The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-02-03

; Assuming that body could be
created with powers sufficiently broad
/ and comprehensive to deal justly with
! the situation as 1t Is presented. l
would suggest tentatively local boards
of equalization for counties and cities,
to insure uniformity Of assessments
in every such county or city for State
and local taxation. and Il State board
| of equalization, composed OF a repre-
sentative of each grand division of
the State, and charged with the super
vision of all assessments made by the
( local boards. and given authority to
euualize assessment values so as to
prevent any inequality from which
otherwise any section. county. or city
might suffer. The assessment of all
! property would be within the juris-
diction of these boards. except that
belonging to public service corpora
tons, which Is assessed by the state
corporation commission.
T quite understand that eduaiiza-
| ton Is one thing, and that it is an
other thing to discover and place
under contribution property which is
| intangible. Equality Of assessment
and equality of rate would he in
/ complete as between different classes
of property without equality of acces-
! sibility. While l appreciate the diff1-
Guilty OF fully reaching for taxation
/ this class Of property. I do not concur
! in the view that Ii should be singled
! out for preference or favor, and /
will never agree that visible real and
personal property shall be made to
bear a dispI oportion OF the burdens
of government. On the other hand.
] am firmly 81 the opinion that intan-
gibles sh Md oe expected ami com.
/ PEELED to pay their proper share of
rpnf,ira6 fny the
+ OF the government.
To Give Them Access.
| therefore favor such practical and
reasonabl measures as will tend 20
| give the assessor and tax gatherer
| the same access to intangible that he
now has to property which is visible.
| OF course, intangibes should not be
made to pay more than a proper
share, ard therefore, il il can be as
suned that visible property will al
ws>; be assessed at something less
than its actual value, the legislation
/ for the modification of our system
might provide a maximim rate fcr
the taxation of intangihles. the actual
value of which Is easily ascertained,
whether for STATE VT furHt PURPOSES,
leaving any deviation from that rate
to a lower rate, with a view to pre-
venting discrimination against the
/ owners of intangible property to the
discretion of the State board. which
would have the most intimate and de-
/ tailed knowledge of the entire sub
! ject.
The annual addition to the total
revenue of the state should he strictly
| limited. so that the rate of taxation
! would automatically fall with the in
| evitable increase of assessed values
Such a limitation with reference to
! revenue for the use Of any county or
CITY is something that car be safely
| left 10 the action of tbs local authori-
I ties.
/ A plan of equalization conceived and
1 executed as l have indicated would
! in my opinion. reduce to minimum
and distribute as evenly as possible
] the necessary burdens on all taxpay-
/ ers. The rate of taxation on all
classes of property would then be low
enough to satisfy any patriotic citizen
/ who recognizes the fact that one dol
/ lar In every seven we collect goes to
I the discharge OF an ante -bellum debt
Exemptions and abnorma1ly low rates
+ are only possible in States which. are
| not oniy on, of debt, but which have
! large fixc6 sources of revenue inde-
pendent of that derived by direct tax
| alton of the citizen
| Protection OF Corporations.
The cooperation Of the corporation
/ commission. whose duty IL is to as
sess the property of public ervice cor
porations, is, of course, essential to
| the accomplishment Of any desired re-
! form.I may as well say In this con-
nection that. in dealing with public
service corporations, favor a poll
cy which, while vigorous and unyield-
4 ing in the enforcement Of the rights
| of the public as to service, facili-
| ties and charges therefor, will be
| equally so in the protection OF the
corporations from undue burdens and
exactions.
| devise any effective plan of tax re-
form involving equalization and at
the same time guarding the owners
against discrimination. there should
| be legislation providing for such
segregation of the subjects Of taxa
ton as the constitution contemplates,
SO framed as to give compensation
to counties and cities surrendering
an undue share of the taxable values
upon which they subsist. and upon
which have been predicted their obl-
| cations Segregation is the only al
Tentative to the plan tentatively sug-
| gested. and OF which have under
/ taken to give only the barest outline
! Besides taxation there are other
matters which must receive attention
| II truly progressive policy Is to be
| enforced-a policy consistent with the
| principles OF the new freedom de-
clared in the early days In the po-
| iitical chapters written by Mason and
| Jefferson and now being rediscovered
and re-established under the wise and
patriotic leadership e another great
Virginian. Some OF these matters
NAV now be enumerated,
There should be legislation which
will provide a uniform system of ac-
counting and require itemized state
! ments OF all receipts and disburse-
ments of public funds, supported by
vouchers, to be used in every depart
ment of the State government. in
Guiding bureaus. institutions and
boards, and by State ana local Off
Gals. Such legislation which should
not be delayed. will be In line with
the practice of many Of the States,
and will assimilnte the methods Of
conducting the business OF our gov
eminent to the methods employed by
prudent and experienced men In their
private business. That there will be
some expense incident 10 its opera
ton furnishes no valid objection to
departure which IL fully justif1od as
providing an essential means OF pro-
lection against dishonesty and cx-
travagance