The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1907-06-21
Inheritance Tax.

In my Judgment, however the in
hcritnncc taN is both a far better meth
cd OF taxation. and FAR NOR" important
for the purpose | have in vlew-the
purpose Of having the swollen fortunes
81 the country bear In proportion to
their size constantly Increasing bur
den OF taxation These fortunes exist
solely because OF the protection given
tho owners by the public They are a
constant source uf care and anxiety
10 the public and II IL cmincntly just
that they should be forced to pay hcay-
ny Tor the protection given them. II
is OF course, elementary that tho ma
ton las the absolute right to decide as
to the terms upon which any man
shall receive brqucst or devise from
another We have repeatedly placed
such laws on our own statute hooks.
and they have repeatedly been declared
constitutional by the courts / believe
that the tax should contain tho pro-
rrCssIvc principle. whatever any in
divldull receives, whether by GIFT be.
quest. or devise. In life or in death,
should after n certain amount Is
reached be increasingly hurdcucd: and
the rate Of taxation should no in
creased IN proportion to the remote
ness OF blood Of the man receiving
from the man giving or dcyising. The
OF Inheritance has not only been au-
thoriativcly recognized by the legisla-
ton OF congress. but II is now un-
cquiyocally adopted In the leading CIV
llIzed nations Of the world--ln, for In
stance. Great Britain, France and Ger
many. Switzerland led OF with the
imposition of high progressive rates.
Great Britain was the FIRST OF the great
nations to follow suit. and within tho
4
army have adopted the principle In
Great Britain all estates worth $1,000
or less are pra ticaliy exempt from
death duties. while The increase IL
such that when an estate exceeds
50. 900 In value and passes to a dis
tant kinsman or stranger in blood the
government receives nearly IS per
cent. In France. under the progressive
system, so much OF an Inheritance as
exceeds 10000 coo pays over 90 per
cent to the state II II passes to a dis
tant relative, and five per cent. II IL
passes to n direct heir In Germany
very small inheritance are exempt, but
the tax Is SO SHARPLY progressive that
an Inheritance not In agricultural or
forest lands which exceeds s2J0.000,
II IL goes to distant relatives. is
taxed at the rate OF about 20 per cent.
The German law is OF special interest,
because Il makes the Inheritance tax
an imperial measure, while allotting
to the individual states OF the empire
n portion OF the proceeds and permit
ting them to impose taxes in addition
to those imposed by the imperial gov
eminent. In tho United States the ma
tlonal government has more than once
iIAposed Inheritance taxes in addition
TO" those imposed by the states. and
in the last instance about one-half of
the states levied such taxes concur
rently with the national government.
making a combined maximum rate. in
some cases as high as % per cent:
and, as matter OF fact, several states
adopted inheritance tax laws for the
first time while tho national law was
still in forcc and unrepealed, The
French law has one feature which Is to
he heartily commended. The progres-
sive principle Is so applied that each
higher rate is imposed only On the ex-
cess above tho amount subject to
the next lower rate. This plain IN
peculiarly adapted TO the working out
OF tho theory of using the Inherit
ance tax for the purpose OF limiting
the size of Unbeatable fortunes. since
the progressive increase in the rates.
according TO this mode, may be car
rled to It's logical conclusion in a
maximum rate OF nearly 100 per
cent for the amount In excess OF
n specified sum, without being con-
fiscatory as to tho rest OF the Inherit
ance. for each increase In rate would
apply only to the amount above y Ger.
tain maximum.