The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-12
A USELESS EXPERIMENT.

Every year we have the dreary old farce
of the State Board of Equalization at
tempting to ''equalize" the taxes among
the counties for the purpose of securing
uniform taxation rate for State purposes.
The idea upon which this procedure was
established was that each County Assessor
would fairly exercise his power as among
the property-owners of his county, that he
would give no one an advantage over an
other, that he would observe the constitu-
tional requirements, and that the only
lrregularity which could possibly result
might be a variance of judgment among
the different Assessors in the exercise of
their individual discretion in applying the
constitutional requirements to the exercise
of their duties. Hence. it being taken,
with beautiful guilelessness, for granted
that each County Assessor would be bet
ter than the race from which he sprang,
the duties imposed on the State Board of
Equalization were delightfully."- simple.
1t is strange now to reflect that the three
main causes which produced the constitu-
ton of 1S79-monopolies in general, the
Southern Pacific and injuriously large
land holdings in particular-are those
which appear still to be the most effective
in determining the welfare of the State.
Let it be limited from any county that the
Southern Pacific is to be assessed for more
than fifth or a tenth of the value of its
property there, and the State Board of
Equalization is ready to produce certain
of its members who will swear that while
they have a deadly anxiety to perform
their duty to the people, they will never
consent TO see the railroad "cinched.''
1t would be wearisome to traverse all the
devious paths by which the provisions of
the constitution are evaded by those sworn
to enforce them. What thing more absurd
and ludicrous could be imagined than the
common knowledge that the constitutional
requirement to assess all property at its
"actual cash value" is deliberately ignored
by every Assessor in the State, with the
full knowledge, consent and implied
connivance of every citizen who claims the
right to vote and of every officer who is
sworn to support the constitution and the
laws? We need look no further than this
miserable confession on the part of our
people and those pledged to enforce JUS
tice under thelaw in order to find an ex-
PLANTATION of "solid eights,' defauitlng
public officers, corrupt political bosses,
degrading and notorious combinations be-
tween officers and public plunderers, and
all the other evils which issue from con-
spiracy between public indifference and
every possible form of official knavery.
Advocates of the single-tax doctrine find
more consolation in the theory of our con-
stitution than in its practice. Congress
man Mcguire seems TO have overlooked
one of his most promising opportunities in
not insisting on rigid adherence to that
provision of the constitution which re-
quires that unimproved land should be
assessed at the same price, less improve
ments, as improved contiguous lands,
rather than in advocating somewhat
similar idea under an unpopular form
Most of the evils of taxation in California
would be abolished by even a remote APP
Proclamation to constitutional require
ments and the cultivation among Asses
sors of such a conscience as would permit
the operation of these provisions