Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1912-04-25
THIRTEENTH ARTlcLE-Taxation
Of Money and Credits Continued

In 1911, as explained in the preced-
ing article, a somewhat radical
change was made in the method Of
listing and assessing money and cred
its in this state. For more than 30
years Minnesota had been trying to
reach such property for purposes of
taxation with the same machinery and
in the same manner as we taxed tan
gible personal property. Our expert
ence was not materially different from
that of other states and countries
: that had followed the same methods
at no time did we ever get more
than a fraction of such property on
the tax rolls.
Two causes have largely contribu-
ted to our failure to reach this class
of property for purposes of taxation
the intangible nature of the proper
ty and the high rate of taxation that
prevailed in most of the taxing dis
trlcts of the state.
Such property, knows as intangible
personal property, can be easily con-
cealed, because, unlike live stock, or
manufactured goods, or the goods
and wares of merchant, it is not
susceptible to the touch or eye of tax
ing officials and cannot be appraised
with the same degree of accuracy as
tangible personal property. For this
reason we are compelled to rely
largely on the declaration of the own
er as to the value of his property of
this character.
Experience in this and every other
state has demonstrated that when a
tax rate consumes more than 10 per
cent of the income from this class Of
property it will not be voluntarily
listed for taxation. The tax rates
vary in different taxing districts Of
this state from about one and one-half
per cent to more than ten per cent,
the average for the state this year be-
ing nearly three per cent. This means
that in some districts the taxes on
credits would amount to more than
the entire income from such property,
while the average rate in the state
would consume from 40 to- SO per cent
of such income. Under such condi-
tons the natural tendency is to con-
ceal such property from taxing Off
Gals, and perhaps justifably so, for
no man should be expected to contri-
butte more than half of his income for
support of government,
Realizing the difficulty of reaching
this class of property for purposes of
taxation under the prevailing system,
the legislature, in 1911, passed a law
imposing a flat rate of three mills on
the dollar on such property. 1t was
felt that low uniform rate of taxa
ton would result in placing large
amount Of this class of property on
the tax rolls that had heretofore en-
tirely escaped taxation. It was con-
tended that the average man desired
to be honest and that a low rate would
permit him to make a truthful return
OF property of this character that he
might own without the fear OF having
most of it's income confscated for
taxes.
The results the first year under the
new law have fully justified these
conclusions. The assessed vvalue of
this class of property returned for
taxation in 1910, under the old law,
amounted to less than fourteen mil
lion dollars, while in 1911 the amount
listed for taxation under the new law
exceeded one hundred and fifteen
million dollars, an increase of nearly
$50 per cent in one year. In 1910 the
assessed alue of this class Of proper