The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-01-31

| IS fartner emOv IN klnSnlp IIOm
| the testator and the size OF the estate
| ties in any consideration Of tax reform.
| Some eminent writers even contend
that in this lies the great opportunity
| to limit the enormous accumulation OF
wealth in individual hands and pre-
venting permanent inequalities OF for
tunes, and others go s far as to assert
that no collateral relative should share
in the estate OF an interstate decedent;
that no ethical claim could be establish
ed by a third cousin living in a foreign
country or even a distant part Of the
same country, and that the moral right
of the members of the community
among whom ne acquired his property
and whose cooperation and observance
OF law made its accumulation possible,
to the property of the d~ecedent, is much
greater than such a degree OF kinship
would warrant. The taxation OF per-
sonal property by IN inheritance tax
will relieve the burden upon capital
while employed in active business and
will encourage the growth of business
and enterprise in the state t q degree
hard to over-estimate.
The next source of revenue to the
state will be from an income tax This
tax it is claimed by some should be the
central and variable tax in a proper
system of state taxation and that it
should vary from year to year accord
ance to the needs of the state govern
ment after the revenues from other
sources have been estimated. It seems
to be the fairest tax ever suggested.
Being graduated as to mou of in
come it places a heavy burden where
there is strength to bear it and lightens
the load in case of temporary weak
ness. 1t is very much easier to discov-
er income than personal property. The
great objection raised to an income tax
is hat it is inquisitorial, but any one
who objects to an income tax for this
reason but is willing to accept the tax
alton of personal property, certainly is
defective either in intelligence or sin
cerity.
If however this objection to an in
come tax should be allowed to stand
and it should be decided not t o make
these returns public the plan adopted
in Georgia should be used and the re-
turns laid before the grand jury, not
with a view to the institution of GRIM
inal proceedings, but for the purpose
of revision. In Georgia this method
works we'll, not SO much in what the
grand jury does, but in what they pre-
vent being done by others. Tax pay
payers when they know that their lists
are to be examined by the jury make
fuller returns than they otherwise
would, and the tax lister who might
be inclined to allow the returns of his
friends to pass without strict investi-
cation will be much more careful when
he knows his work is to be inspected
by the grand jury who are more or less
familiar with the financial standing of
most tax payers. In addition to this
the blank for tax listing should be al
tered so that the entire income from all
sources would be shown, with suitable
divisions for the deduction of the in
come from property already taxed and
the exemption allowed by the consti-
tuition. AS it is now the tax payer
makes his own calculation and gives
the lister the net amount which he
the tax payer) figures he is liable to
be taxed upon.
Another, and possibly the greatest
source of revenue to the state should
be from a tax on corporations. And it
is advisable when levying a tax on bod
les of such a quasi public nature that
the tax should be levied on gross reve-
nues as is done on railroads in Wiscon-
sin, Maryland, Vermont and elsewhere.
The corporations which would contrib
ute largely to this tax are railroads, in
surance, express, telegraph, telephone,
gas, electric light and water works COM
panies. In Wisconsin a great part of
the revenue of the state is derived from
a license tax on steam railroads and it
has been proposed to raise all the reve-
nues for state purposes from this tax
in the near future. This method of
taxing railroads yields large returns
and seems to give general satisfaction.
1t is said that at first the railroads re-
sisted the tax, as corporations always
do new taxes, but since they have found
it was impossible to escape it's payment
have given little trouble. In the re-
port of the Maryland tax commission"
it is said "the revenue derived by Yer
mont from it's taxes on corporation
franchises and privileges are, and have
been for years, sufficient to meet all ex-
penses of the state government; and
no state tax is imposed upon property,
thus leaving to the counties and other
local bodies all revenue from that
| source"
| This same report gives the result in
Mississippi which is equally as salts
factor. Hon. Geo. M. Govan, secretary
of state of Mississippi wrote in, response
to an inquiry from this commission
the railroad tax works we'll; cit brings
a good income into the state. Of course
the railroads object to it, but they pay
it promptly"
When considering the matter of rail-
road taxation the equity of an income
tax for state purposes only is plainly
demonstrated. Attention is we'll called
to this by the report of the merchants
municipal committee of Boston when
proposing this tax to the legislature of
Massachusetts. They say: cit (tbe
income taxi changes and equalizes the
division Of the corporation taxes by
turning them into the state treasury,
to provide the state and county ex-
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