The Pulaskian., 1917-01-12
Inaugural Message of GoU.
 Chas. 4. Brough


 Brough, delivered before a joint ses- sion of the Senate and House of Repre- eentatives of the Forty-first General Assembly Is as follows:
 '.In assuming the responsibilities of the office of governor of Arkansas, to which I have been elected, l do so with a consciousness of my many limi- tations, bat with the determination to eonsecrate whatever of ability and character I may possess to the moral, educational and financial betterment of the State. I hereby pledge the peo- pie of Arkansas a business administra- tion free from personal political strife, to the end that we may have an ad ministration based on efficiency. The statehouse will be a workhouse. with open doors, where all the people. rich and poor alike, will be welcomed. shall treat the membership of the For ty-first General Assembly with that high regard which Is due you, pledging myself never to influence legislation and unduly emphasize executive power. 1 shall expect the same open-minded- ness on your part and an aloofness from round robins and legislative eau cuses.
 Finances.
 -Arkansas has been blessed this year with bounteous harvests. industrial progress and educational advancement; however, it should be matter of re- gret to every patriotic Araknsan that our revenu system has not kept pace; that State and county warrants are now quoted below par; that we are paying credit prices for supplies necessary for our State institutions, and that on July l. 1917, Arkansas will face a deficit of approximately $75o.oOo There are many sad commentaries on our anti quated and 'crazy-quilted' revenue sys- tenn, eloquent advocates of an i'm proved assessment system that show ills of gross inequalities in taxation, high rates. ridicuousiy low assess- ments and a tax-dodging that is travesty on a self-respecting people.
 Need of Tax system Change.
 Tn my opinion. there are several de- fleets in our system of taxation that heed correction and careful considera- tion at the hands of the General As sembiy:
 First, the constitutional provisions governing taxation. which practically prevent the classification of property As il should be between realty tang tble personally and intangible person atty, restrictions that can only be re- moved by a constitutional amendment or a new constitutional convention.
 s'The experience Of the federal gov ernment and of every State in the Union is to the effect that, under rule of uniformity. personally, es pecially of an intangible character, like stocks and bonds, goes in hiding and is not and frequently can not be reached by the assessors. Statistics show that not more than 10 per cent of the real value of intangible personality is list eed, because of the transitory character of such property, and that elassifi- cation of property and segregation of the sources Of revenue are absolutely necessary to properly reach it.
 Broadening Tax Commission Work.
 Second the Tax Commission, sitting as State board of equalization, has no power to raise or lower individual assessrn ents or order reassessments by county assessors. Under the law ere ating the commission 1t can raise or reduce horizontally all of the proper ty of a class of property in q taxing district. If it raises real estate in a district 50 per cent it must raise each tract 50 per cent; if it raises the horses or mules in a township 50 per cent, the raise must apply to each horse.
 
 any taxing district in the State some unit in some class that Is not assessed as low as 5 per cent or as high as 50 per cent of it's true value. The com mission should be authorized when it has made a horizontal raise of the property of the district to reduce any individual assessment that the raise will carry beyond it's proportionate value, or in case of a horizontal rota tion it should be authorized to raise any individual assessment that the re- auction will take below it's propor- donate value. With the right of ap- peal given to the individual when the property is raised, the taxpayer would be allowed every safeguard and the commission coslld equalize as between counties without unjustly increasing the burdens of individual taxpayers. 1 respectfully recommend to the General Asse mbly the passage of a law con- ferring upon the Tax Commission lim ited power to equalize individual as- easements and full power to order re- assessments.
 To Review Private Corporations.
 Third, the Tax Commission has no power to review and equalize private corporate property. Although our eco- homie, commercial and industrial con
 
 property of private corporations In Arkansas-industrial mercantile, man. ufacturing and miscellaneous - has been assessed under a law that has not been substantially modified for more than 25 years. It is practically a method of self-assessment which is employed by corporate officers.
 T therefore recommend the passage of an act requiring the Tax Commis- sion to investigate. review and equal fze. by raising and lowering the as- sessment made by county assessors Of all corporate property not now required to be assessed by the Tax Commission Such acts are in force in number of States and have served to effectively reach private corporate property. It gould also seem that this can be ac- tomplished by reasonable penalties 4 money penalty for failure to turn in list of property that would result in the penalty being collected. would ap- pear to solve the question.
 Fines for Failing to List Property.
 I respectfully recommend to the General Assembly your earnest con sideration of a bill designed to amend