The Opelousas courier., 1895-01-05
How City Taxes Are Paid.

Inc washington Daily Times is in
ta a OF the government paying half
the taxes. According to it. making
'he people of the district pay their own
expenses, would placed the EMPLOYEES
In u national '~workshops, under
greae<r expense of living, for they
would pay the increased taxes directly,
Il they owned their homes, and indi-
rectly, If they rented them'-that is to
say, as to the latter, their rents would
be increased.
Ibis is a view commonly taken
by superficial The fact
Is that regardless of taxes, be
they nigh or low, landlords extract
the last penny they can from
tenants High rents are a glaring
evil. Proof of this is seer in the fact
that thousands of those who labor live
IN the suburban villages, thereby shut
ting themselves out of the cities, when,
II rents We're more reasonable thew
YOU'D live here. No,'Mr. Times, doub-
anytime K on our city real estate
wofld not raise the rents a penny, SIM
pl, because the people can not afford
uotpay any more. If our landlords
Thought they could they would make
them do it.
9helleVlng the government of all tax
atlon. and making the property of the
District pay all the taxes would in
crease the taxes of the home-owners of
the city. But the proportion of small
home-owners is small as compared
with the large body of landlords; so
small that increased taxation would
be hardly worth consideration by
them. We know they are always
logged to the front-not in person, bat
IN argument-when big landowners
make their plea against increased taxa
ton; but the fact is they are taxed more
heavily in proportion to their holdings
than the larger landowners are.
We remember that three veal ago
Congressman Tom L. johnson had an
examination made of the valuations
put on the landed property of the
whole District of Columbia, and he
found that the large and valuable
properties were rated for taxation pur-
poses at twenty-five per cent. of their
actual value, while the property of the
small home-owners'' was rated at from
seventy-fve per cent. up, thus showing
that the latter paid at least three
times as much taxes in proportion to
the value of their holdings as did the
large owners We know of a case
where a man bought a piece of ground
for $500 which, within three months
thereafter, was rated at 81, 200 for taxa
ton purposes. But the principal thing
that resulted from Mr.. Johnson's
investigation was the discovery
that large tracts of land, held at
high prices, escaped taxation alto
gether. In summing up, Mr.. johnson
showed that if taxes were impartially
laid, three times the evenue could be
raised at the then existing ratio of tax
alton without adding to the burdens of
those who already paid taxes; in other
words, with equitable distribution of
taxation, those who now carry the
burden would have two-thirds of it
from their backs. Every other |
municipality in the United States pays
it's own way without whining. Why
not Washington do likewise?-
National Times.
(The editor thinks that so much Of
the tax as the owner has to pay on the
buildings is repaid to him, with a profit,
by his tenants; because such a tax dis
courages building, checks the supply
and therefore raises rents.
If the government pays part of this
tax, then building becomes more profit
able and more buildings are put up and
rents are lowered by the competition
of owners.
Of course it is not SO regarding that
part of the real estate tax levied on the
land itself. That tax increases the
of land open to use because it
makes it Improbable to hold it id1e)
and consequently decreases rents. If
the government pays part of that tax,
It simply makes a present to the land