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Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL
Newspaper Page Text
mmmmmmmmmmm THE PUBLIC FORUM HOW TO TAX THE PLUTES. Mr. Hoyne seems anxious to extend some relief to the little fellows who iave but little to tax and but little to pay with when necessary wants are satisfied. The object is laudable, for they need relief. But as long as confusion reigns as to what is property and why it should be taxed, little progress may be ex pected. He declares that the assess ments of personal property disclose a decrease of $27,000,000 under last year. In ignorance of the actual facts and fundamental principles relating to taxation he charges a plot to load the taxes on the little fellows to the limit and lighten the burden on the plutocrat. The plotters are the board of assessors and, presumably, the rich who are to be benefited. Capital stock of corporations is le gally personal property, but actually it is not property at all. It is merely the evidence of the ownership of the actual tangible property of the cor poration. If the tangible property is taxed, as it should be according to the popular notion of taxation, the taxing of capital stock would be double tax ation. Capital stock and movable tangible property can easily be re moved from the jurisdiction of taxing powers. Perhaps investigation will show this to be the cause of a large part of the decrease in personal prop erty which Mr. Hoyne imagines is brought about by the plotting of of ficials. If he wants to make Chicago really poor in respect to the possession of real wealth, continued prosecution of wealth owners wiU soon bring the de sired condition of poverty. Real wealth will not stay long where it is made a crime to own it. If Mr. Hoyne can succeed in getting all the personal property upon the as sessment roll for a few years and suc ceed in collecting the taxes, the cost of living will become so high that only high-salaried efficials and mil lionaires could afford to live in Chi cago. The great bulk of personal proper ty in Cook county consists of stocks of merchandise, food products and other forms of real wealth, which is in course of exchange from producer to consumer. Taxing this real wealth would make prices higher and lessen , the amount of wealth consumed. Merchants and manufacturers would be at a disadvantage and unable to compete with outside dealers. Busi ness would decrease and thousands of people would be driven from the city to other points where taxes were lower. The taxation of real wealth is a crime because it decreases the pro duction of wealth, which we need and must have. The failure to recognize this fact makes a disastrous muddle of the whole revenue system. The tax burden of Chicago falls mainly upon the food and clothing and shelter of its citizens. Because of this the cost of living is high. Improved land is taxed to the limit and vacant lots are cherished and nourished with light assessments. So that land speculation goes to the limit Thousands of vacant lots, some of them of large extent, lie idle and un used, while the population is crowd ed into the slums and piled one upon another in six-by-ten apartment houses. Vacant lots make an enor mous increase in public expenses, in policing and paving and lighting and watering long streets past unusued land. Get the land values of Chicago for public purposes, Mr. Hoyne, and you will get the mUlionaires. They are , laughing in their sleeves while you V are fruitlessly chasing personal prop erty. Ceo. V. Wells. TO READERS OF DAY BOOK. For some time in the past we have voted the Republican and the Demo cratic tickers and repeatedly placed the old party politicians in power. We have given them a majority in the