TaxationWork $$ Experience 
 In Ohio 
 
 By ALLEN R. FOOTE 
 
 PRESIDENT OHIO STATE BOARD OF COMMERCE 
 PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL TAX ASSOCIATION 
 
 £ 
 
 A Paper Submitted to the Fourth International 
 Conference on State and Local Taxation, 
 Held At Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 
 
 Aug. 30th to Sept. 2nd, 1910 
 
 Published by the 
 
 INTERNATIONAL TAX ASSOCIATION 
 
 Columbus, Ohio 
 
 29 Broadway, New York City 
 
 i 
 
Ot L — 
 
 7 ao-' 
 
 Table of Contents 
 
 Pag\ 
 
 The Ohio Constitution. 
 
 Amended Constitution: Exemption of Public Bonds. 
 
 Galled by Constitutional Limitations: Efforts to Amend the Con¬ 
 stitution . \ . 
 
 Growth of the Vote in Favor of Adopting- the Taxation Constitu¬ 
 tional Amendment . 
 
 Relief in Sight: A State Constitutional Convention. 
 
 Efforts to Enforce the General Property Tax by a Uniform Rule: 
 
 The Tax Inquisitor Law. 
 
 Decennial Appraisement of Real Property. 
 
 Quadrennial Appraisement of Real Property. 
 
 Duty of Assessors. 
 
 Publication of Assessments.. 
 
 Penalty for Misconduct. 
 
 Quadrennial County Boards of Equalization. 
 
 County Boards of Revision. 
 
 City Boards of Review. 
 
 Powers and Duties of the State Tax Commission of Ohio. 
 
 Penalties—Act of May 19, 1910. 
 
 Full Valuation: No Increase in Taxation. 
 
 Sentiment in Favor of Full Valuation and a Low Tax Rate. 
 
 Public Officials Must be Sustained by an Intelligent Public Senti¬ 
 ment ... 
 
 Correction of Original Assessments the Only Equalization Required 
 
 The Horizontal Method of Equalization Condemned. 
 
 Annual Assessments Necessary for Economical and Accurate Work. 
 A Notable Occasion: Eighteen Hundred Newly Elected Assessors 
 
 of Real Property in Conference.. 
 
 Rules and Suggestions for the Assessment of Real Property. 
 
 Recommendation: A Committee to Compile a Book of Tables, Rules 
 
 and Directions for the Assessment of Real Property. 
 
 An Astounding Proposition: Exploitation of Tax Assessment Work 
 
 by a Private Corporation for Profit. 
 
 The Assessment of Property for Taxation is a Governmental Func¬ 
 tion . 
 
 Position of Real Estate in the Taxation System. 
 
 Causes and Effects of High Tax Rates. 
 
 Custom Favors Tax Evasion by Undervaluation. 
 
 Dishonesty Rewarded—Honesty Penalized. 
 
 Tangible Savings—Intangible Losses. 
 
 Cumulative Savings and Losses. 
 
 Savings by Undervaluation Increase in Proportion to the Value of 
 
 the Property Affected. 
 
 Greater Gains Can be Made by Full Valuation, Reduced Tax Rates 
 
 and Limited Expenditures than by Undervaluations. 
 
 An Unsuccessful Attempt to Reduce the Taxation of Real Property 
 
 by the Impositon of Excise Taxes. 
 
 The Result of Sixty Years of Experience. 
 
 Future Work Guided by Experience. 
 
 General Conclusions . 
 
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Taxation Work and Experience In Ohio' 
 
 By ALLEN R. EOOTE, 
 
 President Ohio State Board of Commerce. 
 
 President International Tax Association. 
 
 _ 
 
 THE OHIO CONSTITUTION. 
 
 The Constitution of Ohio was adopted in 1851. The taxation 
 provisions contained in that document are as follows: 
 
 “Article XII. Section 2. Laws shall be passed, taxing 
 by a uniform rule, all moneys, credits, investments in 
 bonds, stocks, joint stock companies, or otherwise; and 
 also all real and personal property according to its true 
 value in money, but burying grounds, public school houses, 
 houses used exclusively for public worship, institutions of 
 purely public charity, public property used, exclusively for 
 any public purpose, and personal property, to an amount 
 not exceeding in value two hundred dollars, for each in¬ 
 dividual, may, by general laws, be exempted from taxation; 
 but all such laws shall be subject to alteration or repeal; 
 and the value of all property, so exempted, shall, from time 
 to time, be ascertained and published as may be directed 
 by law.” 
 
