The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-12-04
POOR MEN FEEL BURDEN
How Solvent Credits" and Cash en-
Hand" "Swink" in Wilmington.
IG DIFFERENCES IN CORPORATE STOCK
A Suggested Change in the Method That is
Approved by Economists and Stud
ents. Agitation Will Prove
Beneficial.

To the Editor: A proposition to adopt
another amendment to the Constitution
of North Carolina would probably arouse
in our conservative community a decided
opposition without regard to the object
sought to be attained. That an amend
ment is necessary is apparent to every
one who has given the matter of State
taxation serious thought and study.
There are a number of agreeable and
right sounding propositions contained IN
the fundamental laws of The States, and
the nation which may be theoretically
correct, and which at some time even in
practical operation accomplished the OBJ
ject for which they were designed. While
it is declared to be a self-evident truth
that all men are created equal yet it
is not too much to say that this PROPOSE
ton has been accepted with material
limitation in a portion of this country at
least and by a considerable proportion Of
its inhabitants. The Constitution OF
North Carolina provides that laws shall
be passed taxing by a uniform rule
X all real and personal property, ac-
cording to Its true value in money
This is what IS known and referred to as
the general property tax" and efforts
TO practically enforce this legal fiction
have occasiOned more false swearing than
any other cause known among men, and
have resulted in associating the tax col
lector with that other familiar character
with a flowing beard and an a~ll-deVouring
scythe who is a certain and unWelcome
visitor to every individual.
Laws may be passed taxing by a uni
form rule all real and personal property,
but the enforcement of those laws is as
impracticable as would be the enforce
ment Of a law that every farm planted
in cotton should produce a bale of cotton
to the acre and that the cotton should be
worth 10 cents a pound when marketed.
If the laws already on the statute books
could be enforced we would hear no more
of the inequality of the burdens of taxa
ton. In theory they are undeniably cor
rect but in practice they fall far short
of distributing the burden of taxation
among the people in proportion to their
ability to bear it. Nor is this condition
peculiar to North Carolina. Most of the
States use some form of the general
property tax" and in none of them has
it been possible to administer it with
any approach to justice. In fragrant dis
regard Of their oaths and the law, tax
assessors will value real estate in one
portion of the State at a fraction OF its
value, while in another portion it Will
be found to be assessed even up to and
beyond it's market value. The same rate
of State taxation applying over the whole
makes an inequality in the proportiOnate
payment by communities to the expenses
of the State government which surely
calls for remedy: while the absolute and
admitted impossibility of reaching the
great bulk of the intangible wealth of
the State makes a mockery of the laws
taxing all real and personal property ac-
cording to ''its true value in money
This is so generally admitted that it
scarcely needs demonstration. A few il
Illustrations will make plain to any one
who has never given the question any
thought, that the memory of the owner
OF this class of property is apt to prove
very treacherous when tax listing time
approaches.
In New Hanover county in 1898 the
value of 'stock in incorporated COM
panieS'' was returned as $195, 425. In 1854
this same item fell to $37, 937, while in
1887 it had fallen to the ridiculous sum
of $40, 200, but in 1899 it had risen to the
sum OF Sis. 034.
In 1894 money on hand or on deposit
in the same county was returned at 500
015. In 1899 this item was $8S, 037. At
the time OF making these returns for tax
alton there were four banks banks in
Wilmington with aggregate deposits of
s., 335 GOO. )
In 1894 the amount of Solvent credits"
returned was $44S, 039. In 1899, five years
later, this amount had decreased to $23S.-
262. A record for fifteen years in a num-
Der of States shows that while the as
sessed valuation of real estate has in
creased 125 per cent in tina time. the
increase in the assessed valuation of
personal property has been only 8 per
cent. 1t is beyond conception that this
represents the actual conditions. And
the hardship of it all is that this inc
quality bears most heavily upon those
least able to bear it. 1t is we'll set
tied that the smaller the piece of real
estate the nearer its actual value is the
assessment. The assessor is much more
apt to adopt a higher percentage in the
case of property. the exact value of which
is known, and a very much lower per-
centage on property of uncertain value.
Besides this the possessions of the poor
man are few and Of such nature that they
cannot be hidden and they are therefore
all placed upon the assessment roll.
while the bonds, mortgages and valuable
securities of the wealthy man for the
greater part do not come to the assessors
attention. This is not the only way in
which the burdens of taxation in North
Carolina fall more heavily on the small
property owner. According to. q recent
report OF the State Auditor over so per
cent OF the taxpayers pay tax on less
than 5000 of real and personal property.
MIR. J. H. Hollander in his Studies in
"""ation' in his criticism of the
POLL tax III North Carolina clearly shows
that a property owner with 5000 worth of
property paying a property tax of one
and tWo-thirds per cent and a poll tax
OF say $500, pays in the aggregate
$40. or three and one-third per cent.
"hlle a property owner with $40, 000