The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-08
SOCIAL SCIENCE CLUB.
Interesting Discussion on Municipal
 Taxation"

l | Taxation"
 1 The Social Science club met at the
 office of Henry G. Newton last evening
 There was a goodly attendance and the
 subject, Municipal Taxation" which
 came up for discussion, was quite
 warmly debated A paper on Taxa
 tion and Expenditures of New England l Cities was to have been read by | Charles E. Curtiss, but owing to mis- understanding MT. Curtiss was not pres | ent.
 The subject of Municipal Taxation proved most interesting It was intro duced by ex-Mayor Farnsworth who gave those present his views on the
 matter and incidentally little inside
 information on municipal matters in
 general. His remarks on the subject of uncollected taxes brought forth some
 heated expressions of opinion from
 those present. By one it was said that such a condition of things was a scan dal and should be exposed In later re- marks MT. Farnsworth said that the trouble was not due to the tax collector; that it was impossible for any man to take a stand at such a late date and remedy an evil that has been going on unchecked for years Tt is the system that is at fault" he said. ''Uncollected taxes have been bone of contention as long as I can remember. The system, we all know should be such that any citizen at any moment might enter the tax collectors office and find out his neighbours standing in few moments. But as we know, it is not SO"
 MT Farnsworth also digressed a little and spoke interestingly on the subject of police protection. He pointed out that the regarding of the force was a wise step. He introduced few figures to meet the arguments of those who thought that more police protection is necessary, and showed that New Haven for police protection pays $1.S5 per cap ita. while Worcester pays but S1.3o and Bridgeport less than a dollar per cap- ita. He said he didn't see how 1t was that New Haven was so awfully wicked
 President Trueman of the Single Tax club brought up the subject of Taxa tion of Land Values" and street sprink- ling. He said that the old charter pro- vided that street sprinkling should be paid for by the people at so much per foot. The new charter states that it shall be paid for by assessment. The speaker said that the sprinkling tax on his property is $2, while that of his neighbor. with the same frontage is but seventeen cents. Under the old system both paid $1.25. He said that under the new system the more one improves his property the more he has to pay, and was not exactly plain.
 George D. Watrous replied to MT. Trueman, asking if a man without any house at all on lot which was his property would not have to pay as much as the man with the house, under the old system. He said that that sys- tenn did not seem any more equitable than the other.
 MT. Farnsworth said that he did not see the injustice of the case MT. Wat rous alluded to: that in such case the owner of the property was in all proba bility holding 1t for an increase in value while the man who had built next to it and was constantly improving his prop erty was constantly increasing the val lie of the others at the same time. He said that he thought people who held real estate in the expectation that it's value would increase should be made to pay for the privilege.
 Other speakers upon the subject were Talcott H. Russell, Judge Simeon F. Baldwin, Charles A. Baldwin, E. P Ar vine, w. K. Stetson and MT. Clark.