The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1913-01-16

AS ~ t ~ i've hist u.s., ra.eu LOT IN,
nrs. ,iihs IN .ne nis'or. u tne country Ihn
state Income taA Gun ne MADE an ehec
i've revenue prouuref. Inc report or th'
mjss;ou an xo" r m,on Is reauy TOT SUI. no
i, " .ou; pieaeh,s summary Oh ",
,iihe rn prot is i,n o, me law anu the
M tha su"1 nal "i 10 uper ,. ne SNOW
ing onere maze ma completely vindicates thf
come tax and the R legIsiafare f IN eslabIisS
arffv orsat dnr,nm ,"e personai PrVp
ad,,;niSt sat;on - 'nJ LIS, hlst nenr 81 o az
oon in raveume II mas s,e,aeo over S1,ovo;
t yUu n re ,h ,;n INN WAS coiiec1eu
| ~ 49, Ed ,nv 'n,,ne tn n, sues uhuei
M, rna ,rs. rcuerhl incline Tux OF 1898, anu
coiacte ,Ii1 from iJ his .nan was eyer before
| ~ AZ, ~ ~ ilot this Spu5re IN slhsle year
mh an ,ne S.ates VI 'ne mon put together'
dncor sI has so u, tnp Jaw us y trevenue pro
yond dis sS feeN "e"'ons''a'eu therefore Ne
shown hv tha ",.u sois ipol,ant result SUI
SnuNn U! me report Is tue Iaet that tnis
teat fa,,o VIII largely come from sources
ntn ILL, ~ do,p poi person VIII eont iil
,nw v slhge aollar OF revenue under TINS
mno | nv mo , etoe5 81 ouruen Is lihpoSeu
| ~ rpo' .it wen wv OF tue wealthy. Inc
on f 70 aeaencn , iess 'nrh per GENE OF me
nnmhrp p VII -, the s.a'e, anu tnis
Of tbe re w, tn ba fo u p1I oun'
nnsen i IN" l;nG+ "e ,hiseu nor az pur
tbn non,,,o ,"' on ~ ~. vi ,uts eSpeLlehGe anu
tnv p"p ~ 'it ntie, a. we incoiis
Tho ,nIst dotarminad nnnait ~ 'It az Mi, ~
th he n..s. ue,erin,hed opposltion, III IS pam
= ian To, ite xyiS.
| do,n .h 49,, No duest,uii us 70 us ms Ms
| nua,, ia 49, ~" tou, iiia,
Of on ro, mas a ped' , ps M a
! Vour i M ne 'trui1t oi tne peop,e
| dar !, ~ ~ W s'nhPiiiy !. anu ieh
| M sit,,i ~ ~ az @ ",, t
Tbara S,. aro Is ~ no MEANS STING
anon the inoa o t sae'1 I tatas
omd 'pe i,op'he IAN Avs % oaner s'a les
minor no. suenn th ct t,ai
administration NJ onr law ,rhesa defacts
"an ha raahi % pnT NV meSe
NAM omnh un itaoms cdreu ny alIrnuiie ~, "a
der Tho law nIainar End mnra consistent
have haa "a" pr raintad "Iu th IT, Co.,
misson Su Vii ~, !oo,o ra aM ALL,
and f,ror rnh VIZ nansidnration eai
mn that n dia1 nhr In seems ~
scone or cbaracter of The nct sbopla be
| 49, W 80, Jia t - D. .he nct sho"iu pc
are not mhiect :, II atnt han phs
BE- be Nv. nupJd1'' y" ~ st"ie JAMS snoula
| taxed nnpn their nersonoi 'n nrnnortv o os
| beretofore '"'i' p'i''"'i properly "9
As oririnollv introdpced in tho ,oc;s
Iotnro ira nrasont lao, ~ me 'esis
| snnnl nrnnarty fro,m ntinp.eu az pr per
much ps If was litoi, az Ia p, mas =,
cnurt ord ~, tn tbot ~ w ~ I t1 III
| ceeded in pdminiatarin ~" on '' i,ns nn ~
law This nrnyisinn vrns 1ofantoh M 80 az
as PASSED did exa,nnt r,oneyn and nrodi re-
| household fnrnifnraP farm m,c hin i,n
nlements and fools and ga,r nthar ~. a
| ticles Thase classes Of nronertv had al.
