The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1909-01-15
UNIFORMITY
IMPERATIVE
Just Distribution of Burdens
the End to be Sought by
Legislation

Legislation
(By H. d. Paulson.)
Bismarck, N. D., Jan. 15-President-
elect Franklin McVey of the state
university, who is now serving as tax
commissioner of Minnesota, delivered
an ado.ess before the Joint session
of the two houses today by special
invitation. His subject was the
methods of procuring equal taxation
and was one of the most exhaustive
as we'll as scholarly addresses ever
delivered before the legislature. DR.
McVey is an expert on the subject of
taxation, and unlike most men who
have given this subject special atten-
ton, he is not a narrow dogmatist
On the contrary, he proposed some
common sense propositions which
could be easily carried into effect,
and not one thing in his masterful
speech could be taken as a freak
idea.
He was introduced by Speaker Bur-
dick Of the house, who presided over
the joint session before which the
address was delivered. In perform
ing this pleasant function, Speaker
Burdick pair strong tribute to the
work of DR.. McVey in the state of
Minnesota and showed the need of re-
form in this state along the lines of
taxation.
McVey's Address
DR.. McVey spoke in part as follows:
"The problems which confront the
United States commonwealth can be
reduced to five. These five problems
are: Nrst-the conservation of
natural resources; second-the pro-
lection and maintenance of public
health; third-the enlargement and
betterment of the educational system
to fit the new industrial and social
conditions; fourth-the reorganiza-
ton and readjustment of the tax sys-
tenn, and flfth-the development of
public highways. It ie Of the fourth
problem, the reorganization and read
justment Of the tax system. that am
to speak to you today.
"A new interest appears to have
been aroused throughout the country
In the subject Of taxation. People
are beginning to realize what It means
to pay tax, and as the burdens Of
maintaining government increase, the
interest grows and the realization of
the burden increases. Everybody
seems to be agreed that he Is willing
to pay his share of taxes, and mo-
where is 1t declared that some group
of persons or corporations must pay
more than their fair share. The
problem then is, how to adjust taxes
as a tax system to secure equality
and justice in the tax burden.
Origin Of System
From the legal point Of view, taxes
are burdens or charges imposed by
law upon persons or property for pub
lie purposes. They are not paid ex-
cept as willed by the people and only
for public, not private purposes. The
theory of the tax system as it exists
in the United States is that every
man should pay taxes according to his
ability. and this ability. under the
general property tax, is determined
by the amount Of property which he
has in his possession on a given date.
The only explanation that can be CIV
en- for the extension of this system
of taxation throughout the United
States with very little modification
is that the different states have cop
led it almost from the others and
passed 1t on to their neighbors. 1t
is generally regarded as having had
its origin in the United States, but
1t can be traced back to England,
where it existed at the time of Queen
Elizabeth, and was brought later by
the colonists to New England. It
spread gradually westward through
New York and into Ohio, where it Is
perpetuated in the Kelly law Of 1S46.
This law was taken over by the leg
islature Of Minnesota almost in its
entirety and in their turn the legisla-
lures of North Dakota have taken over
the Minnesota Law and established it
in this state as the basis of their tax
ing system.
"The general property tax was Gre
ated in the days Of simple things.
Property existed in the form of lands
and houses, live stock, tools and i'm
plements and household goods. 1t
then fitted the conditions fairly we'll.
but since the coming Of the corporate
organization. new kinds of wealth
have made their appearance, and
general breakdown has resulted in the
assessment system all along the line.
Lacks Uniformity
"The law in North Dakota requires
the local assessors to determine and
fix the true and full value. but it cre-
'ates no special machinery to keep the
assessment uniform. As time goes
on. local assessors use their own judg-
ment about the standard Of value, and
as the pressure from their constitu-
ents increases they tend more and
more to conform to the local opinion
about the making of assessments. The
result is that many views come to
exist, almost as many as there are
assessors. Town boards of review at
tempt in perfunctory way to equalize
the assessments between individuals;
the county board is between local.
ties; and the state board as between
counties. But this elaborate machin-
cry for correcting the assessment
fails to reach the fundamental difa.