The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-02-12

the commission, uninfuenced by consti-
tutional requirements as to what conSt1-
tuteS the most just and scientific system
of taxation fer the state.
Experience of other States.
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 examin-
ing the experiences of other states and
countries which for thousands of years
have made the same attempt Taxes can
be raised from personal property, for
large sums are thus raised, but that they
cannot be levied with a reasonable ap
preach to equality Is demonstrated by the
fact that they have never been so levied.
For hundreds of years the Roman en-
pire attempted this impossible thing, not
by means of mere oaths and money pen
a1ties, but with power of torture and
death Now, all countries in the world
outside of the United States have aban-
doned the effort to impose direct taxation
on personal property as lmprachcaple,
Unjust and inimical to the prosperity OF
IlationS.
1t will generally be conceded that the
| attempt of Ohio to tax all forms OF prop
erty are as severe as the people Will en-
! 6ure When first adopted they met with
success in increasing the amount OF prop
erty assessed, but the system SpeedlIy
broke down, and the truth OF the SayIlg
was proven that the extreme OF a PAD
| law is the extreme of injustice. IN ONO
penalties for not making lists are severe
and the list system is supplemented by
! what is called the TAX lnqulSftor Law,
! which gives the county commissioners au-
| thority to make a contract with persons
! who may give information which Will re-
! suit in personal property being placed on
| the assessment roll.
Result of Listing Law.
The result of the listing law and Ct
the inquisitor law has been STEADY
| shrinkage in the assessed value of per-
| sonal property. In 1856 the value OF
tangible property in Hamilton county
which was assessed was ST., 46O,40; IN
| money returned in Hamilton county In
| 1856 was nearly $7,0000O00 dollars; IN 1895
| it was less than $1,10O,00O. The amount
| of money on deposit in Cleveland banks
| in 1896 was about S7OOO0,e00 and of this
/ there was returned for taxation in 1896
| only 81 IA 129. In Hamilton county is
the city of Cincinnati and 1t must &c
| borne in mind that the population and
| wealth of these cities have marvellous
| ly increased within this period OF thirty
years. The whole amount OF stocks an
| bonds returned in the entire state III
1896 was but $7,000,000; thirty ears before
it was over So, O090 600. The Hon. E. A.
| Angel late of the Ohio state tax COM
mission. says: 1.-The intormer scheme
does not make the general property tax
effective. 1t has utterly broken down
in Ohio, as elsewhere. The merest bag3'-
telle is reached outside of visible tansf-
BILE property"
While the system breaks down utter
ly in cities 1t is most successful in the
country, and thus Expresses the farmer.
The typical rural county of Ohio is Gaitu-
ga, which has no town of over 2,OO0
| Inhabitants. The county of Hamilton
is assessed for thirty-eight times more
| real property than GeauSa; and less than
three times as much money and less
| than seven times as much credits. More
over since 1882 Hamilton has lost more
the credits then on the tax rolls, while
| Geauga has gained $50, 600 in money and
| lost only $1050GO in credits.
The tax commission appointed, o by Gov:
Mckinley reported on Dec. e, 1898, that
while in the country counties taxation
| on intangible property is perhaps feas1-
bic, it is in city counties an utter fail
ure."
Experience of Missouri.
The state of Missouri has a similar
listing law, and the results are the same.
In st. Louis the assessed value of per-
sonal property amounts to 49, per cent
| of the total valuation CT all property,
and in the typical farming county OF
Camden, where lots are only per 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.
The state of Indiana is referred to by
your commission as having a larger sue
cess in taxing personal property than
perhaps any other state The commits
the officers engaged in enforcing the law.
I had the pleasure of meeting these
same state officers at the national tax
conference in Buffalo last June, and
also the author of the tax law, Judge
Holman. These officials were loud in
their praises of the Indiana system. ana
commended that they assessed practically
all property. When Mr.. Garfield, Of
Ohio, asked them how it was that the
total value of all the personal property
they assessed was not equal to the value
of tangible personal property as return
ed by the census of ten years ago, they
We're at loss for an answer. After
the conference inquiries were addressed
to experienced investigators in Indiana,
who had no prejudice for or against The
law, and their testimony was what one
! would expect in view of the experience
of other states Indiana has few large
cities, and the difficulties of enforcing a
listing system are not SO great as In
1fany other states. At the same time the
Success of the law there is by no means
Sufficient to commend it. 1t is to be re-
uernbereG that the results spoken Of by
the Indiana officials were accomplished
in the first few years of the
operation of the law. The success
is always greater during the first year,
as after that the 'aw breaks down IN
some counties. and the contag fon
spreads, and citizens of other counties
are unwilling to tax themselves for the
benefit of the counties in which the law
has failed.
In both Ohio and Indiana spies are en-
ployed, called 'inquisitors'' in Ohio and
| 'ferrets' in Indiana, system which
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