Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1903-09-23

I 10y AOstOOO Poiu NhOcd tdAdS
5l,977 men who had not pait
their poll taxes voted. verybody
knows that almost all of those
could pay if they would, aud tn a,
their poll taxes would be paid il
| otherwise they could not vote.
} More than $4,000 which belongs
to the distributable school fund
of the state is lost to il every
year, and the little children of
the state are defrauded to that ex-
tent.
To prevent this the tax com.
mission proposed fret to permit
the man who assesses these poll
taxes also to collect them; to collsot
them promptly and il necessary
by means Of notice served on
the employer or other debtor of
the person assessed; and, second,
to amend the constitution so as to
make the payment of taxes a pre-
requisite TO voting.
What remedy is proposed by the
gentlemen who have published
their objections to this plan? Or
is no remedy needed in their
judgment?
UNDERvALUATIoNs AND UNFAIR
VALUATIONS.
Real estate and tangible person
al property are always and every
where undervalued. Much that
is called intangible property es-
capes assessment altogether. The
plain commands of the law, the
solemn sanctions of the oath, are
alike Intellectual to produce prop
er assessments. The public con
science is demoralized. False
swearing in tax matters is so COM
mon that it has lost it's infamy.
Assessments different counties in
the state, as between different as
sessment districts in the county,
az between individuals in the
same district. Only widows and
orphans, whose possessions are in
ventoried on the public records,
pay full taxes and the default of
others makes them pay double;
only the banks whose assets are
scheduled for other purposes pay
something like what they ought to
pay. For the rest 1T is a mere game,
com monty of chance but some
times of skill, which determines
the value at which property is to
be assessed. Without the slight
est authority of law, moved by the
habits of the past, the practices
in other counties, the interests of
Leighbors, the apprehensIons of
elections to come, the assessed
fixes for himself some fraction
from one-third to three-fourths of
of the real value of real estate at
which he will proceed to assess it.
All who are to contribute to a
common fund in proportion to
their means, ought to have their
means assessed by one and the
same authority. To permit 88
diff rant men of all shades of abIl-
ity and integrity, subject to vary
in1 local and personal influences,
each to value the means of his own
neighbors for contribution to such
fund, is Il direct invitation to
inequality and injustice. The
unit for assessment purposes ought
to be co-exteneive and identical
with the unit for collection and
expenditure.
1t is manifest that if taxes for
state purposes are to be assessed
upon the property in the state it
is not enough that the same rate
of taxes shall be paid by every
body. 1t is necessary further that
the valuation of the property to
which that rate is applied should |
be upon the same scale through |
out the state. But this never has
been and perhaps never can be.
The successive valuations of real |
estate at periods approximately |
ten years tell always the saure
story of inequality and injustice,
and boards of equalization, al
ways ummoned to relieve against
1T, have always left matters at
least as bad as they found them.
Is not this necessity of the |
case2 Where for each county a
commissioner resident therein is
selected to value it's real estate he
knows that his valuation is In re-
ality not absolute but merely
comparative with the valuations
made for other counties. Even If
he and his people desire what is
right they suspect that other
counties will not be as scrupu-
lous, bat will return valuations
unduly small. The only means
of protection is to see that the val