The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1912-12-14
SELL 1T AND FLEE FOR YOUR LIFE

IF YOU are so unfortunate as to be
possessed of any real or personal prop
erty in this State, subject to taxation,
the best thing you can do with tie same,
in our judgment, is to sell it and sell it
quick. The burden of taxation is be-
coming entirely too much for property t.
bear, with any hope of it being profit
able investment. When our eminently
wise Executive and legislative directors
of public affairs set out to make a new
assessment, they very emphatIcally as
sured US that the increase in the taxable
basis, obtained by that new assessment,
would bring about very decided drop
in the tax rate. Well, they have made
the new assessment. They have got on
the tax list everything in sight. (The
only things to escape taxation are the
things rich folk can and do hide from
the assessors knowledge. When you
went to pay your tax bill this year, you
doubtless found that nothing has been
omitted from the tax CATERERS list.
You would therefore expect a decided
drop in your tax RATE, seeing as how
you would have very decided increase
in your tax ASSESSMENT VIII you get
the drop? NEVERMORE. The public
policy of this State in these times of Law
ish expenditure seems TO be to spend,
spend, spend. u! tae present admins
tration of affairs has announced that the
State taxrate for 1913 and 1914, will be
81 cents just about double what ii was
two years ago. What has occas.oned this
enormous increase? Why, in spite of the
GREATLY INCREASED TAXABLE
BASIS due to the new assessment, should
the State TAX RATE BE. DOUBLED =?
Why? Because money spending is the
order of the day amongst public officials,
and nothing you can say or do will make
them realize the fact that you can tax
the heart out of property and tax the
heart out of the man who is trying to
acquire hold on that property. If the
Johns Hopkins University wants a couple
of millions of dollars, the State hands it
out. Seeing what great boon, an i'm
measurable blessing, the six millions of
uoildio already spent On stone ROADS, mas
been to the State, this same generous
and open handed State proceeds to au-
thorize the expenditure of three millions
more for the next two years. And so the
story goes, until the State tax rate, add
ed to the county tax rate, makes it folly
for a man to hold property in this re-
gion, If he can make any kind of rea-
sonable disposition of it, Take an illus
tration. You are a tenant farmer, with
let us say, $4,000 worth Of personal pro-
perty. Your tax bill in 1918 will be,
most likely, about $6O-or approximately
IA of the income of $4,000 at per cent.
Or your farm and stock together (sup-
posing you own your farm are assessed
let us say, at $4,000. Your tax bill in
1913 will be about $3.50 If that sounds
unreasonable, remember we are only stat
ing what is going to actually happen, II
the county tax rate is somewhere about
$40 land it is not likely to be lowerD If
you own property assessed at $50, 900 In
this county, your taxes in 1913 are likely
to be about $3.50. Why $50, 600 invested at
per cent would only bring an income OF
1880. But out OF your income from
that property, whatever it may be, the
State and county takes $3.50 almost
third for taxes alone. Does it not look
as II we were justified in declaring that
the best thing to do with property in this
State today is to get rid of it-and then
get out. Talk about attracting settlers
to Maryland, Talk about increasing the
property values in the State, Are sober
headed men and women going to settle
or invest in State when the tax burden
has become so outrageous that many Of
us would like to get from under it
though our heartstrings tie us here. and
most of our worldly investments are in
its real estate? Certainly they are not
No greater misfortune ever befalls the
commercial life of a community than an
oppressive and disheartening tax rate
It looks rs if that is about what we have