Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-13
The Johnson-Prouty Discovery
of a Plot to SWindIe
Uncle Sam.
TAx-REoucT|or PLOT
SMELLS TAX-BURDENS
Peculiar and Paradoxical Tax-Dodg
ing Which Increases Assessment
on Realty $S2,0OO.OoO and
on Personality 50 Per Cent.
March 81. iait

March 81 1915,
The JOhnsOn-PrOuty report upon tho
mutilafed George hill condolences In q
nutshell the Fundamental error. Of fact
and figure ON W hitch tho present vicious
campaign against Washington IL based:
I. That the fun assessment valuation
OF Washinstou realty In 1871: was over
<s44.OOO.OOO. in accordance with n. J.
Brownies single tax cOniiscntory esti-
mate.
2. That full credit should he given to
the confessedly inaccurate cen~us-re-
ported relations Of assessed to true
value. with the result OF making the
average tax rate in United States eight
cen mills and reducing the Washing
ton rate to the lowest among American
cities.
2. That arlington. on It's imaginary
realty and personally taxable values.
can raise without hardship n tnA levy
of $l4.S47.:SI.sS and consequently no
contribution from the nifed states fs
needed for capital maintenance and
upbuIldins.
4. That the tax legislation of 1902 was
the result Of corrupt conspiracy be-
tween the tax-dodRers md bribing
malefactors of Washington and Con-
Rress OF criminal prHcltNittcs To reduce
the local tax revenues In order to
| svvindIe Uncle Sam into unnecessarily
continuing the haif-and-bnlf arrange
ment.
have been cOntradicted and discussed
in detail In recent editorial correspond
ence. Brief cOnside ration may br given
to the fourth accusation OF count In
the Indictment of Washington and of
Congress.
Said Mr., johnson of Kentucky. accord
ing to the Congressional Record OF
March .:
The organic act of 1875 vas not ma
teria1ly interfered with until 1ss3. That
act broke into the organic act of 1873
in the way of annual assessments and
made triennial assessments. Tire next
breaking into the organic act was in 1907.
by which Intangible personal property.
stocks and bonds and securities were re-
lieved from all taxation. At the same
time uniformity of rate of taxation
was destroyed by leaving tangible per-
sonal property taxed at $50 a hundred
and by taxing real estate at 81 a hundred.
Nobody heard cry from the people who
are now raising all this noise for fear the
organic act may be interfered with. They
sat quietly by and acauiesced in the
partial destruction Of u fair assess
ment by saying that they were
willing to accept tWo-tlirdS valuation
on real estate and three-thirds valuation
on tangible personal property
The organic act was practically de-
stroyed by the act of 1SS; and by the
act OIL June I. 1902. and not one of those
people who are now raising such IL fuss
lifted Il voice in protest against It. Let
me tell You how and the circumstances
under which the change as to the taxa
ton of real estate was made from xl.O
hundred to only 81 hundred.
This House went on record empliatical-
IL in 1902 in favor of taxing all kinds Of
personal property. The bill passed the
House in that shape. 1t went over to
the Senate. The Senate put on some
amendments. and then the bill came BACK
from the Senate amended. and it went to
conference. and while the subject had
not been brought up either in the House
or in the Senate. the conferees brought
back 10 this House a proposition. which
was adopted without debate and without a
roll call. reducing the rate on real estate
one-third.'
A New Defender of Organic Act.
Mr. Johnson. proposing that Congress
shall now destroy the halfand- half provi-
sion of the act of 1878, asserts AS if in
justification of this destruction that this
is not the first time that Congress has
violated that law: and lie Scolds this com
munity for not recognizing that The
ments in lSS; yitally injured the organic
act. and that the fixing in I!Ac of mini
mum two-thirds basis of :caty assess
ment valuation and the exclusion of in
tangible personally from taxable person
atty smashed the organic act into tiny
fragments
Washington is ready to admit that Con
sress has frequently since ISIS disohcycd
and violated the half -and half provision.
Indeed. the city has complained of such
-
obtuse now ii WAS III ISIS; aud 1897.
and fails now, as il did then. to discover
any violation of the act of ISIS i'll a
change from annual to triennial assess
ments. or in a direction to assessors WHO
had been. in fact, assessing at a third
and a half of full value that they must
thereafter assess at not less than two
thirds of full value: or in placing Wash
ngton in the list of communities in
which taxable personal property is not
held to include intangible personally.
None of these provisions altered the 81.
tax rate. fixed by the organic act: and
the 1870. legislation did not decrease but
increased the assessments OF both real
and personal property.
But if Mr.. johnson, as the champion
and defender Of the organic act. were
right in his contention that these laws
were insidious and covert ATTRACTIONS by
Congress of the act of 1878. would not
the moral to be deduced be that Con-
sress should quit violating the organic
act Ana not that congress should IN
consideration of past sins sin more and
worse and smash the violated law alto
setherc
The Crime of 1902
Mr.. Johnson says further on this point;
Are We to infer that when the act of
1902 reduced the rate of taxation upon
real estate from $50 a hundred to 81
hundred they were seeking to avoid the
raising of that extra S300O,00 or 81 900,
OOOp If So then they deliberately sought
in 1902 to get through Congress. and they
did get it through. proposition which
would destroy the organic act of June II,
1878 to prevent real estate from being
taxed at the rate therein provided in or
der that they might not reach point
in income where they could pay their own
expenses.
Bv the insinuation of a slurring query
Mr. Johnson accuses this community Of
criminally conspiring with IA corrupt
Congress in 1902 to cut down the tax rate
and the local tax revenues. i'll order TO
sWindle the nation into continuing un
necessarily the half-and-half arrange
ment.
Mr.. Prouty in his speech at the Pub
lie Library formulated substantially the
same indictment of what may be stigma
tiZed as the crime of 1902.
Mr.. johnson has described in convincing
detail the devious and suspicion breeding
procedure by which through surreptitious
action of the conference committee the
realty provision was forced upon a reiuc-
tant but finally asserting House. 1t Is
clear AS MONDAY from Mr.. Johnson own
4, ,i,Snl re