The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-01-10
THE GOVERNORS MESSAGE
Continued from Ninth Page.)

| lllG theory or the eSlSllnS 1dWS, Ln
 laws that relate to taxing persona
 property are, in the opinion of mos writers upon this subject, fundamen
 tally wrong. Our existing law whicl
 puts small tax Qour-tenths of 1 pei
 cent.) in lieu of local taxation upon cer
 tain securities is a compromise witt
 conscience and an admission that it if
 impossible to enforce equality in tht
 taxation of this class of property.
 To-day the greater part of the per
 sonal property is in shares of corpora
 lions and these corporations are al
 within easy reach of the state, whicf
 has granted their charters and can de
 mand from them whatever details ol
 their business 1t may desire. Railroads
 now pay their tax directly to the state
 and their shares are exempted. Manu, factories are taxed on their property
 where they are located and their shares
 also exempted.
 | There is no reason why the so-called l 'moneyed corporations" should not be | taxed directly by the state, instead of indirectly through their stockholders wherever these may be found. The l revenue thus secured could be returned
 to the towns where the owners reside. ] This would secure uniformity and
 check evasion.
 | The problem of the back town to
 which allusion has already been made
 is q grave one. There are a number of | these remote from Tines of communica- ton and devoted under adverse social conditions almost exclusively to the | of rf,-;o tbo are declining in population, in business activity and wealth, and where the only increase from decade to decade is l in the rate of taxation. There are whole towns which would not to-day sell at auction for the amount of their tax lists and with the vagaries of the very rich it would not be surprising if
 some multi-millionaire should under take to buy a Connecticut town and
 own it with it's seat in the legislature as his personal perquisite. The difficulty is to find how to aid such communities in bearing the expense of their roads, their schools and the care of their poor, how to make them desirable homes for the industrious citizens, and still pre- serve the autonomy of the towns them- selves and the independent self-govern-
 ment of the people which is the heritage and the privilege of every citizen of Connecticut.
 The present law which provides for state assistance to these towns in the maintenance of their highways Is emi- nently proper, and should be continued.
 The tax rates on real estate would be lowered if the law required every man to make oath to his list either in per- son or by his accredited agent. under severe penalty for neglect. The pres ent law in this regard is direct invi- tation to the rich man to neglect to make out his list, lock his safe deposit box and leave the good-natured asses sor to add ten per cent. to what he can find outside. A law that would ra- quire the judges of our courts or pro- bate to examine all inventories of es- tates of deceased persons and assess and collect any tax that the owners evaded when living, might be whole some warning to those who think that it is perfectly proper to let other people support the government.
 If a law could be framed that would by It's terms secure the appointment of scientific and broad-minded student of fiscal matters as tax commissioner, this officer would, in q short time, be worth many times his salary to the reo- pie of Connecticut.
 PURITY OF THE BALLOT
 If you can discover any combination of words which, enacted into law, will stop the buying and selling of votes, you should lose no time in making such discovery, for it is. I fear, the general that much of the legislation now on the statute books looking to that end, in reality does little more than encourage falsehood and decep- tion
 I do not wish to discourage further experiment. in penal legislation. Neith- CT do I advise repeating existing laws until more effective ones have been But am firmly convinced that while laws prohibiting bribery at the polls are a present necessity, we may find it profitable to look elsewhere for the true remedy.
 The law of self-interest is the one that controls mankind on election day, and the only thing that prevents it's au- tomatic operation is ignorance. If eve ry elector could be made to realize that when he goes to the ballot-box he t goes to decide a case in which he Is defendant and a selfish world | Is plaintiff, the price of his vote would 1 soon be too high for any possible pur- | chaser.
 It is to be remembered also,. in this that an honest but ignor- ant voter, and a voter, otherwise intelli- i gent, who puts party loyalty above the good of his country, are serious obsta- 1les to the growth and well-being of | hat country. An intelligent majority s as important as an honest majority. The greater the prosperity the greater he danger of national dissipation and suicidal inclination, unless with all our getting we get wisrom.
 The best time to make a man honest s before he has become dishonest As oon as a boy is able to read he should ,e made to read, remember. and, if possible, to understand, few of the ,asic principles of political philosophy. Ie should be taught no party creed, doctrine or ism, but he should know what a democracy is before he is called Ipon to run one. He should know that
 government cannot perform mira cles, r get dollar that it does not take in axes from his or his neighbours pocket. ie should know that his government nust Hppeud upOn him for it's existence.