| WAYS been roorly assessed and vieldad very
LITTLE r,.yenno In nronnntian ~ thnin a,uas,
voiue Ar Tho vano H., n roniio %
inserted in The nnt nr was
! son having n norsonof nrnnasrtv ans ~ 70
nfYset r. noi"t hi 49, aoper'! TIN hn ~
offact axaS"taG M, f .o'' .nN, ms III
ertv tayotian r. tha I'm thot PIP
also suhiert to IN income tax rbis n mnS
yision 20 asio",a1 -, IL. ni9 ~
The nxistinc statn" mil Ia i a. M
law shouid he nnssad nnnn hu thos , ~, NJ,
and its nsefulpess as - revenue nrod,,rer
had heen nrantiea,Ir 1850 fenue prouucer
Prior eI 70 p tbe aest f Tho ;r ~
law tba 80, oIe pn'nuSd , VI tme income YAK
erty was s5iosEhC murinp ths rst rea
Amounted tn nyar 90 zoo 0oo '"G MN v, tdd
IRON, na-sonoI ,,ronor.D ,t;iI nj to- 'ieu
atinn IL eotimatadp az 'sS 7So 9s2 " ~
of these facts The Tax Commissinn smg
gests in its report that all personal prop.
erty may now be exempted except public
utilities and the stocks of banks and trust
companies Unquestionably this is the
final goal we all wish to reach and if
should cheerfully concur in the sugges-
ton but it is not clear to me that the
time for doing this has yet arrived. The
foregoing figures Indicate that the income
tax falls s250.000 short Of the amount
derived from the personal property still
assessable and nearly s2,000.000 short of
erty taxation as II was prior to the re-
cent exemptions. 1t is true that 1911 was
not a prosperous year and that another
twelve months experience in the admin
istration of the law may show larger re
turns. But the gains in this direction may
be Offset in other ways. Several import
ant questions affecting the yield of this
tax were reserved by the Supreme Court
in its recent decision. and L seems to me
the law should be given a fuller test both
in the courts and in practice before max
ing any fundamental change or haZarding
the loss of this added revenue.
recommend that no radical change In
the general scope or character of the in
come tax law be undertaken at this SEES
sion and that no further ,xemption Of
personal property be made. But amend
ments necessary to make the law simpler
and more easily understood by the tax
payer and more effective from an admin
lstratlve standpoint should be adopted
without delay.
HIGHWAYS.
Under the present law the state high
way fund is raised by a property lax
specially levied and collected each veor
better policy would be if possible to
the state and to raise only the amount
not thus available by a state tax
The last legislature appropriated II def
mite sum annually to cover the cost of
supervising the construction of roads and
bridges Since this item of eNppnse must
necessarily vary with the amount of work
to be supervised. it is desirable that n
the law. | am told that in engineering
work of this sort the expense Of SUPER
vision is customarily figured at per-
centage of the total cost. In many states
this item runs as high as fifteen per
cent of he entire amount. The High
way Commission has informed me now
ever tbs. IL will be able to carry on
the work for not to exceed five per cent
of the cost of construction. Should this
percentage seem reasonable to the lcgis
lature the law should he amended accord
ingly so as to obyiate the necessity of
changing the amount to be allotted for
this purpose each session of the legis
lature.
Some states are now employing their
prison conycts in building highways
ooio I mas Deeh esPeciallS SuceeSslul III
ny ue,'iot,nrn' VI MS iu'i' ~ ~ pe pos
onnsin /, ~ ihirhl az dnair,hIn ~
dnaIiv dnci,iing IN, nattnr nroii,ninorv ar
neriments Shnnld no made rasnactfu,i,
recommend fherefora thnt tho Hoard nf