The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1893-05-12

team with which he supports his
| family, or who has invested his. money
| in his little home or in helping his
neighbor is taxed, not only on his own
property we'll valued, but at a high
rate to make up for his richer neigh
Dor, who can lie out of his property,
| or who knows how to hide it. The
| personal property valuation of the
I city has fallen 100000 since 1887.
This decrease has been entirely in the
money and credits, the raw material
and manufactured stock on hand May
Ist, stands as it Gid five years ago.
S54, 900, and household goods and mer-
chants stocks have not materially
some of this is certainly due to the
assessors, but they, too, are sworn to
make full and complete returns, yet
they never do and they know it. But
let him who is not guilty cast the first
stone. 1t is the fault of the cursed
system. Years of time have been
wasted and thousands of statutes
have been passed in the vain endeavOr
to get hold Of the personal property.
1t must be done. And legislators
the beginning to come to the point Of
the political economist and acknowl
edge the chase is in vain.
But what shall take it's place? An
income tax, a progressive or gradual
income tax, prepared under state au-
thority exclusively. Under state au-
thOrity and assessment, that the tax
may be uniform, so as to remove any
strife between counties or district,
which would soon bring false returns
and discrimination. You will remem-
Der that heretofore in the new plan of
taxation suggested we have removed
from state authority the taxation of
real estate. This, l am certain,
would we'll balance the account be-
tween local divisions and the state.
Now, gentlemen, L can see men
raising heir hands in horror at the
very suggestion Of an income tax.
1.-The OdiouS measure" as the Pho
1aeer Press of April 18th calls it. Yet
| believe that in its practical work
ing it may be made the fairest kind
of a tax: that it is thousand times
superior to the present personal prop
erty tax in its equality and ease of i'm
position: that approximately correct
returns can be had by throwing the
burden of proof on the one taxed and
giving the assessor sufficient authOri-
ty; that the very cry against it has
been because of it's putting the bur-
denS of taxation where they should
be; that the experience of European
countries with it has been eminently
satisfactory; that morally there is no
tax which compares with the income
tax in it's results as producing good
government and good citizens; that
in spite of the obloquy piled upon
the federal income tax of 1861, it was
an excellent law, and if we had but
tried it with patience, we should have
had valuable precedent for this
country.
B. d. Smith opened the discussion
with some criticisms upon the paper
He thought that taxes were paid in
return for projections: That the
wealthy paid the sum for the privi-
leges they enjoy; that without gov
eminent no man could hold property
except by force. He recognized the
difficulties which exist in equitably
distributing the burdens of taxation,
but thought the remedy proposed
through an income tax in lieu of
personal property tax would be as bad
as the disease. He presented various
phrases of the subject at some length
and presented an idea Of his own
which he thought might possibly do
away with the discrimination regard
ing valuations. This was to distri-
butte the real estate tax of the state
to the various counties according to
population, and that it be divided up
among the towns in the same way
together with the county tax. He
recognized that this would not be
just unless wealth and population
were distributed alike through the
state, and he thought that they were
SO distributed in the majority of
cases; that where the largest popula-
Jion was the most wealth would
be found. This idea he had never
seen advanced, but it suggested itself
to him in studying the question, and
it seemed to him to be good way to
remedy the evil of discrimination.
The different towns would then have
no object in cutting down values be-
cause of fear they would pay more
than their proportion of taxes.
Various other phases of the subject
were discussed, and the single tax
idea came up for some attention. The
meeting was most instructive one
and enjoyed by all present.