Evening journal., 1908-04-27

chase an article in a store should you be
made to pay at the same ratio according
70 your ability to pay, or when you rent
a property should you be made to pay ac-
oording to your ability to pay.
II we were to carry this idea out how
long would you have the ability 10 pay
1 imagine it would not be long before
you would not have the ability to pay for
a soda cracker.
The railway companies think they
should pay nothing for the franchise the
FIRST year; and that we should double this
tax every year thereafter The only fair
way TO raise revenue is to levy taxes ac-
oording to the BENEFITS they receive from
the city government; just as when you
purchase an article you pay according to
what you receive. not according to your
ability to pay. To carry out the ability
10 pay plan, then the man who has no
ability to pay, should receive things for
nothing. How long would there be any in
centive 10 have ability to pay under such
a system. When you lease a house or a
property of any kind does the owner stand
at your cash register to learn and charge
according to your receipts? DO you not
lose? Let the railways pay according to
the value of the franchise they have, and
no matter how much they make, it is
none Of our business so long as we are
paid for the use Of our streets Suppose
you owned the streets of Wilmington,
would you not charge them rent for the
use Of them just the same as you would
for the use Of piece OF land Of the same
value. The streets belong to the people
OF Wilmington. and they should collect
rent from these companies just as an in
dividual would for the use OF his prop
erty; either this or municipal ownership
are the only plans worth considering.
At the present time the railway COM
panies are paying s27O a year per mile for
the use of our streets. which amounts to
S22 50 per month. or "a cents per day: or
Is passengers a day at cents each pays
the railway company's entire tax for the
use of mile of our streets. II an indi-
vidual owned these streets and would rent
them out for such a small amount his
relatives would try to have him placed in
an asylum and have appointed a guard
ian to look after his interests.
There are many mechanics who pay
the railway companies pay for the use Of
a mile Of our valuable streets. Consider
the difference in our present method OF
taxing property. The DUPONT office build
ing is built on their own land. and they
have to pay taxes on their land and build
ing to the amount OF $4,000 a year, while
the street railways pay only 1910 a year
for the use Of a mile Of the streets which
do not belong to them, but belong to the
people Of Wilmington. The DUPONT build
ing pays Ss3S.s3 Is per month. the railway
companies pay $3.50 per month for the
use Of a mile Of street
Yours truly,
Taxation.
Wilmington, April 4.
Crhe idea which we sought to convey
in the editorial and OF which our friend
complains. was based on the first OF the
four maxims of taxation as formulated
by Adam Smith and approved by John
Stuart Mil and nearly all the subsequent
writer's on political economy. We quoted
the expression from memory. The
first of the four maxims in fun
reads; '"rhe subjects Of every state
ought to contribute to the support of the
government, as nearly as possible in pro-
portion to their respective abilities, that
is, in proportion to the revenue which
they respectively enjoy under the pro-
lection OF the state. In the observation OF
neglect OF this maxim, consists what is
called the equality or inequality OF taxa
ton" Wealth Of Nations-Book v. chap
ter u.-Editor THE EVENING JOUR-
NAL.