The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-03-07
CHAPTERXII.

CHAPTERXII.
The people of this county need tc
come to an understanding Of the
whole subject of exemption. An ex.
emption applied to q persons taxes
Is just about on par with pen.
sion as applied to a widow. The
law in either case was not enacted
for the purpose of having the gov.
eminent give something to some.
body that could get along without
it. In both cases 1t was enacted to
protect the person who is so poor
that they need a helping hand to gel
them on their feet. In this land
Of liberty that principle takes pre-.
cedent over the right to accumulate
wealth. The person who has so
little that they need every bit OF
it to live on or to. get along on
is favored SO that children may be
well clothed and educated even tho
the family might not be able to dc
that unless they have the exemption
or the pension. If person owns
only a few hundred dollars worth
of property, the principle of our tax
laws is that that person shall be
exempted or released from payments
on their trifling bit Of property un-
til such time as they get better
start in the world. Our law makers
had to place limit somewhere at
what seemed to be the most reason
able place and they decided that If
person had less than thousand
dollars worth of property, it might
be best to have them pay on only
about half of it or little more. So
they made this rule that If per-
sons property did not exceed $1,000
in value they should have a $500
! exemption if they wanted it; If they
took the exemption then they would
pay on a $500 assessment instead
Of $1,000. In the case of woman
/ whose husband is dead, if she is
so hard up that she needs pension
she must go to the representative
of the county government and make
application for it and show why she
needs it. Her financial circum-
stances must be the proof that the
payment of pension to her is neces-
! sary to protect her from want and
maintain decent home. II she is
able to do these things by working
or by any effort that will not injure
her, she is not entitled to the pension
Protecting the Poor
In the case of the person being
assessed, if he or she owns $500 or
5000 worth of property and is able
to make living, maintain decent
home, educate the children if there
are any and by hard struggle keep
up successful battle. she is not en-
titled to pension. If the battle
is going against them, If they are not
able to make ends meet and main
tain decent home then they should
apply for the exemption of $500 and
they are required to sign their name
on the dotted line to say that they
want such exemption and the real
meaning Of an exemption is a re-
quest for charity. Some people are
going to dispute our statement that
taking an exemption is an acceptance
of charity; we challenge any sue
cessful contradiction of that state
ment. Exemptions have been so
long used and so much abused that
the general public have forgotten
the original intention of the exemp-
ton. AS we look over our whole
plan of government and think care
fully on how these helpful laws came
to be enacted, we believe the law
Of exemption originated as we have
stated, but came to be abused in
this way.
Abusing Exemptions
We don't know when exemption
laws began to be put into effect, but
the principle started a way back
in colonial times and ever since
Andrew Jackson took the oath of Of !
flee as president Of the United States
and made his declaration, "To the
victors belong the spoils," political
parties have been working to build
up machines to keep themselves in
office and to fleece the public for
the benefit of the victors. That slo-
gan was foul blot upon the Ameri- |
can republic and it is one of the
queer ironies of existence that And
rev Jackson, the originator of graft |
in politics, has come down in history |
with a reputation as a great states
man. Our theory is that assessors
used the exemption law to build up
good will for themselves among the
people of moderate circumstances
whom they assess. 1t has been OPP
Grating in Bingham county to some
degree ever since the writer can re-
member. The first assessor we ever
saw working in this county was
George Gorton in the year 1886 and
be was one of those genial souls who
was building up good will among
the settlers in his own behalf and,
probably, theirs. When he visited
BUR claim and we recited to him the
number of horses, harnesses and
wagons that we possessed, he glanced
1t a crude ditching machine that
used in those days and
jokingly, "And you have
! goodwill t0o.' We all laughted
md then he told us he guessed we
we're not bursting with wealth and
le would give US what exemption
le could. |,
That did not leave US much taxes
o pay and we were duly grateful;
We always liked Mr.. Gorton after
hat. The settlers had such hard
he probably was glad toll
rive them all the ovoup$ion. ha