The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-06
TUESDAY. SEPT. 6, 1904.
THE OLD PROBLEM

The main reliance of those who have
recently been preparing changes in our
city charter which would involve
large addition to the tax budget is an
assumed increase in the personal tax
levy by which the deficit can be made
good. We commend to their attention
ton in this state has declined, accord
ing to the last assessment, $500, 900
within year, and that Ramsey county
contributed over $2,0OO,00O to this de-
crease.
Minnesota is up against the central
problem of all tax systems, which is the
absolute inability of the collector to
reach personal property and force it to
contribute its quota to the treasury Of
the state. 1t is no isolated phenom-
ena. 1t is the common experience of
every community. The older a state
grows, the larger it's accumulation Of
wealth. the more immense the indi-
vidual fortunes, the more surely does
the personal tax assessment decline. 1t
is perfectly useless to rail against this,
to select any individuals as chief Of
tenders, and apparently to attempt to
apply any remedy. The trouble is in
herent in a system which brings per-
sonal property within the reach of the
taxpayer.
1t has too many avenues of escape.
The household goods of a man of mod
est means, the small possession of the
farmer, the family horse and cow, the
family piano if there chance to be one,
the watches and other trinkets, are in
plain view and must contribute. The
paper representatives of property, of
which so large portion of all wealth
consists today, are fugitive and cannot
be apprehended. 1t is useless to dis
cuss the morals of this, because it is a
universal and unalterable fact. We
might as well accept the situation,
which is founded upon permanent hui
man qualities.
In all the science of government
there is nothing so obscure, SO alb
struse, so little understood, as the the
DRY or practice of taxation. Civilized
states are about as crude as the saw
age chief who sends men around to his
subjects to take from them what he
wants. There is hardly an item in the
tax system of our states which con-
forms with the accepted canons of just
and equal taxation. We have to work
by rule of thumb, and cut and fit as
best we may. The struggle of wealth
will always be to evade taxation. and
the problem of the state will always be
to prevent escape. At present the tend
ency is to reach large masses of it by
taxes on corporations and franchises
This seems to be the only way to gel
at corporate property in its modern
form, and it also does furnish justifi-
cation OF those who make incomplete
returns of personal property. Tha,
which their certificates represents has
already paid its contribution to the
state in another form.
In future legislation in this state
and in the process of accommodating
funds that the treasury must have, ii
would be just as we'll to recognize the
factor immovable fact it is, no mat
ter whether right or wrong-that the
tax on personal property is unreliable
largely uncollectable, varies inversely
with the increase of wealth and is
therefore. certain to constitute a con-
dnually declining factor in our system
of taxation.
The Republican campaign bureau is
about due to send out story exploit