Mexico weekly ledger., 1901-01-17
NAY REMEDY TAX FAULTS
Representative Clay. Of Andrzin. Pound
the Schemes Success in P~ennsylva-
MIA and Believes it VIII Rene
dy Inequalities in This
State

m4lEllItlA 20 AlAAE AlE NALFlEAAAA4s
pay al the State taxes win prove q
be a valuable remedy for some present
inequalities In TAXATION. II was Ofer-
cd FOR the particular benefit Of the
loounties that are heavy pyeHOf State
taxes ii may yet prove 70 be equally
beneficial 10 the cities
The resolution which IS nov in ths
House, provides that az the next
| election. in November, lsG thers
shah be submitted to the people =
popoSiti0n 10 insert il the oonstitR.
ton as secuon2 q article 10 the
following paragraph;
The power 10 tax corporations and
corporate property, including fran
chisS shah not be surrendered o.
suspended by act q the general as.
semby. and no taxes OF revenue fol
state purposes shall be levied or col
lecte6 from any source or sources 9th
er than from taxes upon corporations
and corporate property, including
| franchises from licenses legscieS and
inheritance taxes from fines and
! forfeitures and from fees Of public Of
feerS
The section, sought TO Be amended,
is the sane as the first two lines Of
the new section up to general Assem-
My. except that the words ''iDclud-
ing franchises do not appear in the
present document OF course the
purpose is TO relieve the real estate
and personal property nov taxed for
State purposes and making them tax
able for local purposes only. There Is
"a law in Pennsylvania that provides
that corporations must pay all the
State taxes but a law can't accom-
plish it in Missouri where the o0nsti-
tuition covers everything and leaves
little for the Legislature to do
ONE RESULT OF THE LAW.
The one thing such a law would &C
complish would be to do away with
the constant fighting to keep down
values in order 70 avoid paying more
than a Just share Of taxes As the
things stand now, jackson county
puts values low to avoid paying more
in proportion to actual value than is
paid by Lafayette, Clay, Carroll or
Audrain counties Each county
~leyies the highest rate allowed by the
constitution and puts its values as
low as ii can to get enough money tc
pay expenses and still not pay to-
much to the State. The system has
been worked out 50 complete in the
country that the three large cite:
pay more than half Of all the moneys
raised By taxation for State purposes
Property is not valued with any re
gard 10 actual value, the sole purpos.
being to keep State taU9tion down.
Clay, who is a Young man, graduated
only a few years ago from a New JeF
sey Aw school watched the efforts o.
the Pennsylvania Legislature 70 re
lieve a similar situation and is fuly
convinced that the remedy copied int
his amendment is the right one.
II this amendment should b
adopted be said. -theoounties wou6
at once begin TO receive ali Of tn
money raised BY taxing real anC
personal property. They could theE
value property as high OF as low a
they ehose and TX their leEy according
". A county that wanted 70 bulk
r0ads or bridges and make improve
ments could value higher. and IL Their
vas year when the drain would not
be 50 heavy the court could reduce
the levy. II might take a highel
valuation for corporations and woul6
undoubtedly mean franchise asses
ment such as they have in Pennsylva
MIA.
On the surface the measure seem
to Be full Of advantages Gay fun!
believes that il adopted it would sOoE
result IN the quasi-publie corporation.
PAVING all Of the State taxes Il
would Be heavier for them, but mos
Of them get out cheaper on taxes thar
private corporations Oh persons d.
nov. The corporation tar EOult
oome largely from the cities, but no
more 50 than nov, for the people o
kansas City pay more than I mil
lion dollars yearly % the State on il
real estate and personal taxes, and it
corporations that would be subject 4
this tax do not contribute 50 much a
that 70 the county taxes Besides
this amendment does not say tn
citi@ and counties shall not "a.
corporations
The che big thing itdo@sooomplisl
is asort Of home rule in the matte
Of taxes II jackson county and Kan
sas City could get together the
could asses real estate at It's ful
value OF at ten cents On the dollar an
know that all the money would b
spenta L bOme-O On the other, hand ia
the property q jackson county shOul
be valued at its fun value unde
present conditions the county w0ul
have to pay almost, If not quite,
million dollaB yearly 10 theState.
Taxes from railroads AID telegraph
are nov apportioned % all the eour
ties Of the State on 3 mileage baSl
and the cities are losers by that tram
action. Whether it would be bette
70 keep the quarter Of a million raise
On real estate and personal prOpert
at home and lose 80 much Of oOFpors
ton tax as this measure would tax
away from the county is a q1esti0
Kansas City members need 10 invest
gate before this measure comes bef0E
the house for final action.
AsOoD CHANCE or PAssISe.
There is a strong probability tia
this amendment viii hspassed by u
Legislature. House members loo
upon it with favor. Dickinson, {
Henry, one q the best lawyers in u
House, regards Il as measure tina
viii give effective franchise taxstioE
|. ENABLE the rich counties to make in
prosements and probably silence n
complaint o. the cities that they car
not get enough revenue. WOolfol
considers IL a measure that the PEI
pie would willingly adopt II give
them relief from the burden q stat
taxes and would probably lad nor
q burden On the corporations 70
which the average Miss0urian has q