The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-16
TAXES AND TAX LAWS.


The subject OF state taxation, from
| the initial step of assessment to the
! conclusion of forced collection, is to be
considered by the Legislature, If the bill
| introduced finds favor There will also
be efforts made by the various inter
ests brought within the scope of the
constitutional amendment relating to
taxation, to secure from this legislature
| exemptions from the principle Of equal
ity laid down in the constitution orig
inally. Between the study needed for
the former and the watchfuIness need
ed to fend off the attacks of the tax
dodgers under the latter, taxation
promises to become a question OF i'm
portance this session.
If the committee, to whom the bill
| relating to general taxation is referred.
proposes to go into the whole subject
| OF the sources of state revenue, it would
be worth their while to give some time
to an investigation of the effects OF
the dragnet provisions of the law
designed to bring into the tax lists all
the personal property of the state. A
cursory investigation, supplemented by
| the personal knowledge of each men,
Der of the committee, will reveal the
utter failure of these provisions to eff.
rect their end, and will develop the
/ fact that they operate only to cast
upon the honest and those of moderate
means the burden avoided by the dis
honest and the wealthy. The elusive
ness Of personal property when the as
SCISSOR is in pursuit of it is shown by
the state auditors abstract Of state
taxes. While a very moderate estimate
would make the personal property at
| least equal in value to that of the
! realty, the assessments for 1896, as
equalized by the state board, show
valuation of the former Of $104 629 $50,
little more than one-f1fth of the realty
| which is valued at $47S,7 ,654. In view
OF this disparity, Notwithstanding the
sufhcfency of our present laws, the
committee might well consider whether
further effort, with still more drastic
! laws, is worth making, and whether q
movement in the contrary direction, the
elimination of personal property from
the sources of revenue, is not advisable
on all grounds, not the least Of which
is the relief of individual consciences
from the temptation to perjury, more
or less deliberate. .-.,
m q for nf hn
enforce the collection of taxes, it may
be said that the change made nearly
twenty years ago, whereby the courts
were substituted for administrative Of
f1cers in order to give judicial sanction
to the proceedings, have not proved any
more efficacious than the former in
forcing payment from deIInquents The
state auditors report shows uncollected
taxes due the state ranging around a
| million dollars, and once, at least. I'M
der the judicial system, the state has
| attempted to clear the books by sum-
mary disposal of forfeited lands, the
only result of which, in the main. was
to make the delinquent a present of
the local taxes. If no better, the pres
ent system of judicial proceedings is
no worse than the one it displaced.
but the expectation that titles based
upon it would be valid has been ut
terly disappointed AS a lash to drive
delinquents to payment it has been no
more efficacious than was the old sys-
tenn.
This is but an Illustration among the
many, in another form, of the failure
of drastic laws to compass their pur-
poses. The rank injustice Of conffscat
ing dollars for the failure to pay cents
was too shocking for the equity side of
courts, as we'll as for the common in
stincts of our nature and courts have
held to a strict construction these con-
f1scatOry laws. AS a result, we have
these large arrears of unpaid taxes
and, as a consequence the annual in
crease of taxation made necessary as
an allowance for the delinquencies
sure to exist. Thus there is cast upon
those who do pay an undue share to
supply the deficiency caused by those
who do not. The committee may we'll
consider whether it is not advisable to
substitute for the provisions transfer
ring title absolutely, the transfer Of an
indefeasible lien to those who advance
the taxes upon the land, bearing rea-
sonable rate of interest and foreclosa-
bic by action within reasonable limits
of time and amount
WITH INTENT TO AMUSE.