The record-union., 1898-02-23

! that the pursuit of cheapneSS has
reached a stage where only enormous
combinations of capital, doing an enor-
nous business. are sure of returns.
, The seams which mar the face of the
| social landscapes seem to be widening
chasms, and if these CULTS are to be filed
we must establish dumps on both sides
/ of them. 1t will aid the work if those
on either side use the bridges to get a
view of it from the other side. Wealth
| should neither be the object of our en-
nifty nor the basis of our consideration.
| The indiscriminate denunciation of the
rich is mischievous. 1t perverts the
mind, poisons the heart and furnishes
an excuse for crime. No poor man was
ever made richer or happier by it. 1t is
quite as illogical to- despise a man be-
! cause he is rich as because he is poor.
Not what man has, but what he is, set
! ties his class In the discussion of all
these social questions good temper is es-
sential. Men must get together and use
facts. not rhetoric.
The special purpose of my address
to-day is to press home this thought
upon the prosperous, well-to-do people
of our community, and, especially of
our great cities; that one of the con-
ditio1s Of the security of wealth is a
| proportionate and full contribution 10
the expenses of the State and local
| governments. It is not only wronS.
but it is unsafe, to make a show in
our homes and on the street that IS not
made in the tax returns.
Equality is the golden thread that
runs all through the fabric of our civil
institutions-the dominating note in the
swelling symphony of liberty. Equal
/ ity. not of conditions, not of natural
| endowment but of rights, is the fouu.
dation stone of our Governmental
structure And as a corollary neces-
sary and imperative, to this doctrine
/ of an equality of right, is the doctrine
of a proportionate and ratable contri-
/ button to the cost of administering the
! government The duty of the State 10
protect life, liberty and property is
conditioned upon a fair contribution to
| the cost of government. A full AMI
conscientious discharge of that duty
! by the citizen is one of the tests OF
good citizenship. To evade that duty
is moral delinquency, an unpatriotic
act.
IF we do not hold by this rule of
/ proportion, which / think is an essen
tial part of the definition of taxes, then
everything becomes subject to the Whim
of the Legislature. The whole revenue
/ of a State may be derived from contrj-
! buttons exacted from a very small mi
nority of its population, the majority
! going free. To allow such a system is
not only to rob the minority thus un
| duly burdened, but is to rob the STATE
of that which is essential TO its healthy
/ existence. and indeed, to the life OF
! republican institutions. Honesty and
carefulness in public expenditure will
have no effective watchers. The watch
of the minority will be Intellectual, ana
the majority will be careless as to the
use of funds, to the accumulation OF
which it has not contributed.
For very many years an opinion has
been prevalent that the great bulk OF
the personal property of the States, es-
pecially of the class denominated Sc
curities,' including stocks, bonds, notes.
mortgages, and such like, has escaped
/ taxation. With a very few exceptions
the great fortunes in this country are
/ invested in such securities. The de-
| linquency appears to be located largely
in our great cities. Recent investiga-
tions of students of political science,
and recent tables prepared by State
| officials have disclosed an appalling
condition of things. The evil seems to
have been progressing until, in some Of
our great centers of population and
wealth, these forms of personal prop
erty seem to have been almost elimin-
ated from the tax list.
In New York State the proportion
of personal property assessed for tax
nf he
total amount of property taxed Yet
Controller Roberts of that State ex-
presses the opinion that the taxable
personal property owned in the State
is at least equal to the amount OF real
estate. Illinois and many other States
present the same conditions. differing
only in degree.
1T is easy to see how this offense
against patriotism has grown to such
proportions. The very sense that ine-
quality is injustice has promoted it.
One man sees that his neighbor is not
making a conscientious tax return, and
that If he returns his property honestly
he will pay disproportionately The
result is that his conscience finds a
salve in the saying everybody does it.
1T is probably also true that under
the tax laws of many of our States
double taxation results, and taxpayers
take it upon themselves to remedy this
defect in the law, not by the methods
prescribed in the Constitution, but by
leaving off from their tax returns such
stocks and securities as they suppose
to be taxed in other States.
Taxes are a debt of the highest OBJ
legation, and no casuist can draw a
( sound moral distinction between the
man who hides his property or makes
! a false return in order to escape the
payment of his debt to the State, and
the man who conceals his property from
his private creditors. Nor should it be
more difficult to follow the defaulter in
the one case than in the other. If cur
taxes were farmed out to an individual
or TO a corporation they would be col
! lected as fully as private debts are
now collected There would be a viSi-
liant and unreenting pursuit. The civil
and criminal processes of the law would
be invoked with effect, just as they
were against fraudulent debtors under
the bankrupt law.
When to this enormous and crying
evil is added the corruption which ii is
alleged has characterized the appraise-
ments of real estate, we have a condi-
ton Of things with which we dare not
palter We must inaugurate, and az
| once a system that shall equalize tax
burdens The men of wealth in our
great communities should lead the
movement. This great club, organized
as a rallying center for loyalty and pa
" r. W RI