Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-07-22
MAINE EDITORIAL COMMENT.
People and Values.
POrtland PrcSS.)

/
In its attempts to back up the pre-
poster0us statement OF Hon. Cyrus w.
Davis that the farmers of Maine had
never felt 1.-The iron hand of Taxation
| so heavily as now, the Watcrville Sen
tincl is driven to desperate expcdients
Mr.. Davis said that the valuation of
! the state had been Jumped up $il6,-
| eOO,0oO i'm twenty years, the intimatioh
| being that this was AN understandable
increase. made for the purpose of in
; CreaSing the basis of taxation ana
therefore the proceeds and at the same
time keeping down the rate. This was
a sever" reflection Oh the integrity Of
, the board of state assessors, as 1t
virtually accused them of having been
false t" their duty and their oath Of
1 Office i'll making false returns Oh
| values, and 1t should not have been
made without strong evidence. Instead
of that, il WAS made with no evidence
at all: but the Sentinel WAS swift to
4 come to its defence and adopt ana
make it its OWN. Not only that, but in
its striving to make the worse appear
the better reason. the Sentinel adj
/ vonced a fanciful theory about popuia-
ton keeping pace with valuation. 1T
! said that the state valuation had been
jumped out of all proportion to the
growth of population. and that the
growth of one should he practically
identical. with that Of the other.
Hence on the ground that the popula-
ton of the state had increased only
seven and one half per cent in the
/ period i'm question. while the valuation
hal grown 40 per cent. it Claimed that
! something vas wrong: there had been
/ monkeyinC with tho figures. When
shown that the increase was Legitimate
! and largely due to the development IF
new industries and the increased
valuation Of the wild lands. the Sen
tincI attempts to make out that the in
crease from these sources accounts for
] only a small part of the total increase.
that these two classes Of property paw
a very small portion Of the taxes. and
that the farmers pay twice as much on
| their livestock and pianos as the pulp
| and paper mills pay. That is probably
because their livestock in the bulk has
increased i'm value in the last twenty
| ycarS--it would be a pity if it hadn't
and is worth more than the mills. But
about the farmers pianos we don't
know: it is indeed shame and outrage
if thcy are overtaxed. and it should he
worth votes for Davis.
I We still maintain" says the Senti-
mel, land we can prove our contention
to any reasonable man. that the in
creased valuation of all property in
! Maine. beyond a reasnnahl" an 'n"t.
works hardship to the farmers. the
re nd In
an enhanced valuation for the pur-
pose of securing n larger amount of
money from the people on a lower tax
rare is as reprehensible as it is pos
sibtp to conceive" The Sentinel will
be maintaining and offering to prove
the multiplication table next Nobody
denies that such cooking of the figures
for such a purpose would be repre-
hensihls-and it is also reprehe nsible
to accuse by insinuation an honorable
body of men of doing Just that thing
and to base the accusation or insinua-
ton on grounds no more substantial
than those advanced by the Sentinel.
We have already shown by example
the righteousness Of the argument that
population and wealth keep equal
step: how by the moving of a rich
family into neighborliood. the build
ing Of a mill there, or railroad. or
, the discovery of mine, the taxable
wealth of that community is increased
considerably. without a commensurate
increase of population. We shall have
to offer one or two more examples for
the Scntiners benefit.
Let us take tho case of Portland
and apply to it the pari passu theory
Of men and dollars. And right here
let us note that out of the Jump Of
which Mr.. Davis and his Watervile
organ complain in behalf of the dear
farmers, sl5.000,OOO or 13 per cent. is
to be found i'm the city of Portland.
The valuation of Portland. as returned
by the local assessors and not by the
untrustwOrthy men of the State board,
was s"2.sf2.755 in 1882; i'm 1902 it was
s47.332.3l3-an increase of s15.2S9 $50.
or little more than IS per cent. In
the same time the population increased
from $4,000 to $4,000. or fraction
more than II per cent. The Sentinel
may try to argue that this sustains
its theory. hut it does not, because the
percentage of population growth Is
much larger than the percentage of
the Increase Of wealth. Take the case
or the United States. From 1870 to
l?0o the population almost exactly
doubled, while in the same period the
wealth Of the country more than
triplcd--1oO per cent. to 200 per cent.
One more example. and we will let
tn" ease rest on that. 1t is well known
that the population of France is nearly
stationary and has been for many
years. 1t is also well known. though
the exact figures are not at hand at
the present moment. that France is
one Of the richest countries in the
world. and that the growth of wealth
has been rapid.
| Eald R~>.L