The Minneapolis journal., 1902-02-11

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the members Of the Legislature this morn
ing. The house and senate committees
on taxation met Jointly, and every seat
In the house chamber and gallery was oc-
cupied.
and was listened to with the closest atten-
tion. He was often interrupted with
rounds Of applause. He cOmplimented the
tax commission on their report, which he
characterized as one Of the strongest
documents on the subject of taxation he
had ever read.
OF their bill he had a different opinion.
He declared the Indiana and Ohio systems
failure, demora1izing in their moral ef-
feet and not effectual in reaching prop
erty equally. Thes ystem of personal
property taxation embodied in the tax
code he condemned on the same grounds.
By way of preface to his written paper,
Mr.. Purdy made an answer to the argu-
ment for the California theory of mort
gage taxation. He said the theory looked
we'll, but had not worked. It resulted In
the borrower paying the tax, drove capi-
tai from the state and almost created a
panic. Missouri adopted the theory in her
constitution, and after three years aban-
doned it.
Mr.. Purdy's Address.
Continuing, Mr.. Purdy spoke as fol-
lows:
The state Of Minnesota is at the parting Of
the ways and great opportunity is presented
to take long step toward the establishment
of system of taxation more just and more
efficient than that of any state in the union.
You owe much to the able and enlightened
report Of your tax commission. In many re-
spects it is the best and most instructive re-
port Of any tax commission that have ever
read. AS "a rule reports are made by men
who have never made an historical study
Of taxation and they are therefore not in
structive; or they are made by Of
academic learning and lack practical value,
because the recommendations not in ac-
cordance with existing conditions and do not
offer a natural evolution from such condi-
tions.
The report of your tax commission makes
an excellent diagnosis of the evils from which
you suffer and the fundamental remedies sug-
gested are in harmony with your history and
sufficient for the purpose. In view Of
present public sentiment and after the valu-
able labors Of this commission, the con-
tinuance of your present law is not to be
thought of. E., 50.
Three courses then are open to you: 2. IL -
First, you may adopt the code recon-
mended by the commission; "
Second, you may adopt the code and con-
stitutional amendments --
Third, you may adope the constitutional
amendments alone or call constitutional
e CouFeullOu
We will consider these three possible
courses of action in their order.
In what Is here said of their recommended
tions, no criticism of the commission is In
tended Unfortunately, the act under which
the commission was appointed enjo1ned upon
them to make a tax code for the state of Min
nesota under the limitations Of the existing
constitution. Although the commissions code
may be the most intelligent plan ever devised
for taxing all forms of property equally, we
can probably foresee it's fate by examining
the experiences of other states and countries
which for thousands Of years have made the
same attempt Taxes be raised from
personal property. for large sums are thus
raised, but that they cannot be levied with
reasonable approach to equality is demon
strated by the fact that they have never
been 80 levied. For hundreds of years the
Roman empire attempted this impossible
thing, not by means of mere oaths and money
penalties but with power of torture and
DEATH Similar efforts made by Spain
in the Netherlands and came to naught Now,
all countries in the world outside Of the
United States have abandoned the effort to
impose direct taxation on personal property
as impracticable, unjust and inimical to the
prosperity Of nations. -.
Results in Ohio.
It will generally be conceded that the at
tempts of Ohio to tax all forms of property
are as severe the people will endure.
When first adopted they met with some sue
cess in increasing the amount of property
assessed. but the system speedily broke down
and the truth of the saying was proven that
the extreme of bad law is the extreme Of
injustice. In Ohio penalties for not making
lists are severe and the list system is sup
plemented by what is called the TAX In
quisitor Law" which gives the county COM
missioners authority to make a contract with
who give information which
will result in personal property being placed
the assessment roll.
The result of the listing law and of the in
quisitor law has been steady shrinkage in the
assessed value Of personal property. in 1866,
the value of tangible property in Hamilton
county which was assessed was 17,460 AT; in
1896 it was S.. 3S9. $50. The amount of money
returned in Hamilton county in 1856 was
nearly $1,000, 0O0: in 1896 it less than
$1,100, 900. The amount of money on deposit
in Cleveland banks In 1896 was about so, ,000,
900, and of this there was returned for taxa
ton in 1895 only s1,741,129. In Hamilton coun-
ty is the city of Cincinnati, and 1t must be
borne in mind that the population and wealth
Of these cities have marvelously increased
within this period. of thirty years. The
whole amount of stocks and bonds returned
in the entire state in 1896 was but 81, 000, 900;
Ihirty years before dt was over $12, 900, 900.
E. A. Angel, late of the Ohio state tax COM
mission, SAYS: "The informer scheme does
not make the general property tax effective.
It has utterly broken down in Ohio. as else
where. The merest bagatelle is reached out
side Of visible tangible property"
While the system breaks down utterly in
cities. 1t is more successful in the country,
and thus opDresses the farmer. The typical
rural county Of Ohio is Geauga which has no
town of over 1000 inhabitants. The county of
Hamilton is assessed for thirty-eight times
moro real property than Geauga and less
than three times much money and less
than seven times as much credits. Moreover,
since 1882 Hamilton has lost more than half
the money and more than half the credits
then on the tax rolls, while Geauga has
gained $4,000 in money and lost only S105, 200
In credits.
The tax commission appointed by Governor
Mckinley reported on Dec. q, 1885, that
while in the country counties. taxation on
Intangible property Is perhaps feasible, it is
in city counties an utter failure"
The state OF Missouri has a similar listing
law and the results are the same. In st.
Louis the assessed value Of personal property
amounts to 14k per cent of the total valua-
ton OF all property, and in the typical farm
ing county of Camden. where town lots are
only Der cent of the value of real estate,
personal property amounts to 81 per cent Of
the total assessed value Of all property. This
is not to be wondered at. for two-thirds of
the personal property in Camden is live stock.
Indiana Success Questioned.
The state of Indiana is referred to by your
commission as having had larger success
in taxing personal property than perhaps any
other state. The commission chiefly derived
its information from the officers engaged In
enforcing the law. had the pleasure of
meeting these same state officers at the ma
tional tax conference in Buffalo last June.
and also the author of the tax law. Judge