The daily times. [volume] (Wilson, N.C.) 1902-1936, 1918-09-21
Mr.. /. c. CONNER
0NAMENDMENTS
Prominent Lawyer Advises
Against Voting for "Ex-
emption from Taxation
OF HOMESTEAD NOTES
To the Editor:

To the Editor:
AT the approaching election
amendments to the State Constitu'
tion will be substituted to the voters
for ratification or rejection. One
to iengthen the term of the common
schools to six months instead of four
as at present, should be drafted OF
adopted.
The other, known as the "Exemp'
tion from, Taxation Of Homestead
Notes." should be defeated or re.
jected.
propose to discuss here only the
last named. The language Of the
proposed amendment is as follows:
Notes, mortgages and other evi-
dence of indebtedness given in good
faith, for the purchase price Of a
home, when said purchase price does
not exceed Three Thousand Dollars
($; 100000, and said notes, mort
cages and other evidence OF indebt-
edness shall be made to run for not
less than five nor more than twenty
years, shall be exempt from taxation
of every kind provided, that the in
terest carried by such notes and
mortgages shall not exceed 5 IL per
cent"
With all due respect to the high
official who suggested and the Cen
eral Assembly which passed this
proposed amendment, l submit that
it should not be adopted. l accept
the burden of the argument and will
undertake to justify my opinion and
position.
Let us at the outset, analyze for
bit, the language or rather some
of the language Of the amendment.
My criticism as TO language is that
the word Home is not defined.
Does it mean house and lot in
town. is it broad enough to include
a farm upon which one with his
family may live? If the latter is it
to be confined to ten, twenty or ff-
ty acres? The amendment does not
tell us. Suppose, as is not infre-
quent, person should live in the
second story of a building, the first
story being used as a store. Is this
to be included in the word Home, :
as used in the proposed amend
ment9
These are but a few OF the ques-
tions which may arise for the courts
to determine. | submit that when We
are exempting property from taxa
ton, the language used should be
more exact than that used in this
case.
Keep in mind always that it is
not your Home" that is to be eY-
empt, but the debt you owe for it.
The man who buys a Three Thous-
and Dollar Home" is to pay taxes.
The creditor who sells it on five
years time and charges 5 1-2 per
cent interest instead of per cent is
the one who gets the exemption.
Let us see how it will work out.
suppose you go to man who owns,
say house and lot, and make a pro-
position to him to buy it on credit
Suppose it is located in a growing
and live town; he prices it, say, at
100000. He knows you haven't
the money to pay cash. If so, the
price would be less. He sells to you
on five years time at 5 1-2 per cent
interest. On the $3,O0O.O0 he loses
oHe-nalI OF one per cent in all. This
years, 2 1-2 per cent in all. This
on $3,0O0,O0, would be $500 OF
$1,000 a year. In any live town
he would save on State, County and
town taxes, from / 1-2 per cent tc
per cent a year, amounting to from
Z IL to 10 per cent during the five
years, or from $165O0 to $500. 90
You, the purchaser, save in five
years $500 apparently, but will
you in reality? Won't the seller ado
the $500, the difference between
IL and 6 per cent to the purchase
price? If I know anything about
such matters, l would answer thi.
question emphatically, "Yes." In
this state of affairs the buyer save.
nothing, the seller will really save {
per cent and taxes, saving on the
proposition from $4,000 to $500.
90, not saving, but making tha,
much more profit.
But you won't be able to buy on