The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1909-01-15
PRES|DENT-ELECT M'vEY ADDRESSES
LEG|SsE!A!g.!!!RE ON TAXATION REFORM

Guilty, whicfi>,> ">aual standards
of value created, b, local asses
sors. In addition to IS, the law as
applied to certain forms of personal
property appears to be unavoidable,
and the attitude of the local assessor
tends to emphasize the difficulty. It.
has been suggested that tax ferrets
be employed to find out who has per-
sonal property, and it has been urged
that heavy penalties be placed upon
men who have violated the law. But
where this has been tried, men and
capital have left the state, with a re-
sultant injury to the community which
they left. II the law had been right
In the first place and the assessor had
had a full knowledge of values, in
the second instance, no injuries would
have been created.
County Assessors
THE question then, is, what can
you put in the place of a general prop
erty tax? No one has urged the
abandonment Of the real property tax,
and such notifications Of the personal
property tax as have been suggested
from time to time have been put for
ward for the purpose of avoiding the
inconsistencies of that part of the gen.
eral property tax law. Under the
North Dakota constitution no changes
can be made in the general property
tax as a method of collecting revenue.
There can, however, be made such
changes as seem to be desirable In
the method of administering the law.
The taxing system of the state is,
when looked at rightly, a vast .busi-
ness organization. The amount raised
by taxes in Minnesota this last year
was nearly $35,O00,0O0, and until the
establishment of the tax commission
there was no general supervision over
this vast business. 1t would seem
from the point of view Of economy and
OF wisdom that every state should
have a central body charged with the
supervision, direction and study of the
tax system of the state. Under them
should be created county assessors,
who would have charge of the assess
ments In the different counties. The
local assessor under plan of this
kind would no longer be a part of the
system. The assessment would be
made by the county assessors under
the direction of the central supervis-
ing board.
In taxation, as in any business.
the fundamental thing Is to know,
Lack OF knowledge of values, of prop
erty and of business conditions have
been the things that mark the making
OF assessments by local assessors un-
der the existing law. The business
OF tax commission, in addition to
tne administration and supervision of
the law, would be to find out by care
full investigations what the value of
real estate was in different parts of
the commonwealth, to study the work.
ings OF the law in the state, to ex-
anime the experiences of other states
and to find out how different taxing
experiments work and what form of
law would secure for the common
wealth the best results, the greatest
uniformity, equality and justice in
taxation. Under the present method,
officers burdened with other duties
cannot give to the great problems of
taxation the time and study that a
clear understanding of them requires.
North Dakota Is a young state;
new wealth Is being found and new
property created with the passage of
each year. The welfare Of the people
OF the state requires Just and equit-
able system of taxation. Now is the
time. before the system becomes in
adequate and unsatisfactory, to start
a better organization-to know what
the conditions are in the state is the
first essential. The best way to get
that knowledge and to have it applied
to the working of the law and the
administration of the system, is to
intrust the duty to body especially
selected to carry on the work. What
is desired in tax reform is not revolu-
tion, but evolution. and in order that
the evolution may be orderly and
justified by the results which come
from it. 1t is necessary that it should
be directed by full knowledge Of
first, what the problem Is, and second,
what are the best methods of admin
istration as determined by experience
o1aouhornn