 V 
 
 ' AMENDED CONSTITUTION: EXEMPTION OF PUBLIC BONDS. 
 
 v This Constitution was amended in 1905 so as to exempt all Ohio 
 ' c state and municipal bonds from taxation. 
 
 ^ The section as amended, and as it is now incorporated in the 
 : Ohio Constitution, is as follows (the words of the amendment are 
 ^ printed in bold face type): 
 
 “Article XII. Section 2. Laws shall be passed, taxing 
 by a uniform rule, all moneys, credits, investments in 
 bonds, stocks, joint stock companies, or otherwise; and 
 C _ 
 
 X A paper submitted to the Fourth International Conference on State 
 " and Local Taxation, held at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 30th to Sep¬ 
 tember 2d, 1910. 
 
 3 
 
 •p 36668 
 
also ail real and personal property according to its true 
 value in money, excepting bonds of the State of Ohio, 
 bonds of any city, village, hamlet, county, or township in 
 this state, and bonds issued in behalf of the public schools 
 of Ohio and the means of instruction in connection there¬ 
 with, which bonds shall be exempt from taxation; but bury¬ 
 ing grounds, public school houses, houses used exclusively 
 for public worship, institutions of purely public charity, 
 public property used exclusively for any public purpose, 
 and personal property, to an amount not exceeding in value 
 two hundred dollars, for each individual, may, by general 
 laws, be exempted from taxation; but all such laws shall 
 be subject to alteration or repeal; and the value of all 
 property, so exempted, shall, from time to time, be ascer¬ 
 tained and published as may be directed by law.” 
 
 GALLED BY CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS: EFFORTS TO 
 AMEND THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 The people of Ohio have been galled beyond the point of patient 
 endurance by constitutional limitations upon the power of the legis¬ 
 lature to deal with the subject of taxation. 
 
 Five times the people of Ohio have sought relief from the in¬ 
 flexible rule imposing the general property tax upon them by con¬ 
 stitutional provisions, by submitting constitutional amendments to 
 the people, designed to permit the classifying of all subjects of 
 taxation in conformity with their economic characteristics. The 
 amendment suffered defeat in every instance, because the constitu¬ 
 tion provides that a constitutional amehdment, to be adopted, must 
 be approved by a majority of all votes cast at the election at which 
 it is submitted to the electors for their action. Under this pro¬ 
 vision, any elector casting a vote for state officials but neglecting 
 to vote on the constitutional amendment practically voted against 
 the amendment. As a result, every effort to amend the Constitu¬ 
 tion so as to cause it to permit the classifying of all subjects of 
 taxation in conformity with their economic characteristics has been 
 defeated by counting those neglecting to vote on the proposition as 
 having voted against it. In every instance, of the votes cast on 
 the proposition, there was a clear majority of votes in favor of the 
 adoption of the amendment. 
 
 4 
 
GROWTH OF THE VOTE IN FAVOR OF ADOPTING THE TAXA¬ 
 TION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. 
 
 The total vote in favor of the adoption of the proposed taxation 
 constitutional amendment has increased with each effort to secure 
 its adoption. The affirmative vote has been as follows: 
 
 1889, total vote in favor. 245,438 
 
 1891, total vote in favor. 303,177 
 
 1893, total vote in favor. 322,422 
 
 1908, total vote in favor. 326,622 
 
 1908, total vote in favor. 339,747 
 
 1908, total negative vote. 95,867 
 
 RELIEF IN SIGHT: A STATE CONSTITUTIONAL 
 CONVENTION. 
 
 Taught by this experience, those favoring amending the Consti¬ 
 tution have abandoned the attempt to secure the adoption of a 
 special taxation amendment. They are now endeavoring to secure 
 the adoption of a proposition calling a constitutional convention to 
 draft a new state Constitution. 
 
 The legislature has submitted this proposition to the electors of 
 the state, to be voted on at the November election, 1910. It re¬ 
 ceived the unanimous endorsement of the Democratic party at its 
 state convention held in Dayton, June 22, 1910; and of the Repub¬ 
 lican party at its state convention held in Columbus, July 26, 1910. 
 
