The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-03-29
SUNDAY, MARl''c.7I1:Il: s e (. 1908 1916
4 y IL STATE INCOME TAX 7 Y *

Se tanco which was dtte ~ . !,
N the Wilson, Tariff Law OF 1919 - ~ ~ -.
income tax to be levied ana coiieo'e1 !,
RI ~ Il. United States, and the prolo'unu
IN 1..,,n. ~ dissatisfaction In the Demo ''rIt
"A ia party whom that law was declared
unoonstit utional, It will be hard 70 un 'l
VI NJ a row It is that the same Demo I
81 ,r..1.,, IA nv. having control OF the GOV
" arnrnent Of the State Of Virginia mas y
a 4 effected Il this source OF revenue y. -.
~ -. state Treasury, against which it y there 'e'
8sSl i. !, : constitutional objection whatever
aud which professed1y has the he most asI cor y
d,al support q the people. we have In. nearu
/. GOOD deal lately about q possible oeic'.
ar1oy Of Of revenue for the necessltieesl = =
" ~. sta IA and certainly deficiency Tor ap-
nropr1 ions which are i :1a oes'r-
ab1e. some Of which are very important IN
il m. appropriation for the completion OF
y. improvern ents at the Penitentiarry' a
matter Of the gravest importance mas J y
y been refused and the amount necessary
N = = make the jamestown Exposition a rea-
,a sonable possibility Is IN grave peril ana q
vat there can be no reasonable doubt that
!, the revenues OF this State were fairly
u szessed and faithfully collected. the state
would have ample money for It's g rent
expenses and for those purposes Of pro
rrcss aud 7 development which arc are cs-
sential to keep her abreast OF modern CIV Y,
illzation. ~ ~ N .si / n. US 'i&,
AS to real estate, it Is not not pretend ten q
II "a thnt the cash market value. which
the law requires, Is applied in the the as as
sessment OF but q very. small traction = t'11t
b 81 that class Of property while IN many ma
parrts Of the state 1t is assessed at less Tess
"A han halt, sometimes less than on -fourth
5S# Of what6it is worth. The assessment asses tt, o.
personal property Is a proverblal ira ira
{vvesty, not merely through the arts OF
tbe tx dodger, but tho inenlciency and
the political tender mercies' OF the as rs
SCISSORS. we have referred to some some OF
thc nbsurdities which appeared on the
face Of the AUDITORS report on the as. as
3 sessment upon personal property In dif-
ferent parts 81 the State but the tn,
browning absurdity Of our whole fiscal
system II is reached In tho income tax.
..s rhis source Of revenue. which ought tc
be prolific, and the Justice and expe-
L diency OF which have been declared IN
Democratic national platf which were
unanimously approved IN State conYen'
4 lions, Is so mcagre that 1t Will pc tai
better to repeal 1t than to permit IT te
stay as it is on the statute books only
to be brought into the contempt Of thu
taxpayers Of the State. 81 +
n 1t is conceded by all writer's on econo
S mics that thetincome tax above all 9th
Of forms Of taxa tion more clearly re-
spends to those maxims or principles
which have been generally concurred y
as essential to q wise tax law. Amonl
these principles the first Is that "th
subjects OF every State ought to con
tribute to. the, support Of government a
nearly as possible in proportion to thel
respective abilities; that is, in proportlo
s to the revenue which they enjoy undo
81 the protection OF the State" This
3 the principal maxim Of taxation and
a is the foundation OF income tax. 1t
recognized, however, that as there ar
many features In the levying Of an In
come TAX WIlCIll al StOIlbiSop4i10 cav wa
ations, a direct income tax Is pre
ferable only us an extraordinary no
source for an emergency. In Englan'
$5i however, the income tax is one OF II
principal sources OF the Royal revenu
ana 1t is the habit Of that Government
cases OF great emergency to increase Il
rate OF income tax as the easiest way 4
ov
people that are once educated to payir
5{ this tax, the State Will have tho readie
means Of expanding or diminishing
revenue according to It's necessities
In the Auditors report for tho We
ending September 80, 1901, the amou
OF Income assessed for that year W
sss.6O4.l4. The total amount receiv
s that year from previous assessments
income tax was s4s.046s8, In 1909 tho
was received s5s2b4,oS on account OF
assessment made the previous year
s63.604.ll In addition to this there "
received s1.779.63 on account Of tho
come assessed for 1900. So that ey
when the income IL assessed II Ia Y
very closely collected.
N facts connected with that assessme
4 OF 1901. OF the one hundred COT
NJ ties OF Virginia there were TWEEN
eight in which there was not one sin
man found by the assessor, who "
liable TO the income tax, that Is no p
son In those twenty-eight counties /
4 d. net income OF over 5000 a year that
IA Ia no n
These counties were;
mi Bland. klns q queen
buchanan, lee, E
Caroline, LunehpuFg'
as9f5 ia roll. ss45 Madison,
sS Charles City .,5s.ftt MatheWs,
Llckensont -f5tis nelson.
TinVd II n Rappahannoc
Franklin, HehnGt'o'
gs Hssyson! Scott.
a!ss Grasy,a' sF III Stafford.