Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-09-15
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT
An Outright Single Tax Town.

cense tax, last January it abolished the
personal property tax, and on Thursday
last the town board of commissioners
passed a resolution exempting improve
ments from taxation and laying the
sole burden of taxation on the value of
land.
Hyattsville is pretty little town of
a thousand inhabitants just outside the
boundary line of the District of Column
bia- 1t is practically suburb of Wash
ington, many of its inhabitants daily
doing their business in the capitol, and
is on what is known as the ''Metropoli-
tan Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad 1t has neither the very rich
uor the very poor among its inhabi-
tants, the great part being in moderate
circumstances, and three in five of its
families owning the homes they oc-
cupy.
Jackson 81. Ralston, whose name has
appeared many times in The Standard,
and who is prominent member of the
Washington bar. has long been resi-
dent at Hyattsville; and has also for a
number of years been thorough sim
gle taxer, and his great object has been
to make Hyattsville the first munich
pality in the United States to adopt the
single tax. 1t often happens that there
is more politics in small town than in
considerable city, and this was the
case with Hyattsville. At the outset
Mr.. Ralston found himself not only
alone in his idea respecting the ques-
ton of taxation, but regarded with sus-
picion whenever he ventured to raise
!, Dat I, Il
sisted, selling every favorable oppor-
tunity to point a moral. He made no
effort to get into a place of political
prominence, however, but put forward
others through whom he could work,
and whenever he found it necessary to
enter public discussion he always as
sumed the most careful and conserva-
tive of aspects. To those who knew,
his hand might be seen in the local
election, in the work of the local as
SCISSORS, in the growth of the sentiment
against a tax on personality, culminat-
ing in the repeal of that law, and finally
in the passage through the legislature
of an act empowering the town COM
missioners with political view for
the government and benefit of the COM
munity to exempt improvements from
taxation"
Having reached this point, Mr.. Rails
ton concluded to go into open politics.
and he stood for election as one of the
five town commissioners, quietly max
ing sure that at least two others should
be nominated who shared his ideas on
the taxation question. These two were
George S. Britt and Charles II. Long.
No ~ 1ofo
II. Latimer and j. Andrew Aman. By
this time Mr.. Ralston had won for him
self reputation for marked ability
and careful and conservative ways, and
he and the other four nominees We're
elected without opposition.
At its first meeting the board of COM
nlissioners chose a president, and that
official was jackson Ralston. Soon af-
terward the inevitable taxation ques-
ton came up and Ralston got commit
tee of two appointed to inquire and re-
port, and on that committee had Mr..
Britt and himself appointed. While
this committee was at work by a truly
remarka bic coincidence the town treas
urer. VIM. II. Richardson, who is chief
of the board of assessors. began to talk
pretty emphatically about the outrage
of taxing improvements, the fruits of
industry, and placing only light tax
on land values, accruing from the
growth of the community BY SINH
larly strange coincidence, first, Hon.
Tom l.. Johnston, member of congress,
from Ohio, and afterward, Hon. John
Dewitt Warner, member of congress,
from New York, visited Mr.. Ralston at
II y-o vii how. % f1,n
most important people of the town, and
made addresses and answered questions
on the taxation question. And a third
strange coincidence occurred when Mr.
Ralston sent through the mails a copy
of the report of the Johnson District of
Columbia tax assessment Investigating
to every voter in the town.
At length came the final act of the |
drama. Mr.. Ralston wrote the report |
of the inquiring committee, he and Mr.. |
Britt signed it, and on Thursday even |
ing last. at the regular meeting of the |
board of commissioners, Mr.. Britt pre-
sented it. The report is too long to give |
here in full, but some extracts will |
show its character. After few lines to |
the effect that the inquiry had been |
made at the suggestion of many citizens |
of the town and with the view of posi- |
Bile action of the board, the report |
briefly reviews the progress of the town |
in matters of taxation.
When, in the 1885, we were granted charter, !
by its terms annual levy of not to exceed |
fifteen cents on the hundred dollars was re- |
CURED to be placed upon the personal property,
land and improvements in the town shown |
by the existing assessment roll for state and |
county purposes. Under this charter we levied |
taxes upon Tin round numbers) $500 in per- |
sonal property s1O5. 00o in land values, s1040O |
in improvements. The inequality and injustice
eff this state and county assessment were SO |
manifest that in 1880 the then board of COM
missioners secured the passage Of an act by the
legislature authorizing the town to make
annual assessment on the same subjects by
three assessors, and to levy similar tax upon
the property remaining included therein after
revision by the board The first board elected
after the passage of this act unanimously re-
solved to levy no taxes upon personal property,
and this subject Of levy, then estimated by the
county at about SIS, 900 in value, was dropped. |
The following board Qs9D passed . similar
resolution by q like vote.
In January, 1892, the then board prepared and
to the legislature (which enacted it)
, bill dropping personal property from the list
If the subjects Of taxation, and providing that
the board OF commissioners are hereby consti-
tuted a final board of appeal, equalization and
control of said assessment, be empowered with
political view for the government and benefit
If the community to such deductions or excep-
ions from and additions to, the assessment
made by the assessors they may deem
ust"
The report then continues:
The first question, therefore, is whether the
BOARD Of commissioners has power to exempt
from taxation This is answered
hon,