The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-02-01
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1910
LET Us have saner Fourth of Julv.

LET Us have saner Fourth of july
Is the cry that is going up in many Sec |
tions and steps toward that end have al |
ready been taken. A member of Phil a. |
delphia City Council will introduce bill |
this week to prohibit all discharges of ex-
plosiYes and fireworks. A public discus
sion on the subject will be allowed before
1t is finally isettled. The early agitation
OF this question is proper. To let it lie
until two or three days before the Fourth
and then issue proclamations THAT are
practically dead letters is nonsense Sew
eral cities have decided that there must
not be the racket that has characterized
the day in former years, but at the same
time they have taken into consideration
the fact that 1t will not do to remove all
means Of enjoyment from the youngsters.
Boston provides free vaudeville entertain
ments and other cities are preparing to do
something Of the same sort. The objec-
ton to the manner in which the Fourth
of July is now celebrated is due to the
the use of explosives. In the days of
long ago the children of the country were
satisfied with the small f1recracker which
gave vent to their enthusiasm and the
happiness was complete. The reports of
death from lockjaw or the loss of fingers
and eyes were few. A little burn by the
ordinary drecracker was not thought
worth considering. Now there must be
the giant dynamite cracker. Boys of
tender age are given pistols from which
to shoot blank cartridges which contain
poisonous materials. Little children are
continually in danger of being hurt at the
hands of older persons whose sole desire
is to make big noise. 1t is doubtful if
old-fashioned Fourth with a moderate
amount Of noise, but the objection comes
to being annoyed two days occasionally,
and from eight o'clock on the evening of
the third until midnight of the Fourth
with din of the loudest sort. We do not
believe anybody wants the celebration of
the Fouth of July cut out entirely, but
there is plenty OF room for ''safe and
saner Fourth, the main question is how
to draw the line
THAT much discussed question, 1.-THE
assessment of bank stock" was again
brought up by decision recently render
ed by the State Board of Taxation on an
appeal from the decision of the Essex
County Board. The State Boards opin-
ion is practically the reiteration of the
decision in the case of Lippincott VS.. Lip
pincott, in the Court of Errors and APP
peals, in which it was determined that
the capital, surplus and undivided profits
should form one side of the ledger, from
which must be deducted the real estate
and non-taxable securities. Then the re-
mainder is divided by the number of
shares and the ''true value" is the result
That Is to say the "true value" for assess
ing purposes, but not for selling. By this
process the stock of some banks is shown
to be worth absolutely nothing, while the
fact is it cannot be bought on the market
except at prices greatly ahead of its capt.
tai value, ranging from 20% to 1907. Yet
the municipality loses its just share of tax
on this class of property through techni-
cality. The man who owns $50 worth of
household goods is compelled TO pay tax
on his little possession, while If he were
to sell out and buy share of bank stock
at that price he would get rid of taxation
because the law has decided that he is
entitled to certain exemption which makes
his bank stock worthless for taxing pur-
poses but of great value for SALE There
is one point that was not argued and
which would clear the atmosphere to a
great extent. That is whether govern
ment bonds are included In the favored
class of exemptions. These bonds are
held by banks for specific purpose-to
secure circulation. and there is grave
question If they are exempt; whether the
circulation should not be taxed. Some of
the banks hold that the bonds must not
be put in the exempt list, but the majority
grab Everything in sight 1t was ex-
pected there would be legislation on the
subject last winter, but 1t did not appear,
and it is hoped the present session will
not pass away without taking some &C.
ton on the question. AS long as the law
remains as 1t is there need not be any idea
that there will be any chance to have the
public treasury benefited by getting a
proper tax on bank stock. There is no
reason whatever why the possessor of a
few household goods, which might posi-
bly, bring what they are assessed for, but
more likely would not, should be COM
PEELED to pay a tax, while the owner of
property that has market value on
which he could easily realize. should have
that holding marked on the tax duplicate,
s'of no value"