Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-03-10

states IL has worked 20 IN O9nff tIAkcss
and in my jsrigmsnt II routI rork 70 hare.
and We shall fail ID 81 What Ne are after.
There Is another sisc 10 his Question:
was talkiax with = leading business man OF
Portland, a usn retired from business,
whose property i in such condition that
he personally could not he affected insn-
cislIy b tai- lar He ssia tisst 10 pass the
listag hill cosR?sls the snail sralers in our
country Villages and in our cities. u make
u sworn statement Of their condition., AMI II
weaA drive large per cent OF them INTO
bar krupfey AT eness- A plaa Eias siave !
ssry sn-ail capital and get crsssis AMI 20 q
geod business. II that man k.- r. stock
OF goo 10 of ss.0+s0 or Sla.dse, and YOU
eesapei hi;a to say that he j. onls worth
$500. that mans credit i gone ~issre the
wsodhiae meth 4 cashier OF y. bank
told me this week that thsre Vas class OF
young men dolsg business in the banks.
who got money on their notes. AMI xha
paid their no,es. " iltch Was I'll the banks
wanted. AMI yet If they were co npelied 10
make sworn statement of their condition,
the banks eould no longer accommodate
those men There are thousands OF men
in our State who are precisely in that con-
! iiiion. II seems 10 M that We oaght 10
consider that class of our constituents in
taking step of this kiai-
Again. lille ore who owns real estate
pays taxes on the v hole of II and While he
/ pass no more tax than his properly Is worth,
| ia the ease of the stores end places of BUSH
ness you will not find one concern IN five
that is not paving tax on good deal more
property than it is worth. A man worth
$4,000 is carrying $4,000 of stock. The
assessor comes along. How much have
you 90, here" $50 ,00J" Il will tax You
So, 900 or $50, eoo.' The man only owns
/ $4,000 of that $4,000 worth of goods.
| The failures occur among the men doing
business on credit who have been pay ing
/ taxes for years. on from two
70 three times more property
than they are worth. That is fair thing
| TO be considered. IL seems to me also that
| there are many ways of escaping taxation
under this law Here is ease in point ::
A man bought $4,000 of government four
pei cent. bonds. just prior to making his
returns Within two DAYS after this mat
ter was over he buys back the securities he
formerly owned, paying for them in govern
meni four per cent. bonds. How are you
going TO get at him: A merchant in YER
mont ordered a bill of goods from Portland
and sent his note. The goods were not
moved from the store. The note was to be
reported as part of his debt to help him
out IN Vermont. The goods were
not removed and the order was
countermanded as soon as the listing
day was over. 1t seems to me that this bill
is calculated to bear on those who are
already bearing all the burdens that they
ought TO carry. 1t will strike the farmer.
He has laid away SIS, perhaps, to be cx-
pended upon his family. He has got to tell
the assessors that he has so many dollars
on hand. He has not been in the habit of
doing ii heretofore. The burden is going
to fall on those whom we do not want To
get at, and the very men we are after we
shall not get. trust that the molten to
indefinitely postpone this bill will prevail.
i (Applause.l
Mr.. Bracket of Limington: The present
law says that you may oblige a man to take
the oath. We change THAT" to "shali. =
That means that the assessors shall not
discriminate, that all shall make out their
statement and subscribe to it. | do not
believe that the people of Maine are all liars
or all thieves or that they want to dodge
this responsibility. Why should | say that
because | am doing business cannot
return to the assessors what property
have, subject to taxation? Why cannot
make that statement under oath without i'm
pairing my credit. | hope in the interest of
fairness and to establish a uniformity of
values, that this measure will prevail, and
in two years if the State is injured by it, il
can be taken care of.
Mr.. Sprague of Monson: hope the
Z, bill will receive passage. There is scarce
I ~ any state that has so lax system of tax
alton as Maine. II we cannot make a
change, let us turn around and pass another
law and let it be this for the purpose of
encouraging frugality and enterprise, WHEN
Il man gets to be worth 1926 900 he shall be
exempt from taxation. That would be con.
sistent. There is no consistency in the
present system. 1t is said that the wealthy
men who have money locked up will evale
taxation. | agree with the gentleman from
Limngton that the wealthy men of this
State are not all villains and perjurers.
believe under this bill we shall get at moro
of the personal property than we do now.
1t will do no harm to try it. The two Ma.
tional banks in my county and the stock
holders have not written me TO oppose this
bill. The farmers there tell me that they
want it. For these reasons | am in its
favor.
Mr.. Morrill, of Madison am heartily in
favor of this bill. My constituents who own
personal property and are not paying taxes
on real estate are opposed to this bill. The
gentleman from Bangor says that it is dan
gerous. | am willing TO risk the danger if
the heavens fall. We have been in danger
for the last fifty years. We have withstood
the dagger and we who own real property
have paid for the danger. Now let us all
share the danger.
Mr.. Fairbanks of Bangor This measure
provides in substance that man shall make
just statement of all he possesses in the
world that is subject to taxation. How
many men in this House do that today. |
10 not believe you can make bill that will
make q man tell a thing that he don't wan,
to tell have an idea that this bill may
drive people away from our cities and COM
munities on the first day of April. do not
believe that any heaven is going to fall
although we do not pass this bill. | wish
the high heavens might open AMI give us
something which would lead US up to a
higher plane, anil that is that we might
properly take care of the insane of this
State.
Mr. Spillane of Lewiston. will be
brief in my remarks. When men who have
| given the question of raising money by tax
| alton years of study. and have come to no
system even approaching perfectness, there
is not much possibility of our being able to
penetrate the darkness and shed light upon
it There is no question but that real es-
tate has for years borne its unequal share
Of taxation burdens. Our object is, if pos
sible, to reach intangible property. The
so-cslled listing system has been tried in
many states for years. anil has met with
-nccess and has afforded to nearly all great
! satisfaction.
! The gentleman from Deering has given
you figures regarding the state of Ohio
which will consider. In that state in 1889
| the personal property was estimated at
10000, 900, and it paid of the state tax
| 50 l-2 per cent. In 1890 that personal
; property had grown to s642, 900 900, an act
nal increase in IL months of Sl26, 900, 900.
and it paid of the state tax 80 IL per cent.
| In the state of Pennsylvania in 1885 the
| value of personal property was sl45 ,00O.-
900. In 1856 the listing bill went into
operation and the amount returned was
| $500, 000. 600, and in 1890 there was s5i7, :
600, 600. 1t will be seen that the increase
IN five years was over 800 900 900, or 2sj
| per cent.
| This rule will be found to prevail in all
of the same 25 states where the system has
been tried. We are not believers in
| single tax theory, and are not DESTROYS of
legislating along that line. This bill is to
me even too mild. Its penalties are not
drastic enough. We know that personal
property increases as fast, If not faster,
than the real property. The laws are lax,
and we mast move now in an advanced