The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-08-03
THEY SWEAR
OFF THEIR IIXE5
High-Handed Way New York
MiIliOnaireS Dodge Them.
SOME ASTOUNDING CASES
Nearly Everybody Claims TO
Live Somewhere Else.

william E. Curtis in his special cores
pondence to the Chicago Record-Herald
writes from New York dated July %:
The taxation Of personal property is a
problem even more perplexing in New
York than in Chicago or elsewhere. be-
cause Of peculiar but obvious reasons
The population exceeds that Of any other
city in this country, and the proportion
Of wealthy men IS as large as. if not
larger, than may be found in any COM
rnurity in the world. Being the focus Of
financial and commercial interests and
activity, the headquarters Of many cor
porations whose establishments are scat
tered over different states. it calls to-
gether the Representatives Of these cor
porations, who are all men Of more or
less means. New York is also the great
market for buying raw material and for
selling the finished product, hence il Is
the seat of the selling agencies OF the
great factories, and the merchants of
other cities have their importing agents
and buyers here. 1t is the business heart
Of the country. with all the arteries Of
trade centered here, and the blood that
flows through every vein Of activity in
the entire nation responds to its pulsa-
tions, and is active when affairs here are
active and dull when they are stasnant.
These circumstances and conditions in
addition TO its social attractions and dis
fractions, bring to the metropolis
very large semi-transient population, in
Guiding many men Of wealth, VINO have
erected residences costing enormous
sums Of money and furnished with ev-
erything art can offer and luxurious
tastes suggest. They are the most beau
tifui and costly private dwellings in the
world, and few kings could afford to live
IN them. The owners Of these palaces
spend but little of their time here. They
do not occupy them more than four or
FIVE months a year, and nearly all OF
them have humber homes elsewhere.
which they may perhaps prefer, for it is
often difficult for men who are not born
into it TO enjoy such magnificence.
Any one who will take the trouble to
make an investigation viii discover that
most Of the people who live on Fifth ave-
nue.. as an Irishman might say, reside
elsewhere. II you viii crawl Up to the
top OF a Fifth avenue bus and slip
cigar or a quarter into the hand Of the
driver he viii tell you who lives in each
Of the fine houses as you pass them on
your way up town and you viii be
struck with the number OF rich people
who have come here from other cities
and bought residence property. The fin
est houses. when they are finished. VIII
BE- those Of Senator Clark Of Montana.
Andrew Carnegie and Henry Phipps, Jr.
Those Of the two Astors. the three Van
derbilts. William C. Whitney, the Bel
monts the Goulds and the older families,
America a few years ago. dc not com
pare with them. and most OF them seem
TO be closed from year to year.
As a result or q consequence of this
absenteeism, few Of the rich families pay
personal taxes in New York, but swear
them off, or plea OF nonresidence. or
because their money is invested in cor
porate stocks taxable in other states.
The valuation OF personality and real
estate IN New York is increasing with
marvellous rapidly, but the tax rate is
going up almost as fast. because the rich
people win not and can not be made TO
pay what is due from them. and pretty
soon il will be necessary to devise some
new law to compel them TO do their duty
70 the state The following table shows
the value OF the personally and the
realty assessed IN New York annually for
the last twelve years and the rate of
taxation,