The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1900-06-23
Has our
Consider tot a moment.

present system shown 1tsalI 10
practicable? Does any 6re really b'
lieve that 1t Is practicable? Do W
hand in accurate assessment lists
Are cur stocks and bonds an
MORTGAGE, our jewelry and gol
and silver. our furniture and piano
and carriages, accurately and Legal
IL assessed? B. the license tax tai,
Gy and satisfactorily applied:
If any o-~ ella !ook INTO thu
matter. 30 nu.s s~ chat cur pre-
-eus syste,a works poorly. He can
noesscape the CONCLUSION shst i! i!
complex and hardly pos'sbls of full
legal application. IN FACE one ear
hGdl y soncslss Of . systera mor'
complex an& smgrsctlcsbls. Ans
besides, Al.s debauoAing systess
SO conservative ~ sconomlst .
| David a. Wells has sara that ''ou'
method OF taxation 10 making . Nd
ton of liars" Others say the same
And yet we 60 on with 1t from yea"
to year. 1t is hard to understand
how business men permit legisla-
lures to come and 90 without some
effort to effect Change. Surely any
rational proposal of change ough,
10 receive attention.
Single takers submit the following
propositions:
| Home rule is tie object to he
assessed. By this New Orleans
would assess for her public revenue
what she might deem best for her
interests, exemptlng this or that
kind of property as she might
choose. This proposition is being
strongly advocated in some states,
and will doubtless be adopted.
2 Tile e.remptiOn Of personal pro-
perty, that is. of those objects of
wealth produced by labor which
are distinctly private and lndlvld-
nal. Most of such property is capa
BILE of being hidden, and is not a,
present reached by the assessor.
8 Tile abolition Of the license sys-
tenn. This tax is a charge upon bus
mess and useful work. If 1t were
legally carried out 1t would cause
great injustice and, as 1t is carried
out, it wsrks great injustice and
promotes Justification.
4 Tile exemption Of all imp: Ore
7aents, that is, of those objects OF
wealth produced by labor not IN
GUIDED under the head persona!
1t is entirely practicable
% assess lots and land Independ-
entity OF the improvements thereon.
In fact this il the practice In som,
ocalities. When the custom be-
ZONES more common, as II should
become, people will more and more
,e impressed with the fact that the
axation of improvements is a fine
lpon and tends to retard such i'm
,rovements as every unity de
Tres to see.
5 Let tie common rerenue come
rom q tar upon land ualues, and
pom special lriyiieges and .tane-
hiSes that are based on the erclustye
,se Of some part Of tile land in the
1t is easy to see tina,
UGH values are caused by the pres
nee of the whole community, ana
hat the tax would thus come from
value which the community itself
1 reduces. II is also easy to see that
UGH values increase just in proper
ion TO the need of public revenue.
he process would be simple as
blows:
Assess franchises according to
le value Of the privilege or right
f-way granted. This would presen,
me difficulty, no greater difficult.
owever, than is found lov In deal
e with such values.
Secondly, assess foot by foot, not !,
'ughly IN bulk, the lots tbroughoui !.
e city according to the fair annua'
innate OF their value. | haze fire. :.
IenlIy asked business men what
CHI and such location would be :
)rth If there were no building on
and have found no difficulty 10
ting an answer. OF cOurae thoro "