The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1908-08-04
FULL RENDITION FAD IN THE
STATE OF WASHINGTON.

STATE OF WASHINGTON.
As the News has said before, the
problem by which the people OF Tex
as are confronted in the form of a
sudden threat to run up to full val
uations of property for taxation is
the same problem that confronts the
citizens of New York state and the
citizens of the state of Washington
and of the intervening states. In It's
final analysis and purpose it means
more revenue for the man in poll
tics, more bonds for the people, less
power of popular resistance and self
defense. A sufiicient argument
against it is found in the frequent
fluctuations and failures in values
and in incomes; but II this and other
main arguments we're eliminated,
there would still remain one conten-
ton that should turn the people
against this scheme to enlarge and
exploit the public debts.
Two things are essential to real
tax reform-the searching out and
listing for taxation of property which
for one reason or another has alto
gether escaped taxation in the past,
and careful. intelligent equalization
in the assessment of property which
has been taxed heretofore" says the
Spokane SpokesmanReview.
These reforms can be worked out
as effectively on so per cent basis
as on 80 per cent or a 100 per cent
basis. There is, however, this danger
in the higher basis of assessment
that it will increase enormously the
assessed valuation Of the property of
the state, the counties and the vari-
GUS cities, and since the assessed val
uation is made the basis of bond is
sues in state, county and city by
constitutional and charter limita-
tions, the sudden swelling of the as
sessed valuation will provide an OPP
portunity for increase of indebted
ness all along the line. The only
thing that has saved the state and
some of the counties and cities from
ruinous taxation, If not downright
bankruptcy, has been the constitu-
tional and charter limitations upon
the quantity of bonds that could be
issued This contemporary adds:
There is still another peril in the
sudden initiation of the assessment.
If, for example, the assessment was
doubled, as much money could be
raised on the double valuation with
exactly half the levy. But experience
has shown that the officials fixing
the levy seldom cut it down in pro-
portion to the increased assessment.
Too often they reason that the public
will be satisfied with a partial low
ering of the levy, and the result in
such cases has been that the people
have had to pay more taxes than
they paid before, although the levy
was considerably reduced. The true
measure is the amount of taxes TAN
nually collected and expended in
stead of the number of mills in the
levy.
Every word of this is true, and
time will prove it true again, as
time has done many times in the
past. The low valuation policy, with
the power to adjust the demand for
revenue by any necessary change of
the rate, is the policy that prevails
in this country and in other progress
sive countries. A certain amount of
public revenue must be collected
whether times are hard or prosper
Gus, and the regular and reliable
method Of securing such revenue
should never be made to depend in
the least upon either booms or pam
les. Aside from the largely increased
commission method of compensation,
the demand of every interest save
that of the man In politics or the
man In the bond business is for a
stable basis and as few fluctuations
as possible. The experience of man
kind and the wisdom of expert rev.
enue men have proven this fact SO
clearly that it is unaccountable that
there should be found any to combat
1t. Up in the highly enlightened state
of Washington there are only two
men for full rendition-the man in
politics and the bond broker. These
are all.-Dallas News
Here's a paragraph from the Pal