The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-03-24
Changes in value of property.

Within the present century great
changes have taken place in the ma
ture and value of property. Once the
ownership IF land was the sure road
10 wealth, and was made the basis Of
every system Of taxation. Now farm
ing lands arr depreciating in value
all over the world, ant the f,t M i Z,
wagiug losing warfare, because Of
the dispropcr!iouase taxation he -
obliged TO ply, Directly and lnhi-
rectiy TOE rapid accumulation Ut
wealth began with the Introduction
Of machinery for the manufacture of
cotton and WOODEN goods Then COM
mission merchants fouud al easy op-
portuuity for getting money rapidly
IN disposing of these good 70 custom
ers whom they secured aud supplied.
When larger facilities for Transports
ton were needed. and railroad cor
poratiOns were afforded other Oppor
tunitIes- Invention Of other kinds of
machine has made available many a
royal road 10 riches, as the sewing
machine, the telegraph, tie tele-
phone. Then The extension of the
credit system and o. exchanges with
foreign countries, tie purchase and
sales OF shares of stocks in various
corpora tons have furnished special
advantages f shrewd financiers with
a talent for making the most out of
the ueeds of Others.
4 ho
like the golden sands in the miners
cradle, or the mercury bath of recent
years. Some individuals have quickly
grown enormously wealthy, beyond the
dreams of avarice. This state of things
has not only generated feverish greed
for easily acquired fortunes, but aroused
a general dissatisfaction with the un-
even distribution of the annual in
crease of wealth in the community.
This disquiet cannot be hushed by
showing that the general condition of
living in society has been greatly ameli
GRATED. The poor man of today has adj
vantageS and opportunities, comforts
and conveniences that were out of reach
of the wealthiest few years ago. In
1865 the cost of transportation of one
barrel of flour from Chicago to Boston
was $3.45; in 1885 it was 68 cents,
profit of II cents, less than the cost of
the barrel. But such numbers of barrels
are now freighted across the country
that the aggregate of these small prof
it's has reached enormous proportions
Yet in some instances it would seem
as if riches had come to some persons
like strokes of lightning, so incalcu-
lably rapid have they been, and from
quarters so utterly outside of the reach
of ordinary calculations. In view of the
great discrepancies we find in the pc
cuniary condition of men of equal men
tai ability and moral worth the cry
goes up that it is the social system it
self which is at fault in bringing about
these anomalies in the distribution of
wealth.
But in demanding reforms in the ar
of society, is it not folly to
seek TO overthrow society itself? The |
remedy is worse than the disease. 1t is |
as absurd and fatal a mode of procedure !
as would be cutting off a child's head !
to cure a squint in the eyes, to use |
Sam Wellers illustration OF similar |
practical absurdity. Surely there is a |
wiser and better way. 1t is with the |
true forecast of the seer that the poet |
Tennyson sings:
Yes, 1 doubt not through the ages
One increasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widening |
With the process of the suns"
We have here in these islands few
lrones in the hives, few parasites on the
body polite.
Our capitalists cannot be stigmatiZed 1
as class of idlers, mere blood-suck-
ers, extortionerS, wringing their golden
gains from the unrequited toll Of their
We are all workers, all part
lers in advancing the best interests of
he community. Yet somehow the sus-
picion is spreading that some of the
partners are managing to get posses
sion of more than their fair share OF
The profits of the common toll, and
their due proportion of the
burdens that must be borne in the
way of taxation. When a sugar plan
alton pays taxes on an assessed valua-
ion of 1926. 700 and divides among its
an annual profit of $780,
100. free of any tax. it would seem as
f there were need of some change in
he provisions of the tax law, or better
surveillance OF officers of the law whose
luty il is to put fair valuation on
IL property, real and personal.
When the total amount of a mans
property runs up into hundreds OF thou
ands, according TO Hawaiian law, and
e is assessed per cent. on valuation
f 10000, does his contribution bear
ny just proportion to the So of per-
onal taxes demanded of every individ-
al male resident of taxable age, even
hough his whole personal property
to less than $50 in value indi-
For the biennial period
1924 the whole tax on personal prop t
rty was $213.126, and on real estate
338, 1874, while these poll, road and
.hool taxes, aggregating, S. annually,