The Lafayette advertiser. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], La.) 1865-19??, 1909-10-12
Taxation.
Missed His .oppo-
NV Orleans states.
~President Taft, itDv ra*a'
<Or0gOn JO(Trnaf HEM

ssoregon Jo,fnyD item
| e~InksSsNV1al .dress before the Louisville
e on state and local taxation,
day, James H. billiard OF
cans discussed the economic
n which most communities
forDticunequal taxation-and suggest
corr+st remedy.
irahu ing the comparatively few citizens
ills~p9. thave taken a serious interest in
lh"FiS 'he subject, his facts and his con-
u people III rs will be no novelty of course,
YES. aDouetAs, very fact that the public in
Il '"e nFohetd !including the mass of other
So1ai eupel Nctical and w~ide-awake bust
~ a4 Reg are so Indifferent to a mat
uo..~.... Y fleets them so directly and
:. = ah;os 4; point to any clear state
Co,on Do. evil and any plain repeti-
visit to his - "u'
here to sp' ~ 'i0 inu u
when he ms n.
\ take tn. ;%reaating first the creed of Henry
He saws lhorge, that taxation, if rightly based.
his emprght be the means of diffusing gen.
uuite 2 ial welfare over the civilized world,
to tell cr. billiard cited instances to show
ee utterly undemocratic spirit of the
~I,resent system and the burden it
!iaces on the poor mans home.
iothing, food and every means of
"S Hsbvelihood, while letting the rich man
pGr from bearing his fair share of the
eGurdehs of state.
whether consciously or uncon-
sciously,r' he said, I'VE are constantly
vitiating in our taxation and assess
ments the principles of equality and
\ equity. The carriage of the rich man
in which he takes his pleasure is not
taxed as surely as the wagon of the
poor man by which he earns his liv-
ing.
Zone is tempted to say that il
experts had been gathered together
and directed to devise a system of
taxation that would lend itself to in
justice and perversion, and on the
whole prove Ineffective, they could
not have succeeded in devising a
more unjust and ineffective method
than our present system. President
David Starr Jordan of the free trade
conference, in speaking of the tariff
has said: The fundamental idea OF
American policy is that Of a square
deal for all men, each standing on his
own feet, with exclusive privileges or
governmental aid for no man, and to
no class of men. If there is one
American idea or ideal to be segre-
patro. gated from the rest it is this of equal
fSucceeety before the law. And it is this
Tbieal which is violated absolutely and
continuously in the theory and prac-
tice of the protective tariff The
= same might be said of our system of
taxation"
The separation of state from mu-
nicipal sources of revenue, single tax
stion of land values, the lifting of the
burden OF licenses IN trades and pro.
LESSONS. and putting it OH land values
alone and make the land-hoarder
pay his fair proportion. are among the
remedies in which DR.. billiard be-
.ieves. To his mind the rev stationary
i:ritish budget with its radical at
tempt'to shift the burden Of taxation
from the weak to the strong seems
likely to 60 down to history as the
most important event Of the last fifty
years" He sees hope for the future
in the progress of popular knowledge
of the question OF taxation and ths
interest shown in tax reform by the
various organizations devoted to edu-
cation and legislation, but he still sees
the great mass Of the people indiffer-
ent to the one matter which most
vitality affects their material welfare.
whether they pay taxes directly as
some Of us do. or indirectly. as all Of
us do. He attributes this indifference
to the fact that the true spirit of
democracy is still only superficial
among us. "a