Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-16
BANK LICENSE
IS PLACED AT
CENT AND HALF
HOT DISCUSSION PRECEDES
COUNCILS ACTION
ORDINANCE FIXING FEE AT TWO
CENTS is BEATEN
counclImen's Ideas Widely Differ Re-
garding the Revenue Measure
Several Amendments Are
Offered and Rejected

Bv a split in the council resulting IN
n vote of 4 to g, with Councilman
Washburn excused from voting, all the
work recently done on the license or
dinance by the legislative committee
was nearly lost. Only by sacrihclng
one-half q cent on the bank ncense'
after an ordinance fixing it at cents
had failed to pass. did the majority
finally win enough votes to pass the
measure Incidentally the warm dis
cussion brought out the fact that the
majority OF the council is strongly op-
posed to the system of special taxation
known as license and only countenanced
1t as a necessary evil IN order 10 help
out the treasury.
The license tax of 8 cents on each
$1,000 deposits was the rock on which
the council scraped. This particular
matter had been threshed out by the
legislative committee the day before
with a committee of the bankers and
the legislative committee had con-
cluded to let the tax stand as 1t was
but when the matter was brought up
in the council yesterday Judge Lusk
chairman of the committee, declared
that after thinking about it good
part of the night he had come to the
conclusion that cents was pretty
high tax and he would be willing to
vote for a tWo-cent license. He said
TnaI at Ile E-CGnL Idlt Llit lclL Etob Scl =
ings banks would have to pay about
$4,000 a year into the city treasury for
license fees, and he believed this was a
sufficient sum.
The Clearing House association banks
presented a protest to the council
against the adoption of the 3-cent fee.
Some of these banks, under the 3-cent
arrangement, would have to pay slight
" less than they do at present but
they also Joined in the protest. They
suggested that it would be altogether
right if the license fee assessed against
banks was stricken out altogether, as
the banking business was the only
form of mercantile business that was
forced to pay license.
This brought a statement from Pres
ident Works that he did not believe in
a special tax of this kind and that it
was all unjust.
Charles H. Toll, vice president Of the
Security Savings bank, produced
number of kilograms he had received
yesterday morning from prominent
banks in about twenty of the largest
cities of the United States. These tele
grams showed that in only two of these
st. Louis and Portland-were the
banks charged a license fee at all, and
there fiat rates were eXacted the maxi
mum being at st. Louis, where $500
year is charged.
'It is not right that the banks should
be charged a license fee and other lines
of merchandise, like dry goods and
groceries, be allowed to go free" said
Mr.. Toll "This tax can apply only to
savings and state banks, as it cannot
be assessed against the national banks,
and that makes the burden the harder
on those banks that have to pay the
license. If a tax is levied ii should be
a fiat rate and not on the amount of
business done. Saloons are not charged
a license fee according to the amount
of business they do. The banks do not
need the special police service that is
required by the saloons. Is 1t right
that a saloon should be taxed only 800
a month and the Security Savings bank
5000 a month, as would be the result if
this license fee Of cents is made
operative?"
Councilman Andrews appeared to be
especially wrought up in favor Of the
3-cent license fee.
"The new ordinance is absolutely
Just" said Mr.. Andrews in answer to
Mr.. Toll Under its provisions the