St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-25
THE uNsoLvABLr PROBLEM.


The question of taxation is always
with us. 1t is one Of the inevitable
conditions of civilization, and it's diff
hcult1es seem to augment as that ad-
vances. 1t is the standing problem Of
the ages. 1t has given crowned heads
more bother than all other questions,
and it is with us today a constant ir-
r1tant. The problem, as stated by the
French finance minister, is chow to
pluck the most feathers from the goose
with the least squawking." Hence
tariffs. licenses, octrois and the
whole vicious brood Of indirect
taxes; that is. those the people
pay without knowing it. Politicians.
as legislators, wrestle with the prob
lem, and are uniformly thrown. Theo-
retically, in our states, property, not
consumption, should bear the burden
Logically, all property should bear its
share. Practically, only the property
that cannot be hidden from the assess
or pays taxes. The legislator stupidity
nit the real. He tries ever to
reach more and more proper
ty, and makes more and
more drastic the penalties. Hence our
schedules of thirty-one articles begin
ming. with horses, mules and asses,"
running the whole gamut Of personal
possessions. and fifty ending with
"dogs."
Adam Smith, in his Wealth of Ma
tions, sagely observes that the first
devices of men in legislation or me-
chanics tend to complexity, and that
thereafter the tendency is to simplici-
ty. But, so far, the same is not true
with us in taxation. We have not yet
exhausted the momentum Of complica-
ton. We are still in hot pursuit Of
the evanescent. we persist in conquer
ing the uncomfortable human nature.
However gladly, men take on burdens
that promise them immediate benefit.
they industriously shirk them where
the benefit is only remote and general.
Hence the tax dodgers. The Turk, with
his system of tax-farming, is the only
successful collector, but the process is
enormously expensive, and impover-
ishes the people without enriching the
treasury or any but the contractors.
Our tariff is but modification of the
Turks methods. 1t is likewise expen-
he
torted from them goes, for the most
part, into the pockets Of others than
the treasurers. Iowa's legislature has
wrestled all winter with the vexed
and vexatious problem. Like Mime
sofa, its law requires all property to be
listed and assessed at its full cash
value. And, like Minnesota, its assess
ors fail to list all the personal prop
erty, and because they cannot catch
1t they assess the real property at
from one-ffth to one-fourth Of its real
value, thus hoping to compensate those
who must pay for the loss caused by
those who will not. There, as here,
the fixed factor Is the amount Of taxes.
the variable factors, the property val
uations and the percentage Of taxation.
There, as here. there is discomfort.
Meanwhile Minnesota, while sending
skinny fingers in vain clutchings after
intangible property, touches with gen
tie hand its natural, legitimate and I'm
mense resources. The iron deposits Of
the Mesaba and Tower ranges are as
much the property Of the state as are
the fish in its lakes and rivers, or the
wild game that, roams it's fields and
forests. The ironreombination recently
fixed the selling price Of ore at 81 a
ton, and the state takes one four-hun-
dredth part Of this as its tax. From
its other unfortunate citizens it takes,
for all purposes over a fiftieth. Of
the one four-hundredth the state gets
half, the other half going to the coun-
ty in which the iron deposits lie. Then
1t nurses with assiduous care the IA
vored owners Of vessels who may
make the port Of Duluth their port of
hail, by imposing on their vessels the
pa1try tax of three cents for each ton
OF their displacement, a tax that yield
ed last year the prince1y revenue of
$6S. And, meanwhile, and consequent
TALLY, the official papers all over the
state have just printed, or are print
ing, notices Of the entry Of Judgment
against real estate for unpaid taxes.
or of the expiration of the time for re-
cempt1on, after which the state will
convey the forfeited land to the tax
purchaser confiscating dollars that the
treasury may realize cents. And still
there are those who prate Of the supe-
rior Intelligence Of the greatest nation
and freest republic Of the world.