The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-24
rnr nlsIs or rns RIeHr 10 rAn

The silver issue has once moro come 10 the
'front.', In the United States Senate, on Monday.
SENATOR Wolcott, ono OF the ENJOYS sent abroad
rnser the net OF March 3. 1897, to negotiate an
International bimetallic agreement. made q TO
nort Of his doings. concluding with q virtual
abandonment Of the time.honored ratio OF 10 to I
and proposlng that OF 90 TO 1, or thereabouts, II
,ts stead. On Thursday tho Senate took mp q
resolution offered by Senator Vest, reafirming
The right OF the nation 20 pay It's obligations in
silver ut the present ratio, and 10 likely to send
IL to tho House Of Representatives. whore II will
surely be killed. Slight as IL the ground for alarm
IN these events, they have como upon q stock
market already :" tired" az the technical phrase
"a. and. assisted by fears Of trouble with Spain
over Cuba. and Of q collision between Great
Britain and Germany over China, they have
caused, with a few exceptions. such rs Consol-
idatel Gas and Metropolitan Street Railway
stocks. a depression in prices.
The revival. at Albany. OF the scheme, which
failed last winter. to tax inheritances at q rate
Increasing with their amount, and tho introduce
ton into tho Legislature Of a bill to create q
commission to revise the entire tax system OF
the state, may, possibly, lead to q discussion OF
the general principles and policy OF Government
taxation, which will have n useful effect In
clearing the public mind on the subject. That
N IN luNo " IA AoASO ~ thAo tat VAOOh
amendment has long been conceded: the DIM
Guilty has been to frame amendments to them
which will command sufficient support to Sc
cure their adoption. Nearly every taxpayer
contends that he pays more than his Just share
Of taxes, but none can point out a method by
which the inequality can BIO redressed without
creating rs much dissatisfaction as IL will re-
move. The idea that q tax upon the property
which q man leaves behind him at
death will compensate the State for the
taxes which he ought to have paid but
which no has failed to pay during his life
rests upon the erroneous assumption that our
State laws aim at taxing the whole Of o living
mans possessions. whereas their operation 10
expressly limited to those which are situated
bodily within the boundaries of tho State. A
wholesale tax, at tho death of the owner, upon
his property of every kind and wherever situate,
though, during his life, 1t was legally exempt,
does not, therefore, repair an injustice but per
petrates one. II, In addition. the tax imposed Of
death is to DO at o rate increasing with the
value Of tho property, so that an estate of 0
million OF dollars shall pay not ten. but twenty,
thirty or fifty times as much as one Of o hundred
thousand dollars, 1t approaches to eonflscation,
and can DO defended only on the ground tnss
when n man dies his whole estate escheats to
tho Government, and that 1t 10 . favor to his
inheritors to allow them to ransom " for any
thing less than its full value.
1t is proposed, as an Offset to this graded tax
upon inheritances, to exempt property during
the life of the owner from all taxes whatever by
the State, leaving to each city and county. how.
ever. the right to tax IL for local purposes. An.
other proposition is to exempt from taxation
altogether all kinds of personal property, visl,
bic as well as invisible. and tax real estate ex,
clusively. Another is. to extend the principle Of
tho Raines Liquor Tax law to other commodi-
ties and raise more revenue than at present
from corporation franchises. An income tar
and a house-rent tax are also among tho eK-
pedients suggested, and there ia, besides, a plan
for executing more stringently the existing tax
laws. 30 as to bring under their operation prop
erty which, 1t is supposed, now unjustly escapes.
An indispensable preliminary to the intelli-
gent discussion Of these and any other proposi-
tions for the reform OF our tax system, 10 an
agreement upon the principles according 10
which the discussion is to proceed. OF these
principles the first and most important is the
basis of the right TO impose taxes ut all. On
this point. there are TIVE opposite and conflicting
theories: enc, that the right proceeds from qthe
benefits which government confers upon the
taxpayer and that taxes are. therefore, adebt
due from him as for anything else of value \
which he receives: the othcr, that they are q
contribution for the general good, which o right
minded citizen would make voluntarily, as he
would contribute for benevolent and religious
purposes, but which others, not SO right minded,
must be compelled to make by law. According
to the one theory, taxes should be proportioned
to tho benefits received In return for them: ao-
cording to the other, they should DO regulated
by the ability of the taxpayer to pay, the poor
paying little and the rich much.
Adam Smith In his Wealth of Nations.s
Nphich tvo nt,hlfahal a-a hpnl,Al "a ,-.-A
years ago. adopts the first Of the two theories. |
He says:
1.-THE subjects of every state ought to contribute
toward the support of the Government as nearly a.
possible in proportion to their respective abilities; |
that Is, In proportion 10 the revenue trhich thsv re-
spectireIy enjoy under the protection a. she State.
The expense OF government to the individuals of q |
great nation Is like the expense OF Management to
the joint tenants OF q great estate. who are all
Obliged to contribute In proportion to their respective
interests In tho estate" |
This passage from /" The Wealth of Nations"
10 sometimes quoted In o garbled form, by leav- |
Ing out all that follows the words in proportion |
70 their respective abilities" thus making tho
author apparently say tho reverse OF what his
subsequent illustration shows that he meant to
Say Hei Is clearly of the opinion that taxes are
. contribution to tho cost OF government which
each citizen should share according to tho share
OF the benefit he receives from tho govern
ments ministrations. This view is vehemently
eontroverted by John Stuart Mill. who. in his
Principles of Political Economy" published
nlty years ago, or seventy years after the publ
patton OF Adam Smiths treatise, ridicules the
,uea that the object OF government is to protect
ule and property. and goes on to remark,
"GpVernment must be regarded a. 80 preSmi-
hently . concern OF all. that TO determine who are
% lnlaFAEtnh 4 n NN IL ~ - " L
aperson' a class OF persons. receive so small q share
OF tine dement, as TO make it necessary to raise the
question there 10 something else than tnxation which
u am'ss' and the thing to be done Is to remedy the
ue'ec'. instead OF recognizing II ana making II .
t'ouhu Tor demanding less taxes. AZ IN a oase Of
voluntary subscription for q purpose In which all are
interested all are thouoht TO have done their part
'ahiy when each has contributed according TO his
means that s' has made an equal sacrnce for the
common object; In like manner should thIs be the
p'nc'Dte or compulsory contributions; and 1t is su.
perhu"aS 10 look for more ingenious or reconcile
ground to rest the principle upon"