The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1916-09-15

them by Mr.. Packard are Of Interest,"
from tho fact that he occupies his pss4|
sent position and should be an expert insa
matters OF taxation.
But for some reason MI. Packard
manipulates his statistics apparently
with political prejudices, instead Of fairl
discussion which everyone would vel
come.
'.Figures will not lie" is an old proverb
but there are more lies told with help Of
the ten numerical digits than with any
other machinery in the world. A skill
full performer can play any tune he
chooses on these ten keys.
just now,. we would call attention 60
Mr.. Packard's broad statement that tho
"per capita" taxation in this state is
e25. The figures gwen by the county
auditor for this county are a little less
but would 60 to prove the statement, as
when made Of the whole state.
II there is anything more deceivlng
than the digits themselves it is that
man "Per Capita" He is a liar and
base deceiver from his very conception.
Looking at the first table above we
find that while Mr.. Capita pays pretty
heavy tax yet on the other hand be has
a right to do so because he is very
heavy property holder. The table shows
that in this county of Pembina that
each person, each nan, each woman,
each child owns S554 80 worth of person.
al property and real estate. But as all
property is supposed to be assessed at
one fourth actual value, we arrive at
the rather astonishing conclusion that
each person, without distinction of sex
or size, owns in actual value s2,2l8 90 Of
property, or each family of five together
are the comfortable possessors Of S1l 900
Of real and personal property.
And really it it is true that Mr.. Per
Capita pays s25 taxes on over $1,000
worth of property that is not very high
rate of taxation.
Let US try this "per capita" business
in another form. Taking the above
tables we find that according to the vote
that toilette township has about three
hundred and eighty-dv inhabitants. It
is evident that considerable number of
these such as renters and laborers are
not the owners of or have contingent
interest in real estate. Suppose for this
and convenience we drop off say ninety
seven. Then we again arrive at the re-
markabfe result that each of the remsln-
ing ''per capita" own a quarter section
of land, because there are approximately
288 quarter sections IN that double town
ship,and that each family of five operates
a farm of five quarter sections.
Those are the kind of results that we
find when we take the digits and play
the tune called "Per Capita" Every
taxpayer knows that these are false
notes. Like the man who saw the hip.
popotamus for the first time, we say
''There amt no such ANIMAL
What is wrong about these "per capi.
ia" figures? Mostly because per capita
is average but not ordinary. What the
ordinary citizen pays as taxes and what
the amount would be if he paid the
''avsrage" are not the same thing by
any means.
To get at what the ordinary taxp.yer
pays we must eliminate two classes, first
those who pay little or nothing, and Sec
ond those who pay on large accumula.
tions of property of an exceptional nat
ure. It is absurd to try to average the
taxes of two men one of whom just pays
poll tax of dollar and the other pays
perhaps total tax of $500. That the
"average" tax paid by these two men is
s25O.5O cents is simply an absurdity and
devoid of sense.
But Mr.. Packard after getting such
conclusion goes into long series OF
calculations as to how many weeks it
takes the laboring man or clerk to pay
his taxes of as head of family of s125.
''There amt no such animal" Mr.. Pack
ard.
We have not the time or space to go
much farther into the above tables.