Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-12-26

IITEHL.EtTT-
put onto q; 1907 classification and !
lot iof property exempted from THE
assessment roll. 81
Taxation Carries With It the Right Il
Destroy. 3
TAXATION carries. with 1.-THE righ,
to destroy and there Is no escape from
II, particularly az to real estate. Your
property can be seized and sold te
any prior liens or claims. For thia rea:
son 1t is essential that, we keep the
hxed tax CHARGE down to the lowest
possible amount. |
r. people get good value for the
money spent for taxes and know there
Is an absolute necessity for them. gen
orally they are willing to shoulder =
pretty heavy burden. but when it gets
down to c~onfiscatton. extravaganza
n waste and the passing Of al UNI
Just portion onto q certain class. you
may look for trouble.
What u the Solution OF the Problem?
The solution %. I see it, u a more
equitable distribution of the burden
and the elimination Of all possible
waste and extravagance. Economy
must be the s~trtcteste w~atchword with
us. Change our laws SO that every
competent person pays towards the
support Of u state government and
his local subdivtsteas according to his
ability and income. It makes for q
better ~citizsnship and for a better
government as we'll q creating q
better satisfied and more prosper
GUS people. All good citizens will SUBJ
scribe to this.
Effect on State a. u Prosperity and
ay - -.-a Enumeration t-#Eeu." r. ~ H..E
We have been advocating and ac-
lively soliciting immigration into the
state for the purpose Of dividing III
our farms and building up the state
under a 9 system of farming. We
preach economy and prosperity for
the farmer and citizens in general,
yet at the same time the state has
been imposing a tax burden, princi-
pally on the producing class Of it's cit
liens that Is simply staggering it. We
have been advocating big things along
one line and robbing those whom we
expect to bring about this much talk
ed OF prosperity through a system OF
taxation. l wantsto give o a sample
tary to my home city. In 1914 he paid
$224,7S on 740 acres, this year on the
same land for the 1921 taxes he paid
$929.24 or an increase of $704,46, "a
percentage increase Of 313). Do you
expect that this man will be reason
ably able to change to a diversified
system? Do you believe it will encour-
age immigration for the class We
want? M RI.
I have knowledge of a SPECIFIC in
stance in Williams county of a farmer
from Indiana, who had sold out his
land there and was travelling through
this state with the view Of buying an
other farm for a home. He worked
harvest and thrcshing and tool fancy
to the farm and approached the man
to buy. He had the money to swing
the deal as he had $4,000 in liberty
bonds and a certificate Of deposit for
$4,000 on an Indiana bank sewed In
q pocket on the inside. of his shirt,
The price was agreed on, but he made
q provision that an abstract showing
the taxes for the last ten years be
furnished. This was done and 1t show.
ed taxes had leaped from SIS and $40
per quarter to $165 and SITS In q
few years. He refused to close the
deal though tho price was lowered tt
him. He gave as his eason that he
had been ridden by tai eaters In the
past and that the rising price Of land
during the war had given him a
chance to get out with some money
and he was not going to get caught
again as he did not expect another
war during his life time.
Good Roads.
Good roads are fine, we all love to
ride on them. but they are very ex-
pensive al times and not a necessity.
We should dispense with this expense
until the future will make them posi-
BILE without imposing a burden. We
might happen to have the roads, but
40 one to travel on them. excepting
tourists passing through the state.
Educational Institutions. >
Education is a very noble and es-
sential. requirement, but let us ascer-
tain II We r getting it economically
OF extravagantly. Z believe we should
have an educational survey made of
the state 50 as to learn Just how we
are situated both as to duplication
and the number of institutions we are
supporting. I am inclined to believe
there can be a curtailment. It may be
that some of the institutions can be
cut out SO as to tighten the tax burden
and possibly increase the efficiency OF
others. A comparison with other
states will show we have more insti-
tutions in proportion to population
than they have.
Borrowing Money.
There Is q feeling abroad that IL we
can only borrow money we will be: al
right and can keep public expendt-