Newport daily independent., 1918-11-18
TAXES RAISED
 BY HARD TIMES Burden Is Lightest in Communi- ties Roasting Live and Thriv-
 ing Towns.
FARMER FEELS TIE EFFECT
Is Inclined to Forget, at Times, That He Is Most vitaIIy Interested in Prosperity of Nearby
 Cities.

Copyright, 1917. Western Newspaper Union
 Taxes are always heavy-to the mar who has to pay them-but taxes iD some communities are much higher than in others. If you have ever stopped to investigate the matter you have discovered that the lowest taxes are found in the most prosperous com. munities. And there's reason.
 The prosperous community has the lowest taxes because there is a large amount of wealth in the community against which the taxes may be as. sessed. There are prosperous mer- chants with large stocks of goods up. on which taxes are levied. Property values are high and there are thriving industries. which pay large propor. tion of the taxes.
 The higher the property values and the greater the wealth of the commu nity the lower are the tax levies, for a lower tax on each hundred dollars ot valuation is required to produce the necessary revenue for the administra tion of the city and county govern ments.
 Other Taxes Are Raised.
 On the other hand, take dead town Property values are low. Merchants stocks are small and they have little money in the bank. Industries which ordinarily pay large part of the taxes of a community have closed down There are vacant store buildings whicE were formerly filled with stocks ot merchandise upon which the owners paid heavy taxes. Who pays the taxes that were once paid by the mechants the manufacturers, the bankers anc the men who had large holdings ot high-priced property The taxes tt conduct the city and county govern ments, to maintain the schools, to buil( and repair the roads must be collect ed from someone. Who pays them The man who owns his little home ol the vacant lot or two upon which ht has been planning to build his home must pay double or triple the amount which he paid in the times when the 
 the taxes which are not paid now by the merchants, the bankers, the manu facturers and the big property owners who bore the heaviest burdens of tax alton when times were good.
 The farmers in the country sur. rounding the town are also among the heaviest sufferers from the ebbing ot the towns prosperity. A certain amount of money must be raised by taxation 10 provide for the expenses of the county. Roads must be built and kept in repair. Bridges must be built and maintained. Salaries o1 county officers must be paid. County institutions for the care of the sick and the poor must be maintained. IT counties which contain one or more thriving, towns, a large proportion of the taxes for the county are paid by the towns. The greater the wealth of the towns and the higher the prop. { erty valuations, the lower the tax levy for the entire county. When the tax levy is low the burden placed upon the farmer is light.
 Burden Falls on Farmer When the county contains no pros. porous and wealthy towns, the greater part of the burden of taxation for the county falls upon the farmer The value of the farmers property does not fall A proportion to the value of the property in the town and the higher tax levy that results from the lower property values in the towns makes his taxes higher.
 The farmer forgets at times that he of his town" He thinks that it is up to the town to take care of itself and | that it is up to him to take care of himself and he overlooks that fact that the prosperity of the town means as 1 much to him as it does to those who l live in it. The farmer who is inclined 1 to overlook this fact has only to think of the matter of taxes and he is likely 1 to change his point of view for taxes are one thing that neither he nor any one else can escape, and they are one thing in which the farmer ordinarily 1 takes very lively interest.
 How Farmer Can Help.
 There is just one way in which the l farmer can best promote prosperity in the town near which he lives and that is by spending his money in that town instead of sending it away to the far distant city. Every time the farmer sends an order to a mall order house he helps to destroy the prosperity of his own community and to boost his own taxes. When he sends a dollar away from home he gets none of il back. When he spends dollar at home, part of that dollar comes back to him in some way. It helps the town where it is spent to provide profit able market for his products and it helps the town pay large part of his taxes.