The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1895-06-14

tabllshe5 such a commission y, 1910
composed of three members raoa;-;'
eaeh $1,000 salary Their first renorf
issued IN 1893, is practical and valra.
ole document for road builders and
students of the road question. and &c.
peclaily IS 1t useful for local sunerv;s-
ors OF Massachusetts. Ohio and Pom.
sylvanla have also successful co,,n,is-
SONS Indiana has already discovered
the great value of permanent state
commissions in other fields. Our STATE
BOARD OF charities and corrections has
done more than any other agency in
improving the administration of moor
rellef IN the township, of iails. peni.
tentlarfes and 1sylums. and in srne,.-
Vlslng the construction of tails and
poorhouses. The state board of tav
commissioners is the first successful
agency for reaching the property of
wealthy corporations. A state HIGH
way commission, composed of .exnerts
giving their entire time to their yorl,
assisting county and township super.
vlsors, would do more for road improve-
ment In Indiana than any other legal
arrangement
Next the state should make appro-
priations ia aid of county gravel and
mecadam roads, like the state aid IN
New Jersey. 1t might not go SO far as
TO contribute one-third. but it should
assist literally. 1t has been estimated
That Indiana spends s., $50, 900 yearly
for roads. One-fourth OF one-third Of
this could bring better results if ex-
pended by the state instead of counties
and townships, under the supervision
OF the state highway commission.
But how is the state to get the
money? Taxes are already SO high
that no political party can safely afford
to increase them. Yet there is one pro-
Life and painless source of state reve-
nue. as yet overlooked by our law
makers. l mean the inheritance tax.
Nelghboring states have such a tax.
ONO taxes estates on progressive
scale of per cent. on surplus above
$4,000 and raising to 5 per cent. on
estates of Sl,O00,00O and over. New
York gets 100000 to 81, 900, 600 year
from this tax. If Indiana had tax
like the one in Geneva, Switzerland, it
would yield probably $4,000, 900 a year.
and tax like the one in Ohio would
yield fully 100000 The inheritance
tax is not tax In the ordinary
sense. 1t does not press upon
industry. 1t does not take from a man
what he has earned Only few pay
the tax. 1t comes mainly from the
cities, and from great estates which
could not have been accumulated and
devised without the fostering care of
the state government. Such q tax
should be devo ted to the two great pur-
poses OF free schools and free roads.
These are the two ways In which the
state can best build up It's citizens,
especially those in the poorer sections.
Both expenditures return to the state
compound interest They make better
citizens and better taxpayers
And so, In conclusion, it seems to me
from a comparison with what other
states are doing that the lines of
sharpest attack for the advocates of
road improvement in Indiana are an
inheritance tax for state aid to county
roads, and highway com missioner to
administer it. In this way could the
entire state, without adding to Its pres
ent burdens, promote the building of
the best roads where they are most
needed, and thereby relieve the farmer
in his depressed condition, stimula te
agriculture and create q market for its
manufacturers. merchants and labor
ers.-J. r. Commons, of Indiana uni
versity, in Good Roads.