The Yale expositor., 1900-03-02
YALE. Clair County Mich, FRIDAY. MARCH 2, 1900
A TAX REFORM ASSESSMENT
Trouble Ahead For Supervis-
OrS.

The new State Board of Tax Com.
missioners are preparing to make q
heap of trouble for some people if they
don't comply with the provisions of the
new method of making assessments.
And there seems to be trouble in
store for those who obey the new reg
ulations.
The Assessors of Port Huron recent
ly completed their rolls, and supposed
they had made fair assessment and
had included much personal property
not heretofore assessed. But as soon
as they had completed the work, State
Tax Commissioner Freeman, recently
appointed by Governor Pingree, swoop-
ed down on the assessors and ordered
them to do much of the work all over
again.
1t appears that it will be insisted by
the Commissioners that every taX-pay-
er shall fill out and swear to the state
ment to be made by them, including
description of all property, and that
the supervisor shall fix the full cash
value of the same.
These blanks contain very large
number of questions and it is safe to
say that to enforce the law will drive a
supervisor craZy-nOt to enforce it will
drive him to jail. SO the incoming
supervisor finds himself between the
devil and the deep sea. Whichever
way he jumps he will wish he had gone
the other. 1t is too early to predict
what the result of these new methods
may be. But they are not likely TO be
such bowling success as the so-called
tax refOrmers and equal taxation agi-
tators claim.
For instance, the assessors will be re-
quired to place mans savings bank
deposits on the assessment roll Ii also
provides that from the amount of this
deposit the assessor may deduct the
amounts of the debts and assess the
balance.
In case of the large depositOr this is
liable to be very convenient loop hole
He will have variety of business in
teTests and holdings in other portions
of the country and can conveniently
wipe out the assessment with these and
an elastic conscience which he is sure
to possess.
will be different. His business opera
tions are confined to his home locality.
The supervisor usually knows all
about him and his property. He is not
given to lying under oath to
save himself from his proportion of
taxation. He will be assessed for the full
amount of his deposit and will not have
the advantage of the debt racket.
1t is also stated that the Commission
will insist upon raising all assess
mentS to higher rate here not assess
ed at full cash value. If this is true it
is easy to foresee that the result is liable
to fail as an Equal Taxation" meas
ure. In the case of farmers and small
property owners, of villages and cities,
all of their property is visible and open
to inspection. 1t consists of farms,
cattle, farming implements, horses, or
small stocks of goods which may be
readily seen and appraised. In the case
of large property holders very large
proportion of their property consists of
an invisible sort-bonds, money, stocks,
notes, etc, all of which may easily be
transferred or sent to other states for
investment. OF course this is wrong,
but it is fact and will remain fact,
and must be met as such. Any means
that may be taken to prevent this
should be and will be upheld, but we do
not believe that to raise the assessed
value of all visible property will accom-
plish the desired result.
If the Commission insists upon the
Supervisors doing this the burden of
the small holders is most certain to be
increased. Those of the large holders,
most able to bear the burden, will not
be materially changed by these methods.
1t may be best to defer judgment until
these measures shall be tried, but there
is growing conviction that very much
of the so-called "taX reform" and
equal taxation" agitation has had for
its object the keeping of one set of
Office holders in Office and another set
of fellows out.
Meanwhile new discoveries are being
made as to what has been done with
the moneys that we have been raising
by heavy taxation. 1t now is shown
that the Military push, including
Quartermaster General White, not only
used up about all of the $5OO,0O0 ap-
propriated as war fund, an enormous
sum in itself, but that the fund raised
by taxation for the general expenses of
the State Militia was also used up and
overdrawn by $4,000. This leaves n
deficiency of that amount that the tax
payers must make up in addition to
MudO llcto DOCli pdlu Oubs ~ 10 etioO
claimed by those who have investigat-
ed the matter that large amount of
this deficiency was caused by illegal
use of the States money. Among
other things it has been shown that the
members of the Military push allowed
their friends to travel over the State
for pleasure or private business. paying
all expenses out of the public moneys.
This, with the $4,000 stolen by the
board through the pretended sale of
Military supplies, accounts for a goodly
portion of increased taxation, and it is
certain that the public will never learn
Just how much of this sort of scandal
Gus work has taken place during the
past two years Of State mismanage-
ment.
1t is certain these abuses must be
corrected 1t is also certain that the
republican party of the State does not
seek to uphold those who are response
BILE in any manner. 1t is also equally
certain that the party will seize the op-
portunity at the ensuing conventions
and election to put level-headed busi-
ness men in charge of State affairs who
are able and willing to work out plan
of tax reform that will be safe and