The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-02-01

Hon. Norman B. Dresser delivered a
lecture last evening in Unity hall on
The Ethics of Taxation" There was
a good attendance of appreciative list
eners.
MIR. Dresser briefly sketched the sys-
TENS of taxation in the past and
showed that the first enunciation OF
principle in taxation was made by
Adam Smith. These maxims were:
l. The subjects of every state ought
TO pay toward the support of the gov
eminent as nearly as possible in pro-
portion to their respective abilities, or
in proportion to the revenue they re-
spectively enjoy under the protection
of the state.
2 The tax which each individual is
bound to pay ought to be certain and
not arbitrary; the time of payment, the
manner of payment and the amount
to be paid ought all to be clear TO the
contributor and to every other person.
3. Every tax ought to be so con-
trived as both to take out and keep
out of the pockets of the people as
little as possible, over and above what
it brings into the public treasury.
t. Every tax ought to be levied at
the times and in the manner IN which
it is most likely for the contributor 10
pay it.
Professor Walker adds fifth. That
the heaviest taxes should be imposed
on those commodities, the consump-
ton of which is especially prejudicial
to the interests of the people. This
last maxim is held in view of the heavy
taxation of liquors and tobacco, gamb-
ling and certain kinds of amusements-
RECOGNIZED AS CORRECT.
The above principles of taxation are
recognized as correct by all political
writer's of repute and the most en-
lightened governments have endeav-
ored to adapt their system of taxation
to these principles. A failure to rec
ognize them has been the cause OF
many of the disasters that have over
taken the nations of the past.
The speaker then examined the tar
if tax and showed that it did not con-
form to the requirements laid down by
Adam Smith.
When we come to the personal prop
erty tax we find some strange ano-
males. An investigation by the Ohio
legislature showed that between 1880
and 1890 the wealth of the state, as
shown by the assessment rolls Of the
various counties, had actually de-
creased. In one city a larger amount
of property was carried by the insur-
ance companies than was on the as
sessment rolls. California also showed
a great reduction in the amount
erty, yet no one believes the
great states of Ohio and Cali
fornia have decreased in wealth. The
error was in the assessment rolls. one
of the assessors in New York gave II
as his opinion that not 20 per cent of
the taxable property OF that city IS
found on the assessors rolls w nat do
we find in our own experience? Is IT
not that the small property owner is
generally taxed to the full amount Of
his possessions, while the large prop
erty owner is likely TO be assessed be-
low the real value of his possessions?
This is inevitable under the present
system. 1t is difficult to truly value
a large and costly mansion with its
rich furniture, its treasures OF art, its
and it's bric-a-brac. Equally
difficult is it to judge of the value of
the stock of goods in a large store. 1t
may be s200,0 or $500, 900. The most
careful assessor may not come within
S15O,000 of such merchants personal
property, not to speak of his money,
his notes, mortgages. bonds, etc. But
the owner of a little store or a small
stOckman or farmer is likely to be
taxed to the full amount of his pos
sessions. His assessment will not fall
short more than few hundred dollars
of his actual possessions, and the less
he has the less likely is any of his
property to escape taxation. We thus
find that the personal property tax
bears the most heavily upon the poor
man.
This tax is also a check upon pro-
duction. If it is not, why do cities
offer freedom from taxation for a term
Of years as an inducement for the es-
adjustment of manufacturing indus
tries?
1t is a recognized fact that high
taxes always discourage the building
up of a city and low taxation is an
offered by all places that
have low taxes.
These and other objections to our
present methods of taxation are be-
coming more apparent every day, and
there has never been time when the
subject of taxation occupied so much I
attention as it does today.
1t is for this reason that the single |
tax upon land values is being so widely ]
accepted as the only true method of /
taxation. Its advantages, briefly I
stated, are these:
1t can be levied with absolute cor
-ectness. Land lies out-of-doors. Il Z
cannot be hidden in warehouses and |
safes. Its value can be accurately de- !
whether it is covered with |
costly buildings or novels or is vacant: |
whether it is cultivated farm or an /
Infenced and unimproved tract of |
and.
The best and surest subject Of taxa
ion is the thing that perforce stays il
me place; that is land.
r11r- r,rODr r,,e, .>D
The single taxer bases his theory |
Ipon the self-evident proposition that |
he land of any community belongs to |
he people of that community; that |
he value of that land is created solely |
~ the community, and that this value /
llone should be taken as taxes for the
lse of the community. The single
axer insists that the value, the wealth
which the individual creates belongs /
to the Individual; that the
'alues which the community creates
,elong to the community. and that
rom this source alone should the COM
nunity draw the fund to pay for the
public expenses of the community
Nothing else but land increases in
-alue with the growth of the commun-
ty and the progress of society towards
higher civilization. Neither the cap
talist nor the Iaborer is benefited by
he increase of land values; in fact as
rule where land values are highest
here wages are lowest and interest
he least. If you viii investigate the
natter you will ind that land absorbs
early the entire benefits that come
rom inventions, from cheaper produc-
ion, and even from an improvement
! the moral and educational condi-
ion Have any Of these things ever