The Natchitoches enterprise. (Natchitoches, La.) 1888-1965, 1897-06-03
THURSDAY. JUNE 8. 1897.
False Notions About Taxation.

The Baltimore Sun refers under the
above heading to an article contributed
by a correspondent to a New York
newspaper designed to snow IN hum
orous aud would be forceful manner
that poor people pay no taxes. The
correspondent declares that he took
Herr Most and a poor plumber to the
tax Office, under the impression that
they, being poor, had heavy tax bills
TO pay. The tax collector asked them
where their houses were situated, and
when they told him they owned no
houses he said they owed no taxes
"No one but rich people own houses in
New Xork, he said, aud, therefore, the
rlcn pay all the taxes. Out of twenty
flee men in that city, the sapient writer
assumed, twenty-fOur escape the tax
gatherer and the twenty 9Th has to
pay for them all. The twenty four get
everything for nothing. They get free
schools and free books. They get
asphalt payements, clean streets, cleo
trict lights and police protection, hos
pitals and even free medicines from the
city dispensaries.
The Sun proceeds to demoli-h this
mlserably weak superstructure. and it is
very easy task, indeed. 1t claims that
few popular ideas are more utterly false
more pernicious. more productive of
evils, as ont of this Idea has grown the |
failure and corruption of municipal gov
eminent In this country. The belief of |
the man who Is not on the tax list that |
he has no interest in the tax rate, has |
made him Indifferent to appropriations;
has made him often eager tor reckless
expenditures on the false ASSUMPTION
that be will benefit from ''the despoil-
ing OF the rich" And that the Sun
might well have added that the Door
man thus becomes an easy prey to the
begullement of the ward boss who Is
working in the interest of the individual
who Is endeavoring to secure a robbing
contract from the city. The poor fool
will argue: This Will cost me nothing
pay no taxes, and it will help nv
friend. John Smith or Pat Flanagan.
who will lend me dollar or Two when
get in tight"
The fact Is almost too plain to need
statement, that the poor man, although
an unknown quantity to the tax-gather,
has most vital interest in the rate of
taxation and a greater interest in good
government than the rich man mas. As
the Sun saws: Each man who lives IN
o house must pay the tax whether be
owns the house or not. The tax is add u
ed to bis rent. A part of the cost of Il
every article Of food or clothing, the
poor man buys Is city taxes, because :
the merchant pays the tax on the store
he occupies and he sells. 1t is, in ehort, al
the immutable rule of trade that the o.
consumer at last pays every charge, q,
whether taxes, rent, tariff, insurance, or =
what not. And it bears more heavily u
upon the poor man, because he has less Of
to paw with" q,
The person who has no property to n
pay taxes on is deeply concerned in
good government in every department. III
lie Is dependent upon the public schools cl
for the education of his children. and il
the schools are bad his children suffer.
Because he cannot afford to send them
to private schools. If the city is badly :
drained, dirty aud unhealthy, the poor c
mans family suffers most, because he .
has no country home to. retire to and
cannot afford to spend his summers in
the mountains or t'across the lake."
All these are self-eVident propositions !
but Will their iteration bring enlighten-
nent aud conviction to the mind of the
blind tool OF the ward bossg Scarcely.