Arizona republican., 1899-05-12
PHGNIx. MAY i2. isss.
A GREAT TAX REFORM.

A great VlcIOry IOE JuSlICO was W."
 when the New York legislature passed
 the Ford bill providing for the taxation
 of franchises. The new laws Influence
 win be far reaching and tremendous.
 The inequalities of taxation form one
 of the greatest evils in America today,
 as they have for many years past. They
 have furnished to the socialist and the
 political demagogue a never-endlng
 source of material with which to assail
 the established political structure, and
 the ready ear given to them by large
 numbers of the masses proves that the
 discontent has been wide and deeo
 against those systems of taxation
 which distribute the burdens of our
 cities and states so unevenly. Many
 whc turned a deaf ear to the agitators
 because of the violent and revolutio1-
 ary. means proposed to bring about a
 more equitable apportionment of the
 taxes have still believed that in spite
 of their congregations and radical sug-
 gestions there was a basis Of truth in
 what they said, and to this general be-
 lief is largely due the formation of ag- gregations like the populists ard schools like the George single taxers, and the frequent unrest in politics fer which there was no apparent reason on the surface. There is nc, disputirg the fact that immensely valuable fran chises have as rule escaped and are
 still escaping proper taxation. Ex- amples are seen in almost every city and state in the country. The rights granted by the people for little or nothing have enabled corporations to reap enormous riches, and these rights have been protected by the law and | often by the strong military arm of the | state without any adequate return to | the people-in many instances without | any return. And when in the course | of modern economic changes many of | these franchises were sold to larger | companies desiring them for invest ment, or for the purpose of combina tion, and fabulous prices were paid for them, flood of light was thrown upon the question of values, and the popular discontent deepened. It was seen that franchises worth $10,000 1 when granted a half century back had grown in value to a million dollars, yet the tax paid, if any, upon those franchises was nc greater, and their present holders contributed no more tc the public burdens than the original owners. Thanks to a courageous re- publican governor and a republican legislature which stood by him, the is- sue was brought squarely forward and has been successfully fought in New | York state, where the owners of fran chises, like individuals, will hereafter be compelled to pay according to their valuations. There is nothing of the demagogue in Governor Rcose- Velt or those who stood back of him in this fight. They gave full credit to cor porate enterprise fer the benefits 1t confers upon the public and admitted that the men who run great risks and expend great energies in conducting large enterprises should have large returns, but they insisted that q share of the large profits should go to the people from whom come the rights and the protection. How much -he Fora act means is shown by the estimates that it will turn from fifteen to twenty five million dollars annually into the treasury of New York city. The law will stand like a monument on a hill top as an object lesson and a pattern to other states in framing more equitable schemes of taxation, and as q tangible working basis for general reform in the distribution of the public burdens It is of national importance. With New York drawing so great q revenue from it's franchises it will not be long before the people of other states de- nand and obtain the same kind of :us- ice and benefit.
 Mt behooVeS a nation like America {