The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1908-01-23
OF all the consequences of the sen.


sonal property in the support OF that
government which gives an equal pro.
lection to both.
The general property tax was adopt
ed In Ohio in 1875. a d wGs written
into the constitution of 1851 In the
language of section 2 of article NIL,
to which attention has already been
called Ever since It's ado ton the
grand tax duplicate Of the state has
shown. more and more clearly. the i'm.
equality OF contrib tion between real
and personal property In 1852 the
grand duplicate Of all property. real
and personal. in the state wae sj01,.
5S1 900; in 1907 1t was S2.2S0 500. 1893.
In 1852 the total value OF all real es.
tate was 1854 $4,000. In 1907 it was
s1.544. 4.391. .3tS In 1852 the ~tal value
of all personal property in the state
was s152.644 900: IN 1907 Il was $780,
171,SS0. In other words, the first year
after the adoption Of the present con
stitution the tax value Of all real es.
tate in Ohio was 1-3 times that of
all personal property, while at the
present day. after 50 years Of develop
ment in railroads. telegraph tele-
phone. electric light. and other mod
ern utilities. as well as industrial en-
terprises of every kind. with the con
sequent enormous growth in the is.
sues OF stocks and bonds the tax
value of all real estate in Ohio is still
2 lilo times that of all personal prop.
erty. And this is true notwithstGnd.
ing the fact that corporations gener-
ally in this state are required to re-
turn as personal property all the real
estate used in the operation OF their
business.
In 1850 real estate paid IT'S per
cent of the taxes and personal proper
ty 22.2 per cent in 1870 real estate
paid GOT per cent OF all taxes, and
personal property 1913. while in 1907
real estate paid 67.7 per cent of all
taxes and personal property but 1928.
These remarkable figures are even
more significant when II is remember
ed that the chief growth of the states
wealth has been in the larger munici.
tration OF population in the cities has
been more and more evident with the
passing years. In 1850 the total pop
ulation Of Ohio was 1,9S0,329, and the
total population of all Incorporated
municipalities was 373,S2S. That Is to
say, more than five times as many
people lived in the country as in the
ott ,,fIl yhn, n,
constitution of Ohio was adopted. In
1900 the total population of Ohio was
4,157, ,545 and the total population OF
all cities and VILLAGES was 2,412,352.
In other words. considerable more
than half the whole number OF inhab-
itants in the state now live In the mu-
inequalities. When the constitutional
convention OF 1851 met In Cincinnati
that city had a population OF 115.435.
which was then about twice the total
population Of the ten largest cities In
the state. In 1850 the total popula-
tion Of Cleveland Cincinnati, Toledo,
Columbus. Dayton. Youngstown, Ak
ron, Springfield, Canton and Hamil-
ton was 1S2.146. In 1900 the total
population of these ten cities was
1,230,832. and 1t is probably today
nearly two million Certainly 1t is ten
times as large as 1t was in the middle
Of the last century
The special report OF the United
States census department on the sub
ject Of rural and urban popmatIons
makes some comparisons that, with
respect to Ohio, reveal conclusively
the fact that the larger cities of the
state are growing at the expense OF
the rural communities. In making its
compilations the census bureau con
siders every municipality of $500 in
habitants or over a city and the rest
of the state as constituting the coun
try districts. On that basis Ohio's
rural population in 1880 was 67.8 pei
cent OF the whole populations; I'm 1896
II was 591 per cent and in 1900 SO per
cent. These statistics show not only
a decrease in the percentage NJ popu
lation in the country districts but an
actual reduction In the number of in
habitants In 1890 the country dis
tricts of Ohio had poDulation o.
z,169 219. while in 1900 they had 9
population # 2.160445, a decrease o
STA. Nothing could more clearly
show the trend OF POPULATION towart
the large centers, and no fact is more
generally admitted than that the
greatest increase in wealth has taker
place In such centers Of population
and particularly In that form or char
acter Of wealth peculiarly incident Il
the great cities. such as corporal,
franchises, manufacturers' plants ant
products. Industrial securities. money!
and credits. stocks and bonds. Ant
yet all the personal property In Ohi'
today, a. shown on the grand tax dup
licate. IL worth less than half the rea
estate and bears a smaller proportion
Of the total taxes for state and loca
purposes than II did In 1870.
The estimated true value OF all prop
erty In Ohio. according to the lates
report Of the United States censu
bureau. for the year 1904. was $5.946
$50 400; the total returns for taxation
a. - n. . A A..