The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-07-19
REFORM IN
SING SING N y

MR.. DA4Oh.-4uOSO WHO pay any
attention to the reports of State officials
and local assessors must recognize the
need of achange in our methods of tax
alton. There has not been an honest
and capable State or local assessor dur
ing the past ten years who has SPOKEN
or written upon the subject VINO a
not pronounced the taxation OF per
sonal property a failure. The comp
troller of New York in his annual re-
port for 1890 states that two billions
and five hundred millions of dollars
worth of personal property yearly
escapes taxation. If we could go back
to the inquisition thumb screw or rack
personal property might be reached,
but as long as dollars crush out n
small spark of conscience in some men
the air will continue to be touI with
their false oaths, and the exposed acres
of the farmer and the small home OF
the toiler must make up the deficiency.
If those who desire reform will candid
" consider these three questions by
way of a beginning they will soon see
the subject in a different light:
First-What sense is there in taxing
the goods of the merchant when he can
easily combine with others in the same
line to increase their price, then shift
4lS ULS GCA OA U11C CO1ACu11C4 III SOL14
polling him to pay the tax of the mer-
chant as we'll as his own?
SecOnd-What sense is there in tax
ing property, the value of which the
assessor cannot reasonably be expected
to know anything about and is there
fore wholly at the mercy of the
owner?
Third-What sense is there in taxing
men for building houses, shops and
factories or making any other improve
ments which furnish labor and keep
the wheels of commerce in motion?
Tt is admitted that he who causes
two blades of grass to grow where only
one grew before is a benefactOr, but
under our present system of taxation
he who builds a house or factory where
none stood before is considered a male
factor and is fined by a tax for what
he has done. 1t is gratifying to know
that those who see the inconsistency
of such a system are daily increasing
There is only one way out of the diff
Guilty and that is by exempting all
kinds of personal property and levying
a tax on land values only. Let farm
ers not be deceived by the assertion
that because they own the largest
share of the land hat under this plan
U4C "OOAN AdNC W. PGy bLAO 494 SCOO
share of the taxes. The single tax
does not propose to tax land in and of
itself alone, but land UGIUeS. 1t does
not reach after the broad acres Of the
farmer especially but the valuable lots
in the cities; and above all, the vacant
lots whose value have been created by
the growth of the community and
which are held from use that the may
still more increase in value through
the same means. The owners of lots
worth one half, fourth or one eighth Of
a million, would pay the taxes of miles
Of farming lands. The owner of a farm
of $50 acres would, under the single
tax, have to pay as much as the owner
of the $50, 900 lot would pay as o 0
as the bare land without a furrOw
turned Or a particle of other improve
ments becomes worth S 1000 an acre
and not a day sooner. The truth of
the matter is, the farmer bears the
bulk of taxation now. The farmer
Wears the yoke, still he cannot see
where it presses the hardest. The bulk
Of the personal property in the cities
cannO5 or at least is not reached by
the assessor. That which cannot be
concealed out of his sight has it's value
concealed under a false oath. But the
farmer cannot hide his $50 acres in the
woods Or send it away for the time be-
ing where the assessor cannot get at
it. If the assessor is honest and the
property visible, the business man is
rarely assessed as high as the farmer.
h ass 'sSOr knows just how many
acres Of land the farmer has and what
it is worth; but when he enters manu-
factory he is wholly at the mercy of
the owner, for in the majority Of cases
he does not know whether a machine
is worth $500 Or 81, 500. The o. of
small homes would also be relieved of
the heavy taxes now imposed upon
them. This class can no more escape
with their lots upon which they have
reared their homes than the farmers
a hide their acres from the eyes of
the assessor. There is scarcely a vii
lage, town or small city of 1, 800 to 70
OOO inhabitants that has not more
vacant lots within it's limits than are
'bulIt upon; held chiefly by those who
are waiting for an increase in their
value. To tax these vacant lots to
their full rental value would certainly
tighten the taxes of the owners of
small homes, to say nothing of the
many lots that would be thrown UPON
the market; which would give hun |
dreds a chance to purchase lots, build
upon them, give employment to labor
and confer a benefit upon all classes. |
Ihefollowing picture clearly illustrates
h inconsistency as well as the inius
tIce OF the present system: Mr..
Plumber Is a good mechanic. a honest
Woodworking, economical man of 70
years. At Is years of agehe had saved
$500. He married, and that sum was
used IN purchasing the required house
hold goods, Their chief aim is at some
future day be able to own their home,
BY industry and the very strictest
economy they have $500 saved when
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