Morris tribune., 1907-02-02
AN IMPORTANT TASK.

.
The house committee on taxes has delegat
ed to subcommittee composed Of Mr.. Thayer
chasnsnan Messrs. Tighe, Rockne, Miller, JET
erson Bcknen and the two Nolans, the task OF
of investigating the problem OF taxation and
the framing of bill to take the place OF the
several bills that have been introduced. The
membership of the subcommittee as far as
our personal acquaintance goes is one very
well qualified to deal with the great question,
says the St. Paul Dispatch. We feel confident
that the members will not approach the sub
iect wrapped up in unconceived notions which
have found crystalization in present laws
and that they will go at it as did the tax COM
mission and try to get at some of the funda-
III entail principles that lie at the base Of tax
alton. For although any student of our meth
ods and the kindred methods of Older states
fl ON whom we borrowed ours, would come
from their study feeling that taxing
" tumble of unrelated efforts to get the most
possible, there fundamental prin-
clples and taxing is a real science with the
usual scientific bases of fact.
No feature of taxing, probably is less con-
sidered by trainers of tax laws than is the in
cidence of tax, the point of it's final rest.
Justice demands that any tax shall as far as it
is is possible to make it, rest where laid IF it
can be shifted the person upon whom it is first
laid does not pay the tax; he merely advances
it to the treasury and recoups himself it's
amount by adding to it the price of wares or
service, merging it in cost and passing it on to
the person. buying served. But every tax
must finally rest somewhere. 1t cannot be-
come revolving fund coming back to- it's in
itia1 point And the point of rest is where it
falls upon the person who cannot make the
price of what he has to sell This is the vice
of nearly all the forms of what is called indirect
taxing 1t makes the initial payers mere col
lectors for the state.
The tax commission, after a full investiga-
tion, covering the entire field ancient and
rnodern the methods of nonarchies and re-
pubics. came deliberately to the conclusion
that all forms of personal property should not
be taxed because not alone that, as a basic
principle, human energy and enterprise should
not be buroicned but that all experience proved
the utter impossblity of reaching all property
and therefore, great in Justice and inequality
was inflicted upon owners of what of that kind
OF property was tIxed. 1t is this, the sense of
this injustice and inequaly, that vitalzes all
these movements, in the several states for
changed methods.
While the tax commission did not incor-
porate in it's report this conclusion, it did, in
its proposed amendments, open the door to it's
application by it's proposal to leave to the tax
ing communities selection of the objects to be
taxed Perhaps this is not feasible under the
wording of the present amendment which
seems to require equality all the state in
whatever subjects the legislature may select |
Lit it is feasible, the subcommittee, will best
serve the people by Incorporating it.
The Minnesota senate is making record |
While the house is fooling around with anti
pass and two-cent fare "hearings," the senate |
has got down to business and passed the Sund-
berg resolution for the valuation of railroad
properties of the state and Senator Smaller re-
piled to the railroads appeal to the federal
courts by Introducing as a bill the rates estab-
lished by the railroad commission which when
it passes will make those rates the maxi um
rates.
-
Congressman Davis, of the Third district,
has introduced in Congress bill which pro-
fc,r federal assistance for agricultural