Newark post. (Newark, Del.) 1910-1969, 1917-02-28
SPEAKERS URGE
NEW TAX LAWS

of wealth go untaxed? w h y
should we let the small property
owners, the lame, the halt and the
blind, do the work of the strong
lnasmuch as tax-paying is the
service of peace, so by analogy,
the man who don't pay a tax in
proportion to his means. is a
Stacker" The speaker closed with
the prophecy that the time is
coming in these United States
when no man will be permitted to
leave an estate like John d. Rock
efeller. Great wealth destroys
nations when it is in the hands of
a few. 1t means loss of liberty,
loss of democracy, loss of individ-
ual right as citizens"
Robert G. Houston, editor of
the Sussex Republican, was the
second speaker. Cali the eyes of
the State of Delaware are fixed
upon your little town in New Cas-
tle," Mr. Houston said. "In your
college are representatives of the
homes throughout Delaware; here
our boys and girls, the men and
women of the future, receive their
education.
do you realize he continued,
that the sum total of the revenue
of the State of Delaware is $500,
900? Do you understand whence
comes that revenue? Do you
know that if the Congress of the
United States should place on the
statute books federal law re-
curing all interstate federal cor
porations to take out a charter, a
third of the revenue Of the State
would be gone? We are spending
over half the revenue of the state
now for school purposes. Some of
our people in the past have at
tended the national taxation con-
ferences, but the only result we
see on our statute books is our
present collateral inheritance tax
which raises $1,000.
81 am here tonight" Mr.. Hous-
ton said, "to try to arouse the peo-
pie of this state to their plain duty.
l want placed on the statute books
a business method of transact
ing county and municipal bust
ness. There is nothing politica
in the question. 1t is interesting
to study our tax laws, and note
the changes that have been made
Investments could be taxed until
1852. Then there was the Adams
Tax Law, which was refused as
unconstitutional, a fact which
caused many people to come to be-
lieve that the taxation of invest
ments was unconstitutional. The
trouble, however, was merely a
technicality-a word having been
omitted in the title which was en-
bodied sin the body of the bill"
The measures now before the
Legislature, the Graduated Inner
itance Tax bill, in the hands of
Mr.. Burris, and the Equalization
Tax, in the hands of Mr.. Boyce.
represent no experiments. They
merely afford the means by which
every man shall pay his just
share Of the taxes. l actually
know man in Delaware worth
half a million, who pays S rs
head tax. In Sussex we have $1OO.
100000 worth of wealth; only $50.
100000 is taxed. Throughout
the state there is a vast more in
tangible wealth, none of which is
taxed. A gentleman told me the
other day that he had lived in
Wilmington for two years. He
said, 81 want to pay my share,
but no one has ever approached
me on the subject of taxes. Such
laws as we advocate are in effect
in the states all around us. The
bills are modelled very largely on
the New York laws. In the pre-
paration of the bills nave ben~
in correspondence with DR.. Nc
earthly, head of the Legislative
Bureau of Wisconsin, and an ex-
pert of Columbia University. So
far we have found very little op-
position at Dover. The second
bill provides for the taxing of all
investments, excepting U. S.
bonds. The law starts with tax
of l per cent on investments from
SIS. 900 to $4,000; increasing to a