Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-08-21
Complaint Against Present Sys-
TENS General Thruout Coun-
try---Remedies Lacking
GENERAL SYSTEMS SIMILAR
Methods Of Assessment Almost the
Same in Every State, With Dissatis-
faction Widespread-Governors Rec
ommendns Reforms in Methods
Missouri to Try New Scheme.
Special to Tsmes-Ieepublican.

0DeClut TO
Des Moines, Aug. 21-About one-half
of ahe messages by governors to state
legislatures received at the state library
disclose complaint against the system
of taxation. OF the thirty or more
legislatures in session last winter the
messages of the governors to a little
over half Of them have been received so
far. Other messages by other governors
in other states in former years make
the same complaint, disclosing the fact
that there is hardly state In the union
but finds complaints of some kind with
its system of taxation. Furthermore
nearly every state in the union has had
from one to half-dozen tax conlrnis-
sions, which was what Sioux City rep
resentatives in the legislature were ask
ing last winter, without any visible evil
dence that any of them have solved
the main problems of the proposition.
Curtis Guild, Jr., governor OF Massa-
chusetts, in his message eays: III
escape from taxation on personal prop
erty is ITO be checked we must have
more uniformity in our state laws OF
taxation"
Governor Joseph H. Kbbey, OF Ari-
zona, says that the taxes come the
heaviest on the poor man, even If rich
and poor alike pay taxes on all their
property. paying lthe same rate, the poor
man is less able to pay the rate and
it is a real hardship to him while 1t Is
not a hardship at all for the rich man
to pay his full rate of taxes on all his
property. Yet he pointed out to the
Arizona legislature that the poor mans
property is all visible and never escapes
while the rich man easily covers mis- up.
He pointed to copper mime In Arizona
taking out s9,00O,o00 of copper annually
and which was assessed on valuation
of $56oOO.
Joe l. Crawford, governor of South
Dakota, told the legislature Of that
state: Everyone comedies that our
revenue laws are crude and made
quate,' and called their attention to the
fact that the corporations escaped their
share of the taxes.
Governor Fletcher D. Proctor, Of Yer
mont, told the legislature that some
remedy should be found for double tax
alton in the case of mortgages and
that the corporations were not paying
their share. Gov. Chas. j. Bell Of
Vermont told the legislature that
double taxation should be remedied
and pointed out some elements of sue
cess of the tax commissioner who in
that state had increased the revenue
$4,000.
Governor John A. Johnson. Of Min
nesota, considered the tax question at
great length. Among other things he
said: From the birth of our state
government we have had an unchanged
system of taxation in the form of a
direct tax upon real and personal
property. The history of taxation in
our state has taught US that taxes
have not been equal and that the
method has not been efficient. The
cause has been in part the law and in
part the application"
Minnesota found it necessary to
amend the constitution so that the
legislature should have greater lati-
tude in the matter of legislation on
taxation. The amendment to the con-
stitution reads: "The power of taxa
ton shall never be surrendered, sus-
pended or contracted away. Taxes
shall be uniform upon the same class
of subjects and shall be levied and
collected for public purposes"
This amendment takes the place OF
the declaration that call property on
which taxes are to be levied shall have
cash valuation and be equalized and
uniform thruout the state"
Governor Johnson pointed out that
the system of taxing mortgages forces
Minnesota capitalists to take their
money to other states to invest in
loans and further that this leaves the
Minnesota market open to the capital
lists of other states to come In and
loan money, in any event the state Of
Minnesota not getting any revenue and
working a hardship on it's citizens. He
recommended permanent tax COM
mission.
Governor D. G. Hayward, Of South
Carolina, called attention to the un-
equal assessments.
treat of taxes in his regular message,
but devoted a special message to the
question and on his recommendations
the legislature in that state has sub
mitted to the people a constitutional
amendment providing for separating
the state and county taxes so that
the state shall derive all it's revenue
from the corporations and fees and
that the taxation of property shall be
entirely a county matter.
The question Of change in the sys-
tens of taxes is becoming more and
more live question and when the
next Iowa legislature meets it will
find a great deal of literature on the
subject of taxation. Thus far with
slight variations the systems i'm nearly
every state are about the same. all
states imposing taxes by equal rate