Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-06-01
The Folly of Taxing Credits.

Personal property may be divided
into two classestchattels and credits.
It is universally admitted that, in all
civilized countries, credits" form by
far the larger portion of personal
property. It is easy to see why this is
so. Credit may be given for more than
two-thirds of the value of both chattels
and real estate; and it is continuously
given to the extent of at least half the
value of both. There are many who
believe that the wealth of the COM
munity is actually increased by credits
to their full amount. This is doctrine
dear to the farmers heart, as justifying
all his favorite theories of taxation. It
is easily tested: Let the owner of
se.0O0,O0 worth of land mortgage it
for half its market value. That will
add s1,e00,000 to the national
wealth. AS loans might safely
be made upon this mortgage to
its full face value, let the first lender
pledge it as security for another loan
of million, the second lender pledge
it again for another million, and SO on,
until promissory notes are outstanding
to the amount of 500, 900, O0O-all se-
cured by the original mortgage for
81, 900, 900. All this is an actual increase
of national wealth, on this theory, for
every note is perfectly good. It would
only require hundred loans to in
crease our wealth fifty times over. The
philosophers stone and Fortunatus'
purse are completely outdone.
But what says plain, common sense?
Debt can not increase the general
stock of wealth.
By far the larger part of all credits
everywhere escape from taxation.
Strictly honest holders pay an out
rageously disproportionates share of the
taxes; the timidly dishonest or highly
ingenious pay small share, and the
utterly INSCRIPTIONS practically none
at all.
1t is manifest that the personal prop
erty of farmers is more easily reached
and more accurately valued by honest
assessors than that of any other class.
Farm animals and implements ere al
ways. readily open to inspection. Their
value is generally nearly uniform.
Most farmers pay about the same prices
for their horses, cattle, plows, tools
and furniture. The mass of farmers
own things which their neighbors can
easily value. Very different is the case
of merchants. What assessor, however
honest and competent, can personally
value all the stock of even one grocery
store, not TO say the stock of all the
stores in his district? Fancy an asses
sor making a personal appraisal of
the stock of fifty drug stores, a hun
bred dry goods stores, and as many gro
ceries. In one store there are hundreds
of different articles at different prices,
by the yard or the pound, or the gallon.
Bales of goods lie side by side; some
worth four cents yard, some ten cents,
some two dollars. The difference be-
tween goods worth one dollar yard or
two dollars is often imperceptible to
the eye of anyone but an expert. But
how can an assessor have time even to
open all these bales, to look at them,
much less judge accurately of their
value? All the assessors of New York
city could not approximately value
Tifany's stock alone, without relying
upon the word of Tiffany's clerks.
Thus the assessment of visible and
tangible property" in these important
cases, is made and must be made in ex-
actly the same manner as the assess
ment of bonds, notes and other invis-
ible property, resulting in double or
treble burden upon the simple and
truthful, as compared with their un-
scrupulous neighbors.