The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1919-07-17
A LETTER FROM THE GOVERNOR
TO Mr.. AVERAGE CITIZEN.
State of North Carolina
Executive Department
Raleigh. N. G..

NY dear Mr.. Average Citizen: -
An intimate acquaintance with you,
extending over number of years,
leads me to write you this intensely
: personal letter. know that you love
the truth, that you despise Injustice
that you are robust champion of
the square deal. The possession by
you Of the cardinal virtues makes
North Carolina a truly great State.
The most vital power of the State
is the power to tax, and you believe
that this vital power should be exer-
eised with full knowledge Of the
truth. You believe that from this full
, knowledge Of the truth there will flow
perfect equality in taxation.
For the first time in the history Of
the State you, Mr.. Average Citizen,
have it in your power to write the full
truth and perfect equality in the tax
books of the State. You have never
been called upon to do this before; in
deed, you have never been permitted
to do this before. But now the Gen
eral Assembly has enacted a law that
places the matter entirely in your
hands. The new tax law is written
on correct principles. The machinery
for it's enforcement is adequate and
appropriate. The law is so written
that it will be easy for the citizen to
do right and hard for him to do wrong.
But on you. Mr.. Average Citizen, rests
the responsibility of determining
whether or not the wise and just pur-
pose of the law shall be carried out.
Now, Mr.. Average Citizen, you will
receive a QUESTIONABLE and will be
, called upon to swear before God and
to all your fellow-citizens what is the
fair marekt value of your property.
When you come to take this solemn
oath it will be helpful to you to put
to your own conscience this question:
eff I did not own this property, but
wanted to buy it, what would I be JUS
! tilted in paying for it?" and, again:
eff I wanted to sell this property, not
at forced sale, but in the way and on
the terms that property CT this class
j is generally sold in this community,
what do I really believe I could get for
| it?'' The answer to these questions
will point with reasonable accuracy to
the fair market value of your property.
! This fair market value you must write
! down in your QUESTIONABLE, else, you
will cease to be Mr.. Average Citizen
and become Mr. Undesirable Citizen.
When you, Mr.. Average Citizen, tell
the truth about your property, it will
do no good for your neighbor, Mr.. Un-
desirable Citizen, to tell a lie about
his property, because when the books
show truly what the property Of Mr..
| Average Citizen is worth, this. evi-
dence will clearly and conclusively
show what the property Of Mr.. Unde-
s.rab1e Citizen is worth. The local
and district assessors, when they
come to fix the value of property,
will be governed by the sworn testi-
mony of Mr. Average Citizen.
And when you, Mr.. Average Citizen,
tell the unvarnished truth about your
property, that truth will wipe out
everv discrimination and every in
equality in taxation in North Carolina.
True values are always equal values,
but the greatest exDert cannot equal
ize a series of falsehoods.
| When all the property in the State
shall be placed on the books at its
fair market value, many benefits will
accrue to you, Mr.. Average Citizen.
1. You will have the great satisfac-
tion of knowing that the record writ
ten by all the people of the State is
true record and not a libel on the
commonwealth This knowledge will
wonderfully strengthen the moral
fiber of our people.
2. You will know that every dis
elimination in taxation is wiped out,
and that every citizen is carrying his
fair part of the burden.
;. AS the values go up the rate OF
taxation will go down. and hereafter
North Carolina will be known far and
wide as a wealthy State with a low
rate Of taxation instead of a poor
State with high rate of taxation.
4. The General Assembly has made
a pledge not to collect, under the pro-
posed true valuation of property, rev
enues greater than ten per cent in ex-
cess of the revenues collected under
the present false values. This means
tuat the total revenues collected by
the State shall not be greater than ten
Der cent in excess of the total reve-
lnues collected under the present law.
This most emphatically does not mean
that no particular citizen will have to
: paw taxes in excess Of ten per cent OF
the amount he has heretofore paid.
A particular citizen may pay less
taxes than he has ever paid before
He may pey double what he has here
tofore paid. This depends on whether
; or not he has heretofore paid his fair
: share Of the taxes according to his
true worth If he has paid more than
his fair share the increase as to him
will be less than ten per cent; il he
has paid less than his fair share, the