The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-07-27
With the State Press
Low Rate on Intang1bles.

We particularly like the proposal Of Auditor
c. Lee Moore that Intangible personal prop
erty be taxed only for the benefit OF the To-
calities. and then at rate not to exceed, under
any circumstances rs cents on the 500 OF
full valuation. II IL a matter OF the common
est knowledge that only very small per
centage of taxable stocks. bonds, mortgages,
notes and other evidences of debt ever reach
the books of the commissioners OF the revenue.
As the report of the State tax commission said,
here In no other place tax lodging reaches
its highest level
Facts must be taken as they are It Is by
no means an unnatural, even II regrettable. feel
ing the part Of the citizen that II he gives In
this class of property. he pays from two TO ten
times much tax in proportion to Its value
az do~the holders of other classes Of values.
IL he owns bond for $1,000. he must give 1t IN
at ST. 900 90 per cent IL he reports 1t at all,
whereas the owner Of a piece of land worth $5,-
600 has II assessed at from 81 600 to $4,000 de-
pending on what Virginia county he has the
honor to reside In
Many Sta.es-and 1t should be remembered
that most of the States of the Union are far
ahead of Virginia and have adopted reason
able and improved methods OF taxation-have
tangibles. Some OF them require that 1t shall
not be in excess Of one-half of / per cent of
the principal.
The result has been that men who had not
revealed their possession of intangibles have
brought them to light, recognizing the low rate
as reasonable and fair In Maryland the re-
suits OF such legislation were remarkable. The
law there provides that property of this class
shall he subject to assessment in the county or
city where the owner resides. at Its actual value
in the market (stocks and even interest bearing
paper varying at times In value). Paper on
which interest is actually paid is not assess
ed at all. The regular rate Of State is paid.
with local tax of 80 cents on the $1O.
In the city of Baltimore. the amount OF in
tangible personally listed for taxation under
this law Increased from $s.0o0.000 in 1895 to
81 so, 600 0O0 In 1910.
Replying to the argument that this would
give intangible property lower rate than that
borne by tangible property and that il all prop
art Ia al fS a m ri
er OF tangible property would be at a disad-
vantage. it Is only necessary to go back to basic
prnciples-that the earning capacity alone >, Of Of
value. What makes the difference between an
acre OF highly productive land and an acre
nearby OF rocky and untillable soil? Simply
ca rning value which Is taken into account In the
tax returns because 1t is taken into account
for purposes of sale.
pertioned to the amount of interest yielded by
stocks and bonds. per cent bond should
pay more than 4 per cent bond. There is
nothing in the Moore plan to prevent this ad-
Observation-Disclosures News Record.
Sadness in Fish Country
We have all read Of the woe besetting nsh-
ing village when the ships go down at sea, and
some of US have seen it. IT'S such as then that
"a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind"
While no ship of our fishing villages has of late
come back empty handed To view the dis
tress occasioned by this short draught OF fishes,
with the similarity to the distress prevailing
when mother and child look In vain for the
missing one On all sides there Is sadness--
and subdued panic, as paradoxical a. the phrase
may appear For the nrst time in quarter
Of century has there been such distress mo
fish" Is the sombre expression passed from
others gasp at the prospect of going homeless.
1t is time to hold your grit, friends; to
other the milk Of human kindness.
Citizen.