The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1921-12-03
Sherif's Office
Collects Head Tax
Over $4,000 Taken from
People of County After
Failure to Pay

l nlO MIN IndN ndIh oh"Ai "
given, and from him that hath not
shall be taken even that which he
hath
Damn the law and everybody that
helped to make it."
These seem to constitute the basis
Of the reflections and the sentiments
of many of the people in Stevens
county who have recently been ap-
preached by Sheriff w. H. Graham
and his deputies in their duties OF
collecting the $5 head tax superim-
posed by the Legislature upon an ap-
parently helpless populace.
cts the worst work ever had
to do said Sheriff Graham when
asked by an Examiner man how he
liked collecting head taxes. "The
poor people in the towns seem to be
the hardest hit, and where people
haven't anything l can't get it."
81 really hated to take the money
from some of the people" said Dep
uty Sheriff D. F. Ham, "but | did
the best | could. | found lots of
people up in arms against paying
the tax, but | was not to blame and
simply told them that it was part
of my duty to collect. but | found
number of cases where it was really
an Injustice to demand the money"
Deputy Sheriff c. A. Ledgerwood
states that the things he has been
told by taxpayers about the head
tax would make a big book of pro-
fame history, and that the Examiner
better not start to print them. He
found that the idea of women paying
head tax was particularly repug-
nant, and that whenever possible the
families would attempt to escape this
woman tax.
In some cases the unwilling tax
payers were inclined to be incensed
at the sheriff's office for trying to
collect, but the sheriff's office has
made it rule not to argue the
merits of the law, but to attend
solely to it's prescribed duty of col
Letting it.
In one home there was real
uproar which came about in this
wise: The sheriff's office collected
from the husband, then went to the
home and collected from the wife,
and later went back when it was
found that there was a dog tax to
collect. When the husband found
that his wife had paid her tax, and
that there was yet dog tax to pay,
he emphatically event in the air."
but the record of verbal proceedings
has not yet been turned over to the
treasurer's office.
Some taxes are lost because of
the ruling of the attorney general
that when either husband or wife
pays, the community property can
not be attached to secure payment
from the other one. 1t is also diff
cult to collect from the floating pop
ulation of laborers, and the sheriff
has about 200 names where the per-
sons can not be located. At the
time of the passage of the law it
was argued that the floating popu-
lation would be taxed as we'll as the
permanent residents, but this does
not seem to work out as predicted.
In a number of cases it has cost the
sheriff's office more to collect taxes
than the taxes amounted to, and over
this point the sheriff has no dis
cretionary power.
The provision of the law which re-
quires employers to hold out the
head tax from employees has not been
effective in bringing in taxes. Some
employers claimed that the treasurer
should send notices, and the tax was
withheld only from those who we're
listed in notices.
A total of 2815 names was turned
over to the sheriff for collection of
tax, amounting to $14,075. Over
$4,000 has been collected by the
sheriff. The dog tax turned over to
the sheriff for collection amounted to
$1400.
Among the principal complaints
made to the sheriff's office regard
ing the collection of head taxes were
the taxing of women and the placing
of taxes on the masses of the people
instead of on the wealth of the state.
The recent Investigations of the
State Taxpayers League, resulting
in the public announcement that
state expenses could be cut 25%
without losing efficiency, has not
aided the situation with reference to
collection of head tax, as this tax
goes into the general fund of the
state.
Since the death of Governor Lis
ter, state taxes have doubled, with