Evening star., 1914-04-25
,an,ta tax levy which distributes the

capita tax levy which distributes the
total tax burden among the persons
constituting the taxed community.
According to Mr. Prouty. Washington
| is not only the lowest taxed American
city. but is the richest in per capita
| taxable resources. At the root OF this
is H ]. Brownies confiscatory single-tax
estimate of 1912 of $744.000.OoO realty
values at the capital. Mr.. Prouty en-
| Enthusiastically adopts Mr.. Brownies guess.
so doing he can at one stroke make a
point both against Mr.. George and his
capital constituents. Apparently Mr..
| Prouty is careless how this grossly ex-
cessive estimate was reached, whether
| it is accurate or inaccurate. fair or un-
excessive and conflscatory character Of
this estimate was shown in considerable
detail in The Star Of February p, 1914.
On the basis of Mr.. Brownies guess at
Washington realty values Mr.. Prouty
figures that Washington can easily raise
in annual taxes $14. .637. 600. He uses his
own guesswork concerning and manipu-
lation of the tax rate to show that
Mashinston was g can readily collect an annual
He concludes: The committee Of one
hundred knows full we'll that II property
IN the District Of Columbia was taxed
substantially the Same as it is taxed in
0on oaner en- cities ties, 1t would produce over s1e,-
to pay all expenses" This Is the vital
ISSUE Is Washington in tax-raisinE
capacity six to seven million or q
fourteen to fifteen million city?
A Six or Fifteen Million Cityp
The last column Of figures in the table
throws some light on this question. 1t
shows that Washington in 1912, with its
property tax levy Of $5,8es, ,es4, raised
more taxes than twenty-four cities in q
list Of forty. exceeding such cities as New
Orleans. Jersey City. Indianapolis and st.
Paul. 1t shows that IL Mr.. Prouty's If
teen-million property tax had been
raised Washington would have paid in
taxes moro than 81. Louis, Baltimore.
Detroit and Cleveland; only fourteen
exceeding It.
Mr.. Prouty proposes to collect from the
local taxpayers $16.oo0,0 ,0ooI approximately
three times as much as they are now
paying. making their per capita levy 80
per cent higher than the most excessively
taxed city in the United States and two
or three or four times as much as other
cities Of the capitals class. Mr.. Prouty
would raise from $1,000 taxpayers in re-
sourceless Washington more than was
raised in 1912 In Detroit and New Orleans
combined. about as much as Baltimore
and Milwaukee combined, % per cent
than Cleveland.
What fair-minded American, in or out
of Congress. would attempt to collect
from the $4,000 local taxpayers, nearly
all Of whom are small property owners,
s15O00.O0O, q approximately twice as
much as the total raised in 1912 through
all kinds of taxation by Baltimore, 30
per cent more than was raised by the
whole Of Cleveland and approximately
three times as much as was collected in
all taxes in New Orleans?
Where are the Washingtonians to get
these fifteen million dollars Of taxes. or
even the half of that amount, without
the sympathetic cooperation of Con-
gress? Their legislature has cut them Off
from the money-making opportunities Of
the ordinary manufacturing and indus
trial city. They have no Rockefellers or
Carnegies or multi-millionaires of any
degree to be bled after socialistic meth
DDS Of taxation for the public benefit
Their great employers and manufac-
turers and captains of industry are con-
solidated in Uncle SAM Their richest
men are wealthy Americans from all over
the republic who at first are only winter
residents of the capital. These men are
like the workmen in the building trades
being driven out of the capital and off
the city's tax list. Is It the plan to de-
populate the city? To confiscate the land
on single-tax principles by excessive taxa
tion, and then to evict the people Of the
city in order that they may find else
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