Henderson gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1911-19??, 1911-05-11
OUR TAX SYSTEM ALL WRONG,
By Our Pernicious System of Listing
Property for Taxation We Are Ira In.
Ing Up a Nation of Liars and Tax
Dodgers.

FEVpeEty IOT aXhtiOu :" Are ra In.
Ing Up a Nation of Liars and Tax
Dodgers.
(From an Exchange)
Had you ever stopped to think
that we as a nation are doing our
best to teach dishonesty and lying?
We force people to falsify their tax
able property list or realize that they
are the exceptional George Washing
ton, who cannot tell lie, and for
the heroic deed must pay most OF the
taxes.
Oh yes, the honest, truthful man
gets it hard-and the wonder is that
there are so many; for he plunks
down his hard earned cash to the
county treasurer for taxes, while he
Knows full well that his neighbors all
about him, many times richer than
le, get off with a mere bagatelle as
sessment. And his disgust can only
b imagined as he sits in church, and
thinks Of the rich man in the pew
ahead, sneaking almost out of his
public duty towards paying for the
privilege OF being governed and
schooled.
Let me repeat, as nation we are
training ourselves to be dishonest
and untruthful, just because we have
such disreputable way of taxing
ourselves. You who read this-hon-
est farmer that you are, deacon in
the church, too, we hope, did you
ever shave your taxable worth a bit
when the assessor came around? OF
course you have, and every other
man has blessed be the exception
because the law drives US to it. If
every man was absolutely honest
and truthful about his taxable prop
erty We wouldn't have to pay much
taxes. But when even a few in
community will swear falsely about
their property, it makes it necessary
for the assessor to violate the law
Hand be blind, or the honest man
must suffer for his truthfulness.
1t works this way: The person
who invests his money in bonds, say,
as in the case of an Ohio school
teacher who had saved 81 900. (How
could she do it!) She, on the advice
of the banker, put it into bonds, and
when she received the tax notice of
$57 she was astonished to find that
she was 81 worse off than if she
hadn't tried to make her money earn
something against the day of need.
That's what comes of being honest
and truthful regarding taxable
property.
Take the case of a man possessing
81 900 in South Dakota and owing
$4,000. II he tells the truth he is hit
for the tax on 81 900 and does not
get an offset for the $5, 900 he owes.
In Ohio, Iowa (Iowa just repealed
the law and Kentucky, person is
watched by tax inquisitors, tax fer
rets, or tax agents, as they are vari-
ously called, and if he does not
cough up his taxes, he may get held
up by one OF the tax pirates. If
tax ferret is honest-yes, if!-he may
do no greater harm than to make
some fellows pay what they other
wise would not, but suppose the fer
ret isn't honest, he could blackmail
individuals and business concerns to
disgraceful degree, and the commu-
nifty be no better off either
Just as a truthful statement to an
assessor may ruin a business that is
going through crisis on nerve, or
appearance, OF past good repute, so
the tax ferret can also wreck busis.
ness institutions or private reputa-
tions or ratings, purposely or not, it
does not matter.
We all know that the rich almost
wholly escape taxation and the poor
get it in the neck good and plenty
for the simple reason that the poor
are not shrewd enough to dodge
taxes, otherwise they would not be
poor. So it is the poor men and wo-
men land here we have taxation
without representation and the
honest folks who keep the machinery
of government creased, and the
wealthy element lean back in their
cushions and ride free. On the other |
hand poor man hasn't a ghost of a
show before the law, which he pays
for, as against the rich man who
uses the law, but doesn't pay much |
for it's support.
All, there's something radically |
wrong in our methods Of taxation |
So long as we tax movable property,
call it personal property as against
land property, so long will we be de-
bauching public conscience, and
training our children in lying and
dishonesty, There's a gleam OF hope |
shining way up in the northwest cor
ner OF the States, and we will watch |
with intense interest the outcome OF
the land tax system. 1t is coming
just as sure as death and taxes-and
may it come Oh creased lightning il
twill relieve US from the awful dis
grace now resting upon US for toler-
ating such an unjust system of taxa