pay a higher rate of taxation than
smaller operators do, so long * the en-
| largement does not run into over en-
| largement. involving cumbersomeness,
| unwieldiness and hindrances to the
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