Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1900-11-01
MORTGAGE r.
" TAXATION.

Hon. {. +. Clark, of this city,
has written the following letter to
the editor of the Mexico Ledger:
Mexico, Mo-, Oct. 26.-In your
daily of October Odd | read with
considerable interest an article of
nearly three columns in length
from Mr.. Geo. Robertson in which
he tried in many ways to convince
the debtor classes that it is much
better for them to pay the taxes on
all they own and all they owe than
it is to require the creditor classes
to pay just and equal proportion
of the burdens of taxation on
their holdings. | denouncc such
a policy as Il positive violation Of
the principles of this government,
n slap at the Declaration of lnde-
pendcnce and a blur on the prin-
ciples of Democracy, for if Dem
ocracy means anything it means
"equal rights to all and special
privileges to none"
Mr.. Robertson, III the first para
graph of his article, did not fairly
represent the proposed amendment
when he made the following illus
tration: IF a owns farm worth
- 900 and borrows 81 900 upon it
from b, the 81 900 equity remain
ing in it shall be assessed to him
and he shall pay the taxes upon it
and the mortgage owned by b
shall be assessed to him, thereby
theoretically assessing the farm ut
its full value"
Again, at the top of the secono
column he made this statement,
which is along the same line:
1.-THE chances are that for many
years to come mortgagcd property
would be assessed at or near its
full value, and property not mort
gagged would continue mt its pres
cnt valuation"
am surprised to see Mr.. Rob-
crtson make such an argument for
| well know ne is Il good lawyer,
but it may be- that he has not late
" read Section ,, Article 10 of the
Constitution of Missouri, where it
says taxation shall he uniform. "
In the face of this constitutional
provision for him to try to con-
vince the readers of the Ledger
that such IA condition can be
brought about, can but conclude
that he is of the opinion that Mr..
Frederic \. Judson holds, whom
he quotes as one of the ablest law
yers and thinkers of Missouri and
calls attention to an article on the
subject of taxation by him that
appeared in Sundays Republic:
"It should be read by every voter
in the State" wish every voter
in the State would read it carefully
for in that article You will see Mr..
Judson branded the debtor classes
as Ignorant and helpless This
is his language in referring to
double taxation under the present
system, whereunder the ignorant
and helpless are compelled to pay
a tax from which others are prac-
tically exempt" The debtor classes
in this State that are forced to pay
double taxation constitute ut least
ninc-tenthS of our citizenship and
if nine tenth of the citizens of Mis-
souri, are ignorant and helpless,
we are in il deplorable condition
and possibly should have guardians
appointed to look after our affairs,
but most solcmnly protest against
such procedure until we have
been so declared by the court hav-
ing jurisdiction in such matters.
Mr.. Robertson, in the fifth para
graph of the second column in his
article, makes this statement: $50,
| if a, who is Il citizen of Illinois,
loans 81, 900 to Il citizen of this
State, taking mortgage upon
land here to secure it, that 81, 900
is 10y the law of Illinois and under
the decision of the United States
Supreme Court, above cited, taxa
bic in the state of Illinois and not
in Missouri" This is a fact I'M
der the present system for the
mortgage debt is now declared to
be personal property, but it is not