Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1919-05-19

2 In that address, 1 stated. among oth-1
er things, that the. legislature was
ought to have been done heretofore, or
to apply needed remedy to>scme of the |
things heretofore dome imperfectly or
That / believed the state |
conduct of its business, and is suffering
from the effects of it's own high cost
of living" And 1 warned the Senate to
be alert to see that the law which
might be enacted should not counten-
ance any inequality of burder on any,I
business or taxpayer. To look with
cautious eye TO the interests of the far
mer. the workman in the snop, the me-
chanic. the hes-laborer- on railroad track
and train, the miner, the toiling man
and classes, those who. by their toll,
and to see that all are vouch-safed by
the law to be enacted. the fairness and
equality to which they are, by all the
ethics of Justice, entitled. 49,
In the tax. law enacted at said ses-
sion. there are some good features and
someSdefects, think. 1 am not there
!. All who are familiar with the cid law
All who are familiar with the old low
know, / think, that it-Was archaic and
worked much inequality.
Under it, for instance, when the
Clerk, of the county. And that raise
State Board found it necessary to in
crease the assessment of any county, it
which was certified to the Judge<and
y
was, without any hearing on the part
of the tax payer placed upon his re-
ceipt to become part of his tax bill.
Under that system, the one who listed
his property, say at fifty per cent of its
value, would, if the horizontal raise
was, say temper cent, have his taxes
based on a 55 per cent valuation, while
the one who listed his property at, say
S5 per cent, would have to pay on an
SS per cent valuation. So that. as you
can see, the one who had listed his pro-
III
increased burden over the one who did
not list his property SO near its real
value.
Whereas, the new law makes the
Board to place the increase where it
should be.
am not for the exemption of any
taxable property from state taxation at
this time. / would have the inaugur-
alton of the budget system of state ex-
penses. based on the elimination of all
the Senate in my address delivered the
first day of the 1918 session of the. le--
islature. That address can be found
near the beginning of the first volume
oi State Journal of that session.
Then l would have all classes Of tax
able property contribute to the state
government. For l think the truest
loyalty to government may reasonably
be expected to be in those who contri-
butte to the support of the government,
do not, of course, measure that 10y
atty Dy the amount OF Sucn COnlT1Du-
ton. 1 mean that the average citizen
is more interested in his government
to which he contributes whether that
contribution be large or smalL There
is surely a sentimental value in ones
relation to his government. and tits
1.-The state government which furnishes
the last and sure protection to the life,
liberty and protection OF the citizen.
Our courts are creatures of state
authority and must be maintained at
state expense. 1t is to the courts that
the appeal of the poor and poweriess.
ones most dependent for the protection
the courts afford. And if the courts
are to be dependent for their existence
prived Of much of that independence
which constitutes their value. and the
plea for a nom partisan judiciary
sometimes heard these days. would bs
nothing more than the idiest dream
| The education of our people, the
maintenance of law and order by the
administration of justice must remain,
functions of state government. The
segregation of the taxes of the separ-
| ate counties would inevitably conflict
with the necessary dominion over those
matters which the state, as such, must
maintain.
If the attempt is fnade-to maintain
lour schools wholly as county institu-
tions--the burden would crush. ma
/ jority of the counties in Kentucky, and
1.-the very. people most in need of an
! leducation would be deprived of it. and
l am sure the people of county able
to maintain itself under such sys-
Item would not be willing to see the
chiidensof neighboring county depriv-
led of opportunity to become educated.
kAlready the most wealthy counues IN
ItheIstate have willingly contributed in
jiarge sums to. the poorer counties to aid
1.-THE latter in making improvement of
ment of their. roads, and l feel sure
they are willing to, DO that to better
\ the schools in such less wealthy coun-
1 ties.
| Again. the exemption of real estate
from state taxation and the mainten-
lance of the schools still charge to. the
state and not to the. county, no reason
Iable burden of taxation on all other
lciasses sof taxable property in the state
tcould ieldrsufficient revenues To meet
Il the states necessary demands. For
1--we must recognize that assessable val
i pes of property in the state. tangible
and intangible and Intangible have
i Illimitations, for it is certainly true that
.ttaxes may be made so burdensome as
to destroy the very substance from
(which the taxes are derived. and then
1.-THE property will be worthless and the
|Itaxing system forced into collapse.
i 1T is not safe to say that. because
some states in our .unien having ~
fmiles of railroad 70 one mile IN zen zen
lin manufacturing plants to thousands
in Kentucky. are doing SO and SO, that
IKentucky also can do 1T
II cannot without general aid, maintain
\ lthemselvesswifh tia burden: upon them
lof taking care of the schools and that
the state cannot, with all the, real es-
j tate exempted from state taxation
4 maintain itself. without placing, on the
entire property crushing burdens
II The cry has been heard for decades
lin Kentucky that we want and need
1moDz Industries. We do want and need
them. But-the plan suggested by some
(which would place all the stcte bur
4 den on the property other thai realty
Iwould I fear. hamper all progress sand
ld,aye- out from the state many i'm dus:
.itries we now have. No more woult
'fcome And then the real estate owner,
In are 1atriottc3 They are moi
lbeEears or seekers after ehnrity TheJ
are willing to Bear fair part Of thu
i state.s expense4 and s tl1s fensnt, 4of g
For more TIM 1z6 yaafs. Kent1clky
ban ssssssss Gs'sis'sss sss sssS'f s. s; s
hss 3 Sse g s. e; 4 e & Rfs 'ss'
Iborders,sfeeIa = 5pst fFfd But now. af'
festiess fss ss " q 6 tie esf flIss s9es|e 3 Z
" You'd ss5.ss maze Z sS s 8 Isn e
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