Palisadian. [volume] (Cliffside Park, N.J.) 1906-current, 1915-10-23
Personal Property
Issue In New York
West Palisade, N. J..

Editor "Palisadlan"
Dear Sir:
Perched upon the cliffs of the Hud-
son, "The Palisadian" is able to get
a bird's-eye view of New York City,
and a common-sense view of its
politics.
The great question agitating the
city today is the endeavor to enforce
the collection of personal property
taxes in order to alleviate the "bur-
den" on real estate. The result is
as might have been expected
ridiculous. fasco. 1t is the greatest
guessing contest ever undertaken
and reminds one of the story of the
saddler who forgot the name of the
party who bought saddle of him
on credit, and so charged all his GUS
toners with saddle; three of them
paid without question, the others
"swore off," At recent dinner one
of the speakers referring to this very
question, said, eff we were to take
the most demented case out of an
asylum and sit him down at table,
with pen and ink, to write our taxa
ton laws he couldn't make worse
lot than we have got"
The city officials Cor rather, law
makers at Albany should study
Turkish methods if they want to en-
force personal property taxation, for
these gentry have practiced the col
lection of such taxes for centuries
past.
Any subject of Turkey, escaped to
this country for peace and rest
a..
ness to the thoroughness of their
proceedings. Not even Turk has
ever complained of their negligence
to enforce personal property taxa
ton laws. They don't guess either,
they collect.
It was timely move of Mayor
Mitchell to appoint committee to
study this subject, and to put upon
that committee representatives of all
shades of opinion. When political
economists are brought face to face
with actual conditions, their theories
are apt to assume a very different
complexion to the one they cherish
when they have no responsibility.
They are not quite so cocksure.
Twenty years ago bill for Local
Option in Taxation was presented at
Albany. 1t did not pass, and thus the
public was deprived of an oppor-
tunity of experimenting in taxation
methods in small districts. Vested
interests were too powerful at that
time and the common people igno-
rant, or Indifferent.
Taxation laws should be taught in
the kindergarten, among the first
lessons drilled into the infant mind.
The teacher could easily play at
taking things away from the pupils,
and soon show them the right and
the wrong of such actions. Stealing
candy from babies is no hard matter.
A friend of the writer to whom
this suggestion was made said, GLOW
could you teach such a thing to boys.
Look at that group over there, what
could you teach them?"
Calling them over, l said to the
foremost, lad of ten, "Is your
father citizen of the United
States So"
He replied eyes"
"Does he own any land ?" "No!'
Then what right has he to live in
this country?"
This was poser, and my friends
saw at once how lessons of political
economy could be grasped by infants.
Somebody asked ex-President Taft at
a public meeting what man should
do who had lost his job? Mr.. Taft
threw up his hands and exclaimed:
"God knows! | don't!"
Who shall say that ex-President
Taft was wiser than the boy of ten
when faced with very common So
cial condition? May we not be
allowed to suspect that the rights
and wrongs of taking money away
from citizens for government pur-
poses may be as surely solved by the
school boy as by the professor in the
great university.
Earsen l. Sopen.
edward M. CaffalD