The Opelousas courier., 1895-07-20

e to them in the increase of value
given to land. Address this office q,
" Lock street, Buffalo, N. Y.
Taxing Money.
The capital of incorporated banks i.
the one brilliant exception to the
general failure of the personal prom
ersy tax. After many unsuccessful ex
Perlments, the state authorities finally
devised a plan for taxing the share.
holoers OF such capital, upon the value
OF their shares; and this tax is fairly
assessed and efectually collected, with
certain exceptions, not necessary to be
stated. The essential feature of this
plan are that the tax is laid upon the
shareholders, not upon the banks, and
that it is paid by the banks and
{ ~fiec ed by them from the share.
mold re-. Incorporated banks are
alw5ys subject to rigid governmental
inspections; and therefore it is
imp 'sslble for them to entirely con-
ceal the value of their assets from the
government. The entire business de-
pJnds upon their credit, and their
credit al not be sustained without
regular public reports of their fnan-
cial condition, Thus the value of their
stock Isl matter Of general knowledge,
and, as q rule, 1t is estimated too high,
rather than too low. If, for the sake
OF evading taxation, the officers of a
bank should contrive to p~recipitate the
nominal market value of it's stock. they
would certainly lose more business
than the saving Of taxes would be
worth, and they might lose their eli
entage altogether.
Banks are thus more effectively
taxed than any other form of personal
property. But is the result profitable
to the people who lay the taxes? A
little reflection will show that it is
singularly disastrous. The success of
the tax on banks is the chief source of
American currency troubles.
The widespread and irrepressible de-
mand for more currency which is so
often treated with contempt by expert
enced inanciers, is at its foundation
perfectly reasonable and natural, al
though every form Of relief which has
thus far been demanded would be in
effectual; while all that has thus far
been done in compliance with this de-
mand has brought ruin instead of re-
lief. - 80 5@+% a
The greenback craze, the demand
for free banking meaning only the
unlimited issue of bank notes, the sill
yer mania, the two per cent. sub-treas-
ury scheme, and all other proposals for
an enormous expansion of the cur
rency, arise from a common and per-
manent cause. The uneducated masses
are not to be condemned for seeking
relief in wrong directions, SO long as
the educated classes offer no relief in
any direction.
1t is perfectly true, as alleged by the
advocates of imitation, that there is not
enough money to do the business of
the country. But it is, also true that
there never a be money enough to
do the business Of the country. It can
no more be done with fifty dollars per
capita than with five. It must be done
by barter, by book accounts or by
banking. As a matter of fact, it
is done by a species Of banking. But
the banks of the south and southwest
are mainly crossroad grocery stores.
Here nine-tenths of the farmers and
planters produce are settled for. No
matter, to whom the products are sold,
the producers get their pay only in
trade at the village grocery. The pro-
cess is as truly one of banking, as is
any transaction in a national bank of
New York or Chicago. But it is enor-
mously expensive, clumsy, risky and
unsatisfactory. Precisely tho same
transaction which in Large city woud
cost the farmer less than ~ per cent
costs him, at his village store, 90 to rs
per cent. Yet the clumsiness Of the
transaction is so great that the
does not, in the long run,
make any remarkable profit from this
commission.
Why is this2 Because there are no
banks within the reach of the
But why are there no such
Simply because the farmer
has taxed them out Of exist
Istence; or, more accurately, because
ais beloved system of taxation has
made it impossible for good banks
ever to come into existence in his
aeighborhood. The real business of a
oank is to enable goods to be ex-
changed without the use of any money.
notes is not at all essential to
! banking business. But the strictly
business Of. q bank can not be
on in a purely farming district,
lnder the burden Of local taxation.
There is not enough profit in
@ pay the tax. In Canada and Scot
and, where banks pay nc local taxes,
very little village has a branch
,ank, supported by the wealthy
of some large city. In the
United States, where all banks are
taxed, there are not one-ffth
# the number necessary to supply the
and as no branches are al
owed, most Of the country banks are
lot thoroughly safe. In Canada and
there is no currency ques-
ion. Nobody wants greenbacks or
ubtreasuries, or cares anything about
,imetallism. In the United States we
lardly think about anything else.
The moral is plain. Abolish taxation
personal property, including all
.xes on banks; and the currency
uestion will settle itself iy
Good for Whom9
~ rL.~o.r n1ro--T 1or.< e,r-