New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-19
THE INHERITANCE TAX.
PRESIDENT BATTERsONs STRONG AND
CONVINCING REPLY TO CONTROLLERS
ROBERTS.
From The Hartford Times.

From The Hartford Times.
l have read with some the article on ., tne
james A. Roberts Controller Of the State OF Ne s,
York, and published In The Forum for Nay 1851
h this uPS sa EhlSn Fssf
science enlightened and advanced Natoma, pU no
convincing in taking the opposite side Of this ve"ed
The dctum tina; taxation is a necessity Of gov.
eminent, and that such necessity should De pst
by an equitable distribution 81 the
to weaken the desire 10 acquire wealth. nor 50
onerous as to encourage wholesale evasion or
transfer of property" will not be questioned.
The prominent facts upon which the argument
in favor of this progressive tax Is based are thus
First-The fact that men honorable in all other
take a dollar which did not rightfully belong TO
them viii shrk without scrUp;es the burden of tax
m that mine out of ten men aU wGTis
form. easily reached by the assessor"
Third-The property of "a man worth more than
$4,000 will be in three out of four cases In in.
tangible form. that the assessor never learns OF
its existence until after the owners death -,
Of seventy-three cases in the State of NewYork;
showing the enormous dsproportion Of persona
appraisal of personal property after death leaving
the inference that the owner had "shirksd the
the assessment before death and the appralsemesnit
after death: Two or three examples from this
table will illustrate the whole:
Ante -mortem Post,mortem
90 MN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. @p' 100 oo,g 80
G Observation-Disclosures "'"V -'''"''"-
The misleading character Of this table will be APP
parent from the absence of any information as TO
the kind Of property in which these large invest,
probable that the bulk of these estates were in
vested in stocks and bonds which were either sx-
forms and elsewhere than at the owners place OF
resdenee mun baaanse S the eaaiv
aent is made in the hisher price when the DonIS
hat. tabl "ehOwS
evasion Of taxation but ridiculous d5pa proyd II,
to get square with the owners by an inheritance
tax which will punish them after deatn lor an
assumed and improved evasion before death Is
monstrous and objectionable libel upon me mem
DRY of the dead, who cannot plead 10 the hlui Ct
ment The enormous disproportion IN ire In IN
dvidual lists between real and personal prop
erty is owing to the facts that real estae h ~
which constitute the bulk of the so-caled ntangl,
bic personal properly, are taxed IN otner tors no r
AT other places than the residence OF tne 'eihPo-
rary holders and do not appear in me INST oreoraI
proNer9v has escaped taxation all through his fe
his heir that his estate mgt pay he es6 Se G
the IN main question by assuming fact which is not
proved II the PROPOSITION had been to aPpy Ing
property as had evadeG taxation during the own
er life it would be more ress9nable' On tne con- snd
the guilty alike; for fear that one sinner VIII es-
cape let the drag-net encompass the wnoie COLI
cent on real estate which has not escaped taxa
ton as well as upon personal pTSSpe uGr,Sht Citizen
who has made just return in good conscisnce
who evades and conceals that which the public
officers have not wit TO discovssr =, Now-vork ,s
seeking to carry its collateral Inheritance tax Is
taking on some interesting forms. In the estate OF
the late Henry Keney, of Hartford. there appeared
a small inyes: ment i'm the shares of the New-York
/ Central and Hudson River Railroad COMPANY Inc
moning The executors to appear before the Surro-
gates Court in Albany TO show cause why 'ae c en-
Ia
New-York If this principle is sound tneh an Gin ~
the New-York New-Haven and Hartford Railroad r3a
should be taxed per cent in Connecticut anu ia'
The examples set by legislation not only IN New
York but in own State of making al forms OF
taxation unequal. unjust and hateful, loading the
CORPORATIONS with taxes which should be paid by
the towns is in the highest degree demorazing 10
the public sense H OF honor or ana be- suyaed for the
wisdom which is supposed to abide with the SUI
preme law of the land. .,ou -,
collateral inheritance tax other than I'll, the c cam IN
the a' dead are e' sealed and cannot demonstrate
The claim that this tax the price Of that ait, pre- r
WAYS have a better definition from those who are
forced to divide with the public protector -,
abolishing the taxpayer and confscatng his prop
erty found the true way for abolishng the state
so little. weakens the source of production. and
cannot be many times repeated without destroying
A wealthy citizen Of Buffalo y. Y. made his
summer home among the mis- or Llcmneld county:
Conn, and died in possession. The state OF
New-York claimed the collateral inheritance tax Of
5 per the Connecticut property. which was
paid the State of Connecticut claimed the . per
cent inheritance on the same property. which
was paid: the town of Salisbury collected its local
tax all of which paid In one and the same
year The possibility of such an experience with
the tangled systems Of States does not add any
attractive charm to the lovely hills of Western Con-
neCticut as a summer home for citizens or other
States. 49,
progressive inheritance tax which would take
81 per cent of all estates in excess of 100000 would
not add one dollar to the aggregate wealth OF
New-York but, the contrary, would diminish
The power of taxation and encourage the most
proAgate expenditures. Eleven States have al
ready shown their wisdom by aboshinS the col
lateral Inheritance tax. and ii will be we'll for
Connecticut profit by their example 1t is n
grim relic of dark ages and despotic governments,
where the rights Of man and the rights Of property
were Ne unressting subjects of tyrants will
The Egyptian fellah who Is mortgaged TO Turkey
for tribute to England and France for interest on
the foreign debts well as 10 his own Govern
ment for the annual budget, is not in more de-
porable situation than the owner of a summer
home in Salisbury Litchned, but who votes in
the State of New-York, and is subject 10 a pro-