Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-08-03
CUMBERLAND TAXES.
Good Reasons for a Change From a
Land to an Income Tax.

| / have not made, nor shall / make
| q plea To relieve the timber industry
| of taxation. 1t must bear and bcne-
| fit from its share of the burdens.
What / propose is to shift the tax
| from uncertain land values to certain
| log values.
This country has had tremendous
| natural timber resources and has been
| rrC'liPal of them. They were wealth
close at hand in such volume that no
| one gave a thought to the future-the
| supply seemed ineXhaustable.
What man, 100 years ago, would not
| have laughed had he been told this
| country could ever become trceless
| waste?
But vast areas in the middle West
| are 50 today-areas once covered with
| dense forests-and. because of it.
Pennsylvania is to plant two billion
| trees
| Think Of it, 1t is a crop for the
| fourth generation to reap, for all the
present will benefit is to save loss from
foods, and for that they must wait Is
years.
In the timber industry. Maine has
| been q producing State of high Capac-
| ity longer than any other State in the
Union. but the year the cut exceeded
the growth it passed its zenith and be-
| gan to decline Just when that was
| no one knows, for there are no exact
| data to show; it was within 10 years,
| that is sure.
| Our best guide is the tinberland I'M
der operation, and, l repeat. every
| piece Of timberland under operation to-
| day is being cut at rate of three. To
| five times faster than it grows.
1t is true that the legal right to our
| timber is vested in the present genera
| ton. but. being Il natural resource. it
| is equally true that in it our children
have a moral equity.
But it is not alone the future genera
ton that is in danger of losing it's
birthriSht; the danger is imminent-it
is here
| No man. or group Of men, in their
right mind would think of destroying
| an industry of such vital Importance
to the State. but, would. on the other
hand, use any reasonable means to
maintain and increase its usefulness.
The first measure. in perpetuating
| our timber supply, is to provide a sys-
| tenn of taxation scientifically adapted
to it's needs, a system under which
half grown trees may be allowed to
rpen to maturity. and not, as now. be
taxed out of existence.
Some states have already done this.
| and those that have not, will soon. il
not now, face the tremendous cost of
planting trees, for their natural sup
ply is gone.
Maine land has not, in most cases.
reached this stage, and must not be
allowed to. for the cost is beyond the
CaUaciIy of the State to meet.
We must save our timber while we
have it.
One tax method, used, I think, in
New York. is to reduce the taxes on
Cut-over land to very low point for
term of years, making it correspond
ingly heavy in years of harvest.
But all methods now in use are open
to the strong objection that they do
not work automatically. Too much is
left to Judgment.
Iiy taxing logs alone. Judgment is
eliminated. The number of logs and
their measure is on record at camps,
on tho drive and at mills. All Of these
records are available, and, being a
staple the value is shown.
Maine has. made one attempt at adj
Justing taxes to cut-over land, /. e.. by
renting them entirely where at least
1000 trees per acre had been planted!
But it was of no practical value. for
the need for planting had not come.
no one took advantage of it, and its
sole use was to serve as precedent
for the principle here advocated.
Well timbcred spruce land. from
which nothing is cut but mature trees,
may be cut once in 25 years with about
the same yield.
In the meantime the danger Of loss
from fire is SO great that no insurance
company will take it, and there is not
q dollars worth of insurance on any
timbcrland today.
But, if in addition to fire risk, the
timber farmer must pay constantly
increasing tax. to hold the land and let
the crop ripen becomes financial i'm
possibility.
The instance. cited in my last article,
of cut-over town on which land tax
has been doubled, is not an imaginary
case, but one where our company will
have finished cutting next winter.
We have no use for half-grown logs,
and have cut as few as possible, leav-
ing good stand of young trees, many
Of which will be fit to cut in %
years.
But with the present tax amounting
to $4,000 in % years the owner cannot
afford to let this small timber grow, for
the tax is ruinous.
This town has an area of $1,000 acres,
and is assessed on valuation of $500
per acre, which. were it all producing
land, and uncut, would not seem ex-
cessive. But is is swamp land
which grows no useful timber, 1-3 is in
lakes and ponds which grow nothing,
50 that the burden is all on the other
IL. placing its valuation at $2100 per
acre.