The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1899-01-28
COMING TO ITS SENSES.

Careful readers of the Oregonian
: have no doubt been surprised of late
70 note that that paper has been going
after the trusts with hot stick and
advocating the abolishing of tariff
duties on all articles controlled by
trusts, after having for thirty years or
more preached loud and long for the
policy which has enabled trusts to be
formed and exist.
And now to see the Oregonian advo-
cato an income tax Will be even
greater surprise. The only explain
alton that can be offered is that the
Oregopian is coming to its senses, and
is beginning to see the fallacies of the
theories it has supported in the past
and the truthfulness of those it has
opposed. Only short time ago it was
denouncing the income-tax, proposed
by the democrats, as being unjust and
q tax on thrift and enterprise, now it
says:
Controller Roberts, of New York
state in his:annual report, points out
that not per cent of the personal
property domiciled in the state is on
the tax lists; that while the state pre-
tends to tax all personal property
equally with reality, it, only succeeds
in taxing 3 per cent of it-a great
wrong to taxpayers whose personally
isvisible and incapable of concealment
compared with rich men who own vast
amounts of personally that is practi-
cally invisible, on-discoverable,
evasive and portable property. Mr..
Roberts thinks the only practical
remedy for this intolerable situation is
to abolish the personal property tax
and substitute in Its place tax on
legacies and inheritances. Such a
tax bill. imposing graduated taxes on
SUGGESTIONS, which on large fortunes
rose above 10 per cent, passed both
branches Of the legislature by an al
most unanimous vote. But Governor
Black vetoed it in the interest of the
opulent, tax-dodging class.
Mr.. Roberts points out that the
burden of publicsexpenditures in New
York is rapidly increasing, 1t amount
ed for the state government in 1850 to
sl.3O per capita; in 1880, to sl.S9 per
capita; in 1890. to $2.15 per capita: and
in 1857. population being estimated, to
s4.49-the per capita increase within
seven years past being about four times
what 1t was in the thirty years from
1850 to 1880. This increase corresponds
almost exactly with the: increase in
the number of commissions and de-
Observation-Disclosures having been
created since 1880. The unequal and
utterly impracticable system of tax
alton in New York distributes this
burden of outrageous public extrava-
gance unfairly among the people. The
farming class, and the Industrious,
saving mechanics and other wage
workers bitterly complain that upon
them falls an undue share of the bur-
den of taxation. Their personally in
shape of farm animals is as visible as
our real estate, while the vast amount
of personally, invisible and not easily
discoversble, owned by multi-million.
aires, escapes taxation.
Nor Is there any way to avoid it
under the present tax system, De-
claim as we may against the absurdity
or injustice that the farmer should be
compelled to pay on his land. and that
the lot-holder in the city should be
equally exposed to taxation, while the
capitalist, by putting his wealth into
bonds, can escape taxation altogether,
1t is fact nevertheless, an evil that
cannot be cured or met by any of the !
present methods we employ. 1t is as
necessary to understand conditions as |
theories. OF what avail is it to tax |
highly thing which can be so easily |
hidden as to be virtually beyond the
reach Of the assessor? Attempts to |
tax these inyisable and intangible |
properties in direct way will always |
fail. tits well enough to say that all |
property should be assessed exactly |
alike, but experience teaches that this
cannot be done under the present |
system. The system then must be
changed.
Ways, then, must be devised to i'm
pose taxes on business, on incomes, on
inheritances. The attempt to tax
credits only aggravates the evil. The
problem is to reach the vast accumu-
latlons of invisible and intangible
wealth. The present system is crush
ing real estate, whether in the hands
Of rich or poor. The beginning of the
right system is in the bill proposed by
Senator Porter, of Clackamas. It
should be extended gradually, yet as
rapidly as possible, 30 as to compel ac-
cumulated wealth, which is hidden
away, to bear some just share Of the
burden. But this can only be reached
q tax on volume of business,
tax on income, tax on inheritances.