Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-09-28
CHANGERS IN COUNCIL.

CHANGERS IN COUNCIL.
Some Good Suggestions Made by the
GranEers of tho Town OF Cicero.
Cicero Grange, patrons of industry,
discussed the taxation question at their
last meeting.
Mr.. Potter, the lecturer, said gran
gers among other practical subjects
might study the taxation question and
this should be pursued in the same way
they would study geology or astrono-
my, commencing with the rudiments,
and advancing week by week to the
complete examination of the whole
subject. In this way many erroneous
ideas for which our present wretched
system of taxation was responsible
would be correct. Under our present
system no assessor can assess what
the law designates. Not an assessor in
the entire country could be found who
was able to find or could correctly value
if he did find. all the personal prop
erty in his district!'
Assessor S-"We try to, but good
many escape on various pretexts, and
some hide their personal if they can.
Q1"Where does the personal escape
more. in the country or city,"
Assessor-"In the cities of course. II
a man out here has money in the bank,
or holds a note or q mortgage, it gets
noised around and we look after it and
get bold of the facts If we can.
We can tell about what goods our
country merchants have, as some Of
them only have few hundred dollars
worth; but don't see how city asses
sors can do that when goods in one city
store may be worth half q million!"
Another Granger can't the
city assessor ask the merchant the value
of his goods?'
Assessor Qaughing)-"He can, but
of course no man will tell the truth
about the real value of his personal
property"
mot when the assessor is in half .
mile of himr'
'Assessor-s'Everym man who's traded
horses or cows knows the other TELLER
amt to be depended upon! But city
assessors don't know in half the cases
the cost of the other feller's goods.
You can bet your life the city mer-
chant amt going to give himself away
any more than you would in q boss
trader
P.-"What kind of property is most
likely to escape taxation in the coun-
try?"
Assessor Money and mortgages!
You see, l can easy estimate all the
other personal property of a farmer,
because know what cows and horses
and machines and grain and all that
are worth just as well as the farmer
owning them does. But I don't sup
pose city assessors really know much
about what all kinds of store goods are
worth. They amt learned all kinds
of business Country assessors gener-
ally know all about what q farmers
got, because we've been brought up in
the same business So, you see, we can
can't. But think money and mort
cages get off the most out here with
US"
Granger.-''But could any one local.
ity levy any taxes different from the
other places?"
Potter.-"Yes, by the passage of q
special law, permitting it, by our legis.
lature. 1t was only last winter New
York and Brooklyn wanted to try the
new system you gentlemen have just
suggested of taking taxes off
personal property when the assessors
made up the taxes for local purposes
only. t%s'
G-Why isn't that good plan for
the whole state to adopt?
Pit certainly would be good plan
and it ought to have been thought Of
and tried before. Yon see the necessity
now for studying this taxation question
and find ont all that there is to it and
then go to work and insist that our
legislature shall pass a law permitting
the trial by some locality of some new
plan for levying taxes.
Gut the farmers can't do so much
as that alone. We can't agree with q
great many outside the grange now.
Do you think people in cities could be-
brought to favor the non-taxation of
personal property? It would be good
plan for some place to try.
P.-''Answering your first question:
yes, I do think some city or town
would be entirely willing to try, as an
experiment, the system of taking off
taxes from personal property and as
sessing nothing but real estate l think
you will find even now that the busi-
ness men of both city and country, have
studied the taxation question enough
to see that all taxes on groceries, and
dry goods and all other personal prop
erty make such things cost more and
every buyer pays the extra cost"
G.-''Well, according to that we'd
make money in two ways by taking
taxes of personal property-pay less
for our goods and have less to pay in
taxes on real estate because city real
estate is more valuable than our coun-
trv laudv