The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-08-10
HERE ARE THE FACTS
That Disprove the Progress
sive Farmers Base
Charges.
INSURANCE BUSINESS
HAS GROWN GREATLY AND
TAXES HAVE BEEN IN
CREASED.
THE RECORD OF SECRE TARIeS OF STATE
They have All Done their Duty, Collected WHAT
the Law Required, and The Attempt to
Smrch the Names of Good
Mar ExrnrnJ
Men is Exposed.


Men is Exposed.
To the Editor: My attention has been
called to Il publication made in the Pro-
gressive Farmer in its issue of April 18th
last. comparing the present administers
ton of the Secretary of State with the
administrations Of his predecessors
which does injustice to the latter. There
have been other references to this sub
ject by the same paper and by other
papers in the State, and unjust deduc-
tons drawn from the estimates and fig
ures given in the said article.
The article referred to gives what is
claimed to be a correct statement of
the taxes from insurance companies coll
lected and paid to the Treasurer by the
present Secretary of State from jan
uary. 1897 to April LIST. 1898 and COM
pares this statement with the amount re-
ported collected and paid over by Sec
rotary Cooke from September 1st. 1895,
to January 1st. 1897. To one unac-
quainted with the law this comparison
with the law it would appear. as is the
fact, that the period covered by the time
selected from Dr. Thompson's admin
istration is for the purpose Of collecting
the Commission taxes on insurance. to
which it refers, practically two years.
while the period covered by the time
selected from Secretary Cookies admin
istration in respect to this same subject
matter covers practically only one year.
The law in respect to the Commits
sion on taxes on insurance Companies
is: '.That the Commission tax of per
cent. on the receipts of the insurance
companies is due and payable within
80 days after the reports. of the compa-
MES are filed and such reports must
be filed within 80 days after the first
days of January and July respectively.
A much larger business is done by the
insurance companies during the fall
months and the taxes on the January
reports are much larger than on the
July reports. 1t will be seen that while
there were sixteen months of the Cooke
administration it only embraced the
times for the receiving of two semi
annual reports and two semi-annual
taxes-n namely January. 1896 and July,
1S06-while the IA % months taken
from DIR. Thompsons administration in
cludes the return periods Of January,
1897. July, 1897 and January, 1893.
There are two taxes on Insurance
Companies. The one is the Commission
tax referred TO above and the other
the specific license tax. The Commits
sion fax has been uniformly 2 per cent,
but the law allowing a reduction of this
tax to / per cent. for investments of
the companies. receipts in this State has
not been uniform in respect to its re-
quirements. For years this reduction
was allowed on the investment of one
half Of the premium receipts III this
State, and a number of the insurance
Companies complied with the law and
only paid one per cent. taxes on their
receipts. In 1895 during the last yeal
Of Secretary Coke's administration the
law was changed SO as to require the
investment in this State Of one fourth
of the entire assets of the company
to secure this reduction. None of the
companies except those chartered il
North Carolina availed themselves OF
this new law. This should be consid
cred in favor of Col. Coke and Col
Saunders in considering the increase OF
the amount of taxes collected by the
Cooke and Thompson administration
ever theirs. The license tax has been
several times changed. At the com
mencement of Col. Saunders admins
fration, in 1870, it was 500 on both fire
and life insurance companies. and it sc
continued until the act of the Legisla-
ture proceeding the adoption of the Code
in 1889, when it was raised to 500 and
ii was so written in the Code. But
in 1888 this license tax was reduced
both for fire and life insurance com
panies to $40 and SO continued to 1891
when it was again increased to S1O0 In
1895 the tax on Fire Insurance Compa-
MES was left at 500 but was increased
to 5000 on Life Insurance Companies
In March, 1897, it was increased to 500
ON fire companies and $3.50 on Life
Companies. So it will be seen that dur
ing the last year of the Coke admins
tration and during the Cooke admins
tration the license on the fire Insurance
was twice what il was during the six
years of the Saunders administration
and the license on Life Insurance Com
panies was four times as great as dur
ing the said six years. and twice ms
much as it was during Saunders admin
istration from 1888 and all Of the Coke
administration except the last year. Now
the tax during the Thompson admin.
istration has been twice as great on the
Fire Insurance Companies as it was
during the Cooke administration and OF
the Coke administration and the tax
ON life companies $50 per cent. greater
than in first three years Of the Coke
administration and % per cent greater
than in the last year of Coke adj
ministration and during the Cooke nd
ministration.
According to the report made by Sec
rotary Cooke to the last General As
sembIy the amounts collected by his pre-
decessor and himself and paid into the
treasurer on account Of these insurance