The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1910-01-13
STATE GRANGE AND
TAX PROBLEM
Legislative Committee
Submits Report
Detailed Statement of Expenses Of
Committee Is Appended.

| SVm"hhtCC 10 hppCuuSus
The following is the report of the
Legislative committee of the Maine
State Grange:
Worthy Master, Members of the
| Maine State Grange:
Your legislative committee beg
leave to submit the following report:
When this organization held its
last annual session, the report of the
Special Tax Commission" had not
been made public; for this reason, the
State Grange refrained from passing
any resolutions bearing upon any
specific details of the tax problem
There was then an excellent prospect
that the whole system of assessment
and collection of taxes in Maine
might be revised and placed on just
and equitable basis. Jt was there
fore, the part of wisdom to leave your
committee free to meet such contin-
gencies as might arise. to work in
harmony with the commission or to
oppose their recommendations as
might seem to them for the best in
terests of this order and of the people
Of the State generally.
| Popular government, social order
itself, is the result of concessions and
compromises on the part of indiyid-
uals. II any person or body of per-
sons had the power, and should do as
he or 1t saw fit, no one else should
be free. The Grange does not desire
to arbitrarily set UP its will In mat
tiers of detail In governmental az
fairs. We demand, as we always
have demanded, and as we hope we
always shall demand, simple justice,
the square DEAL" and If we can Sc
in harmony with others, it Is our
bounden duty to do SO. On the other
hand, we stand ready. as we always
shall stand ready, to maintain prn-
ciples that we believe to be right
and just to wage war against wrong
sDd injustice, whether they exist in
present laws or are threatened by the
report of commission or otherwise.
AS soon as the report of 1.-THE
| Special Tax Commission" was made
public, your legislative committee and
your executive committee in Joint
session proceeded to consider it, and
as result of this consideration, GER
tain lines of action were unanimously
determined upon.
Some of the measures proposed by
the commission we approved and
supported before the Legislature, 9TH
ers were disapproved and strenuous
ly opposed.
| AS a whole, the work of the COM
mission was failure, not one of the
important or leading recommends
tions being enacted into law.
The recommendations that all as
sessments should be made on the ba-
sis of full market value" we en-
dorsed as being a means of making
effective the constitutional provision
that "all taxes upon real and per-
sonal estate, assessed by the author
ity of this State, shall be apportion-
ed and assessed equally, according to
the just value thereof"
Every intelligent and minded
man must recognize and deprecate
the fact that gross inequality exists
in the assessment of the State and
county tax upon the different NUM-
cipalities, and whatever steps are
taken to remove this inequality, must
stand approved by this order. The
increase In the power of the State
board OF assessors recommended by
the commission to enable 1t to rem
edy this and other evils, we also
heartily supported, as we did the rec
ommendation that the assessors be
obliged to give all their time to the
discharge of their duties the increase
of the salaries of the assessors from
$500 to $4,000 year we did not op-
pose. These recommendation being
enacted into laws, we now feel that
we have the right to demand that re-
| form in. the administration of the
present system should begin without
delay and be carried on fearlessly and
consistently. Broad-minded, strong
and courageous men are needed to do
this work as 1t should be done, and
1t Is for the present board of State
assessors to show the people that 1t
is composed of such men.
One of the recommendations of the
commission which it's chairman strong
ly urged at legislative hearing was
that the State taxes should be sup
ported according to land values: This
was but the single tax theory very
thinly, Il at all, disguised We OPP
posed this proposition with all our
power, for we wished TO kill it and
bury it 80 deep that it would never be
resurrected 1t is needless to re-
hearse the conditions; the farms and
horses are already bearing more than
their due share of the public burden,
and here was a plan to increase 1t,
and II carried to it's logical result, to
make them bear 1t all. AS a matter
of fact one Of the members OF the
commission after signing the ma
jority report favoring this measure,
admitted in minority report that the
single tax was not practicable for one
state alone to adopt.
Continued on Page Three.)