Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-24
Noted Speaker Advocates Analytical
Method in Listing Real Estate
Which Sh. Be Uniform
In All Nations

the analytical and statistical methods
in the listing of real estate for taxation
and claimed the application or TINS
method would take the question or
property taxation out OF the reach o.
demagogues and cheap politicians, and
that ii would serve TO show the proper
tion of the general tax that is being
paid by the farmer, the lumberman
and the railroads.
Discusses Public Revenue
MANY economic writer's and students
Of public finance have IN the last MY
wears called attention to the imper-
fections of existing systems or 90
tanning public revenue" said Mr..
Powers, land the desirability of find
ing, If possible, some substitute Tor
the general property tax"
While many minor changes have
been made in the methods OF obtain
ing state and local revenue, said Mr.,
Powers today, as at the middle Of the
last century. local governments and
most state governments in the united
States and Canada rely principally on
the general property tax for their rev
enue, and will in all probability con-
tinue TO do so for the next fifty years.
Under such circumstances the prac-
tical man, striving to improve the ad-
ministration of public business he
continued, will give his attention pri-
marily to a consideration of methods
of freeing the. assessment and collec-
tion of that tax from the inequalities
which now accompany them. Those
inequalities are numerous and grave
Inequalities Found
MANY townships can be found In
the country in which a farm with a
selling value of $4,000 is subject to the
farm IN 1nOfnaTI
part of the township with selling
value Of $4,000. and the townships are
legion in number in which farm prop
erty is assessed at a different portionI
of its value from that assigned to for
est land and the property used for
residential, manufacturing and other
purposes"
Mr.. Powers insisted the need for
improving the methods of assessing
real property was evidenced by the
fact that for forty years at least 70
per cent of the general property tax
of the United States has been levied
and collected on realty. He said that
although the proper listing and report
ing of realty for purposes of taXationI
should be given greater consideration
than is given to the corresponding
listing of personality, that such is no
where the case.
Some of the most intelligent people
claim the railroads are paying rela-I
lively only one-third as much tax as
the farmers and lumbermen. and on
the other hand the railroads claim they
are paying as heavy a tax as the
farmer, and that their burden of taxa
tion is much greater relatively than
that of the lumberman, continued Mr..
Powers.
Analysis Shows Nothing
AN analysis of the published re-
ports of the state and comparisons of
the data of such reports with reliableI
information obtainable from other.
sources alike fail to be conclusive as
to the contention of any of the par
ties to this controversy.
80 long as this condition preYallsI
the state referred to will afford the dis
honest firm or corporation a ready
means for evading just taxation and
will find the subject of taxation and
the administration of public service
corporations are used by demagogues
for the purpose of stirring up strife
and agitation without advocating the
interests of any class of the people
or any Industry in the community. All
industries will continue to be more orI
less disturbed and subjected to unjust
burdens, suspicion and ANNOYANCE"
Mr.. Powers outlined his idea of the |
method which should govern the list |
ing of real property. The state should |
prepare a careful cadastor of all real |
estate, he said, this cadastor to show
the acreage under cultivation, that |
covered with timber, with orchards, |
waste land which may be plowed.
Should Show Number of Acres
The classified list Of acres should !
also show the number of acres of |
mineral land, of quarry land, and land |
valuable for oil, gas or other deposits. |
The cadastor should also show the |
number of city and town lots subject
to taxation, Mr.. Powers added the |
cadastor should be supplemented by a |
listing of the value Of the property
apart from the value of the land.
when we have a classified listing
of acre property that segregates areas
and values according to the character
Of the land, and separately sets forth
the values of the improvements on
every class Of land, we will have the
application of the analytical and sta
tistical method to the taxation Of
realty" continued Mr.. Powers. I'VE
shall have as intelligent and as lucid
a statement of acre property subject
to taxation as some of our states now
provide their citizens with reference
to personal property subject to the
tax,
Data viii Be Known
when such listing is made the
farmers and other classes of citizens
will have the data for determining
approximately whether they are being
taxed more than other classes and the
people engaged in productive Indus
tries will know whether they are bear
ing burdens which should be shared
but not borne to an equal degree by
the speculator.
"I am merely urging the application
TO taxation of the analytical and sta
tistical methods which the business
world has utilized in so many fields,
and upon which 1t is relying in an
over-increasing measure as guide
for business administration" said M
Powers in concluding. Correct analy-
sis lies at the basis of all modern
business success; and statistics based
upon such analysis are playing an