The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-03-14
the money it needs. and a license OF
dinance was the only way.
Whence License May Come.

Whence License May Come.
Judge Dewey gave a yail able S ate
ment as to what lines of business or
occupations may be licensed. lie said
there were only three sources Ct
revenue tor the city. First thu cor
pcration tax limited by legis 'atye at
To Two per cent of the taxable value
cf property and which could lie
changed only by the Legislature; see
end a bonl issue, limited by consti
tutional provision to five per cent cf
which could be changed only by a
vote Of the people Of the state an
third, a license collected from various
lines of business or occupations. The
two firstnamed methods offered no
hope, to the city for an increase In
revenue, because the limitations fixed
by the law and constitution had been
reached. In the matter of licenses an
Increase Of revenue might be secured.
Under the state law a license fee
could be demanded from hucksters,
peddlers, pawnbrokers. keepers of
ordinaries. hotels, etc. from hack
men. draymen or any one that hauls
for hire; from runners of all kinds:
from owners of billiard and pool
tables. and places of amusement;
from moneychangers, owners of pub
lie scales. lumber dealers, second
hand dealers, junk dealers, itinerant
vendors: from all dealers in alcoho' t.
liquors; from brewers and distillers
A sepcial tax could be imposed upon
plumbers. stationery engineers, ele.
yator men and upon all mercantile
establishments-bu all these special
licenses can be imposed only for the
purpose of regulating these. or the
lines Of business or occupations On
which they are imposed. to defray
the cost Of inspection, etc. and net
for reveuue. the. same is true of a
whartboat license which can be i'm
posed only for the purpose of defray-
Ing the cost Of maintaining the har-
Dor or wharf The Judge stated that
any license ordinance intended to
cover any of these lines must en-
brace all who were engaged in that
particular line; any attempt to ex-
empt any particular class cf persons
who came properly under the heads
specified in the ordinance would in
validate the entire ordinance. Some.
thing hal been said about a vehicle
tax. Such a tax had been imposed
in Chicago, said the Judge to cover
all vehicles, and it has been declared
unconstitutional by the supreme
court of the state, as being in the ma.
ture of double taxation,
Would Tax Bachelors.
Mayor Parsons responded happily
to the chairman's request for some
remarks by referring to a law pro-
posed to be enacted in Maine. which
he believed might be of some value
here in the cases of men such as the
present chairman Of the board. It
was proposed to tax all bachelors r
the benefit of all old maids. This
would be a source of revenue to the
city. (The chairman replied he
would be willing provided Reed
Green and Chas. Feuchter would
favor the proposition). In a serious
vein the mayor said the matter of inn
proving the city's financial condition
WIS in the hands of the city council
AMI at last Tuesdays meeting a reso.
luton had been adopted instructing
the city clerk to address representa-
tives of the several banks in the city
to ascertain when it would be con-
venient for them to meet with the
city council to discuss the subject.
ordinance was the only solution.
While the general tax for improve
ments. amounting to about $3.50 900
was not a great burden. as 1t was
payable in ten years. still he would
not favor any movement to increase
the valuation of property to boost the
corporation tax. because this would
mean at the same time to boost the
state tax and other taxes, whereas
the money received from a license
tax would all remain in the city and
go to give the people who paid it
all the benefit The mayor said Cairo
was not in bad state financially.
certainly not as bal as many cities.
Padncah hal a bonded debt CT over
half million dollars. while Cairo's
bonded debt was only about sG5 600;
In Palucah the tax rate was almost
double what it was in Cairo. being
extended upon the full valuation of
property while in Cairo II was ex-
tended on only one-fifth of that. The
mayor read editorials from. the Globe
Democrat showing that very few
cities in the United States had Heal
government and lived within their in
comes, also that movements on the