Evening star., 1901-06-08
The Personal Tax.

Now that the personal tax matter has
come to a crisis and IT has been decided by
the Commissioners to secure an authorita-
tive Judgment upon the law, it Is to the best
interests of the District that test case be
brought forward at the earliest practicable
time and pressed to a final decision. Should
the case result In the notification of the
law the prevailing sentiment Of the District
will have been satisfied. For it is not to be
questioned that the community holds almost
unanimously against the personal tax IT,
on the other hand, the law is sustained and
the Commissioners are told by the courts to
enforce II. there will be need of prompt
and vigorous move to secure it's repeal and
the relief of the District from this burden
some statute
The organic act creating the present mode
OF government for the District contempiates
two prime facts in the fiscal administration
OF the capitals affairs: Congress Is to fix
the amount of money which 1t deems ad-
visable and proper for expenditure upon the
Districts needs and the District is then to
raise One-half OF that amount as its propor-
tiOnate share. This fundamental statute
does not stipulate how the Districts share
is TO be raised. The residents of the capital
being under the necessity to provide the
fund, they may accomplish it by exclusively
taxing the real estate, or by exclusively tax
Ing the personal property, or by imposing
license fees. or by a poll tax, or by combina-
tiOns OF all the methods known in municipal
finance.
The manner In which they shall raise
their share of the annual appropriation is
of primary concern to the people of the Dis
trict themselves. Having no legislative body
to enact the public will, these details are
relegated TO Congress- and laws have been
passed now and again affecting the manner
OF the local taxation. But this process
should not exclude the exercise OF the local
Judgment as a guide and index of the
wishes Of the community. which should al
ways be paramount in this respect 1t Is not
required by the organic act or any sub
sequent legislation that Congress shall i'm
pose upon the District all OF the processes
of taxation known IN the states, or any
particular method. beyond such as the local
will may decree.
The people Of the District would prefer
that the bulk of their annual tax money
should be raised by assessments against the
real property. They have found that such
taxes are more equitably assessed and more
easily collected. and that the burden thus
imposed falls in the main with proporttonate
weight upon all the residents of the Dis
trict. They have furthermore found that Of
all the forms of taxation that of assessing
the personal property of the individual is
the least practical and equitable, the most
difficult Of enforcement and the most de-
mOralizing.
II the law is sustained by the courts the
District should stand firmly by the doctrine
that Its wishes are 10 be primarily regarded
in the choice Of methods whereby its share
OF the annual revenue is produced; and that
Congress should promptly repeal the per-
sonal tax statute when convinced that it is
ineffective because hateful to the commu-
nifty. and that the Districts share Of the
municipal revenues can be readily raised
without recourse to 1t.