The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-03-01
TAXES.


ures before the House. Representa-
tive Emmeluth will have a tax on in
comes as a portion of the Independ- /
ent plan of taxation. Representative |
Diclkey has given notice of a bill to
provide for a tax upon incomes. SO |
that both sides of the House will agree /
on this measure.
For years passed an income tax has |
been advocated. In 1896 there was a
strong campaign in its favor, but it |
was finally beaten. In 1898 it was again |
a feature of the session and a hard fight |
was made in it's favor in the lower |
house, where it finally passed its third
reaGing by narrow majority, only to
be quickly killed when it appeared in
the Senate.
This session there is every likelihood
of the income tax passing. But 1will
such a tax hold water now. 1t
will be no use passing an in
come tax section through the Legs-
lature, only to find it broken in the
courts. This is most vital to people
who are going to depend upon this for
in large measure, carrying out the
many improvements which the country
needs. 1t would be a serious matter
if this source of income should be
taken away. and might cause the trou-
BILE and expense of an extra session.
That an income tax ie the fairest tax
which can be levied has been demon
strated in these columns again and
again. There are many men earning
large incomes who practically escape
taxation at the present time. pro-
fessional man earning from two to
fifteen thousand a year can evade tax
alton by livin~ in a hired house, and
investing his savings in Government
bonds, which are free of taxes. He will
have to pay his personal taxes, and he
may have to pay on a carriage and a
couple of horses, but the whole amount
is utterly disproportionate to his in
come.
The Star has always held that the
personal tax was an unjust one, fall
ing heavily upon the poor man and
being an unconsidered trife to the man
ordinarily we'll off. The man who re-
ceives an income of twenty dollars a
month has to pay personal taxes to
the amount of five dollars, a million
aire pays no. more. There is no sense
of proportion in such taxes and it is
satisfactory to see that there is some
chance of their being repealed. Repre-
sentatives Kaniho and Dickey both
have given notice of acts upon this
subject.
Here again there is nothing really
new in the legislation. Bills for the
repeal of direct personal taxes have
appeared in many of the Legislatures
Of the past. They have always been
defeated, and frequently through the
influence of the Minister of Finance
of the day. When the personal taxes
were first established it may have been
the only means of getting an income
for the government. but it is an utterly
crude and raw method of taxation
Though it is a method that almost
every country in its time has made
use of, as the real reasons for taxation
have become scientifically known, it
has been given u, and only fingers in
some places because people have not
given sufficient thought to repeal the
archaic method.
The main object of all taxation is to
distribute the burden as evenly as pos
sible. and to put the greater Strain up
on those best able to bear it. A tax
to be a good tax must be one that is
collected with as little friction as pos
sible. The personal taxes have always
caused a great deal of friction, and on
that ground alone they should be de-
precated.
1t has long been felt that the whole
of our taxation system needed thor
ough and complete revision, and re-
construction. Whether the bills which
are going to be brought in on this sub
ject will prove satisfactory remains to
be seen. A system of over taxation or
putting too heavy a burden upon any
particular class will recoil, in that it
will lead to litigation and perhaps to
loss Of territorial income, However,
The Star is willing to believe that the
greatest care has been devoted to the
preparation of these measures, and is
willing to earnestly hope that they will
prove both remunerative and fair.
There is nothing more important than
just taxation, nothing more important
than that all should realize that they
must share the burden.