St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-08-07

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may deem JUST
The report then continues:
The first question, therefore,. is
whether the board Of commissioners has
| power to exempt improvements from
taxation. This is answered by the Ian
guage OF the act giving them power to
make deduction or exceptions, with
political view, for the government and
benefit of the community"
Such language has repeatedly been
construed by the court of appeals of
Maryland as giving authority to the leg
iSiature Ito make such discrimination
and to exempt all species OF property
from taxation according to its views of
conferred authority on the common
council of Baltimore to exempt manu-
facturer5' plants from taxation. a power
literally and beneiiciaily exercised by
that body.
Our power in the matter being clear
it becomes important to consider
whether the exercise of the power
would be beneficial to the town, and if
exercised what the effect would be on
the town revenue.
A tax on improvements discourageS
building. This has been so thoroughly
tested by experience that we may as
sumo it to be automatic. The re-
mOyal of taxes on doors led to
The abolition of window tax caused
more openings to be made, letting in
the air of heaven where darkness and
disease had before lurked. The deStruc-
ton Of hearthStOne tax brought
warmth and comfort 10 many who had
suffered prior to that time. By parity
of reason the extinction of present
obstruction to building should bring to
US increased population, more and better
houses, more home owners and all
the benefits which follow growing
populations, and are rare or un-
known where men are few. If a
town wants manufactures, it eXempts
the necessary plant from taxation or
grants immunity therefrom to the en-
tire undertaking. If it would kill dogs
or industry it levles tax. Our indus
try is home making. Shall we take
such steps as will tend to foster or to
it? = X Can we do anything
which in the end would reward us bet
ter than to say to all men that if they
earnestly desire habtation of their
own they can come with us and their
industry shall untaXed bring them its
full reward?
But our present system is grossly I'M
just. in tnat we levy taxation upon
houses and spend the money SO raised
IN keeping up and increasing land
values. We take from those whose
property is mostly in houses TO spend
for the benefit of those who are by con-
traSt land owners. Every cent We raise
we spend in lighting. grading, graveling
and otherwise improving streets, i'll
preserving order and in doing other
things which benefit the land values of
our town by adding TO the towns at
Effectiveness, whereas the only way
house can be rendered worth more than
its cost of construction is by some lm
provement made to the house itself.
We are now infiicting moral wrong
none the less serious by not being
generally recognized.
& But grant that we have the power to
do as proposed: Il at in SO doing we
will benefit the town by no longer OBJ
Structing the creation of homes; that
we will remove existing moral injustice,
yet it will be argued that the town must
have revenues sufficient for its ordinary
purposes, and that it is better to intilct
a temporary wrong to some than de-
prive ourselves of the advantages to
come from street improvements.
Laying aside the question whether
wrong-dOing can ever bring about ade-
Quate compensatory advantages, let US
consider the rgumentreferred TO.
From our local tax Of Is cents on the
500 there was payable last year to the
town on a valuation for land and houses
of S469,024. the sum Of S703.5S. This
| year the assessed value of land lex
| elusive of improvements is fixed at
| 1860, 10S. Levying upon this at the
| increased rate now allowed US of 25
! cents per 500, our receipts would be
! 1924 81. The treasurer informs us that
| our road tax rebate 20 be received from
| the county for tbs coming year will
| equal 1925. The result of all this will
| be that after exemption of all improve
ments from taxation our receipts for the
year will nevertheless exceed those of
| lastyear by S243. :" Within limited
period the land values of Hyattsville
have increased, after paying all taxes
| levied upon them, more than quarter
| of million. The increase was brought
| about by the growth of the community
| as a whole, and is the result of its col
| lective industry During the same Pc
| rod every house-the result of indi-
vidual industry-has steadily deterio-
rated in value. Shall we levy taxation
upon the thing of individual creation,
and which diminishes constantly in val
uation. instead of taxing exclusively
liiuL WlliCil VIC HAVE Cicdtcu a COHu-
munity, and which now inureS to the
| benefit OF few?
| Your committee seek no reputation as
| prophets. nor 90 they hazard any when
they say that should Hyattsville be the
| first town III the Union to abolish taxa
| ton on houses, as it was the first TO
| abolish personal taxes, the result from
| every material point of view will, as a
| matter of course, be Of the greatest pos
sible advantage to it. We will also reap
the reward OF those who see a great
truth and have the courage to follow it.
We honestly recommend that the
board deduct and except from taxation
| all improvements embraced in the re-
port of he assessors.
Con siderable discussion followed the
reading If the report. MIR. Latimer de-
precating the ground taken by it. At
length Mr.. Long. the third sound"
! commissioner, offered a resolution that
the board deduct and except" from the
report of the assessors all assessments
upon improvements and levy 4 tax Of %
cents per S100 upon the remaining land
values. On this Messrs. RalSton, Britt
and Long voted in the affirmative and
| Messrs. Latimer and Aman III the mega
tive.
In this way. after four years untiring
work, Jackson Raiston accomplished
his object Of making his town OF Hyatts-
vile the first singie-taX municipality in
the United States. In little chat with
him as to the results of the application
of the single tax, Mr. Ralston said to the
writer:
The removal of taxation from i'm
provemenfs in Hyattsville will probably
bring about such an increased demand
for land to build houses upon as will off
| set any tendency toward depreciation
arising from the increased tax upon
land values. l, therefore, do not antici-
pate any special reduction in the price
of land at the present time, as would
probably be the case if the application
of the single tax were general. The
special advantage | look for is the I'M
petus that will be given TO building as