The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-01-14

subaRencies of the State to manage
and disburse these funds. There ara
no county boundaries In iliiteraey. The
mass OF illiteracy Is what the State
undertakes TO reach.
! Free education is the undertaking Of
! the State and not of the counties and
cities rs such, and yet even county
No. In tho above illustration, az also
many other counties similarly situated,
undertakes out OF it's own meager
means to supplement it's State educa-
,ional FUND, and actually pays almost
as much for the education OF Its chill
dren as does the entire State, with
/ all OF Its wealth, and county II pays
/ $4,000 moro from Its own resources
! for the education OF it's children than
/ il receives from the State.
| A Matter Overlooked
! II is a fact some times overlooked
that the State contributes less than
! one third of the amount of the cost
/ of maintaining our fres school system.
/ In round numbers the state contri-
butes 100000 and the counties and
! cities pay out OF their own treasures
81. coo, e00 Had IL been the policy Of the
state 10 pay out OF it's own Treasury
the entire cost of the free school sys-
tenn, az now conducted. the tax bur
den on county No and county
would have been much lighter than II
is today.
One of the so-called pauper counties
received last year from the State 3i2.-
900. 900 for school purposes, and added
$4,000 from county and district taxa
ton for the same purposes, while
another county which appears seh-sus-
tanning. received $4,000 from the state
10 aAd cd nt,tx IA
/ 1t must be clear that the burdens.
! III they may be 80 called. of public
education are In their very nature ip-
capable OF equalization, and. In fact.
were never intended to be eaualixed
In any sense. except that the poor
should pay according to their poverty
and the rich according to their album
dance.
The distribution OF pensions also
rests on the principle have Just snun-
ciated. II is not surpris ng that there
should be a larger percentage of PEN
sioners in counties with, 80 per cent
white population, which have been
practically unaffected by immigration.
than in counties with half or less than
half white population. or in cities and
urban communities. with not only a
very large percentage. Of negro hut ALSO
OF foreign population. However Ca
cred may be tho obligation Of the Staas
to its children, II Ia no less 30 to it's
/ disable Confederate veterans whose
services in war were rendered not to
counties and cities such, but to the
State as a sovereign.
Scmc Assessments wrong.
what I have said ms to the relation
Of the counties to the state In not 10
be construed as defense OF assess-
ments below the general average but
simply as showing that no amount Of
equalization OF assessments can place
every county on the credit side OF the
State ledger.
Az revenue measure. as wen Nm
for the protection Of Intangible prop
erty from the hardship Of rates made.
unnecessarily high because Of the
under Assessment OF real estate and
tangible personal property. favor
q low rate. rate even lower than
that proposed by the tax committee.
with q provision under which the rate
would be automatically lowered whom
a given amount Of intangibles shall
have been reported for taxation.
While 1t Is to be hoped and indeed
expected that reasonably low rate On
this class of property win greatly en-
courage holders to list 1t in larger
volume for taxation. yet would
strengthen our laws very materially,
placing larger powers in the hands
Of the Auditor. OF such board ~ may
be created. for the discovery OF intan-
gible property and the collection Of the
tax levied against It, There IL to my
mind no good and sufYicient reason why
our State government should have less
power and exercise less vigor In the
discovery Of Its taxable resources than
that possessed and exercised by the
Federal government, acting under au-
thority granted to 1t by the State.
favor laws bringing Intangible and
! tangible property as nearly az pos
sible into equal accessibility to the
tax gatherer.
The people Of the state, approaching
their increased and increasing re-
sources understand that the public
burdens can be borne without hard
ship to any taxpayer II all taxable
property within the State Is brought
Into contribution in just proportion.
! The hour has struck for readiustment
OF the tax system Of our State. The
information is at hand: public senti-
ment 10 now ready for a change, and
10 expecting results from the session
Of the General Assembly that begins
today. The subject OF tax equalization
has been for many years source Of
discord and disagreemsnt In our Lsxis--
iatfve councils. and for this reason
we must count ourselves all the more
fortunate In approaching this impor-
tant question at time when condi-
/! tons for a satisfactory and psrma.
nent settlement seem so propitfous
Let Us hope that our deliberations
and conclusions may be Eenuinsly re.
spcnsive to the enlightened demands
OF an aroused public conscisncA; -
that n the years to come ~ ana III
work ~ lt15, ana ny thA&s n ~ eoo1.s
8enpectfma1y n0ka6i III .asSs SY u '4S@