 The non-partisan action of the legislature and of the Democratic 
 and Republican parties, gives assurance that this proposition will 
 be adopted and that a State Constitutional Convention will be held 
 in 1911. 
 
 It is believed that through the action of a State Constitutional 
 Convention the relief so earnestly desired, and so long and per¬ 
 sistently sought, will be secured. 
 
 EFFORTS TO ENFORCE THE GENERAL PROPERTV TAX BY A 
 UNIFORM RULE—THE TAX INQUISITOR LAW. 
 
 The legislature of Ohio has made strenuous efforts to enforce the 
 provisions of the Constitution requiring that: 
 
 “Laws shall be passed, taxing by a uniform rule, all real 
 and personal property according to its true value in money.” 
 
 5 
 
The owners of real property have long been deluded with the 
 erroneous idea that personal property can be compelled to pay a 
 larger percentage of the total tax than has been obtained from 
 that source by enacting and enforcing stringent tax laws. “Real 
 property is paying more than its just share of the total tax” is a 
 cry familiar to those who have studied the history of taxation in all 
 ages and countries. 
 
 All the tortures of the inquisition have been resorted to at dif¬ 
 ferent times and in different countries in a vain attempt to reduce 
 taxation on real property by compelling owners of personal property 
 to pay an increased per cent of the total. 
 
 Such attempts have failed and have been abandoned wherever 
 tried. They have failed in Ohio. 
 
 To satisfy the demand of real property owners, the legislature 
 enacted a most stringent law, in 1882, known as the tax inquisitor 
 law, to compel owners of personal property to return the same for 
 taxation. At first this law was made applicable to certain counties 
 only; but afterward it was extended to the whole state. 
 
 This law gave authority to county commissioners to employ 
 “tax inquisitors” to search for personal property, and, when dis¬ 
 covered, to place the same on the duplicate, inflicting a penalty of 
 50 per cent of the tax due each year for five years next preceding 
 the discovery of the property. As a reward for his diligence, the 
 “tax inquistor” received 20 per cent of -the tax collected on the “dis¬ 
 covered” property and the county auditor received 4 per cent of the 
 tax collected. 
 
 The Hon. James R. Garfield, in a paper read before the National 
 Civic Federation Conference on Taxation, Buffalo, May 23-25, 1901, 
 characterized the “tax inquisitor law” as follows: 
 
 “The inquisitor law is an attempt to enforce a bad system 
 by the infliction of severe penalties. It has proved not only 
 useless but demoralizing. Demoralizing, because it has pro¬ 
 duced contempt for the law and put a premium upon dis¬ 
 honesty. The high rates of taxation in most localities, re¬ 
 sulting from a failure to increase the valuation, have made 
 an honest return of intangible property practically impos¬ 
 sible. 
 
 “For instance, if the tax rate be 3 per cent, as it is in 
 many places, the return of money or intangible property at 
 its market value, at the present time, when the average 
 
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Interest earnings are about 4 per cent, would mean prac¬ 
 tical confiscation of the earning power of the property. 
 Hence, estates which are in the hands of executors and 
 guardians, and the few individuals whose consciences com¬ 
 pel them to obey the law, bear excessively unjust propor¬ 
 tions of the burdens of taxation. 
 
 “The amount of money obtained by the inquistor is out 
 of all proportion to the value of the service rendered. 
 Since the operation of the law under which they act, the 
 ‘tax inquisitors’ have been paid over $1,000,000.00, making 
 this the most lucrative official business in the state, and 
 from which business the state has suffered rather than 
 benefited. 
 
 “The practical effect of the law has been to drive away 
 millions of property which otherwise would have been re¬ 
 turned for at least a partial valuation. 
 
 “The experience of Ohio shows the utter uselessness of 
 attempting to reach personal property by individual re¬ 
 turns, and the tax inquisitor law, instead of affording a 
 remedy, has driven millions of capital away from the state 
 and has brought the state into disrepute.” 
 
 The “tax inquisitor law” was in full force in Ohio in 1888. 
 The average tax rate for the state for all purposes, state and local, 
 for the year 1887 was 18.9 mills. This law was declared unconstitu¬ 
 tional in 1904. The average tax rate for the state for all purposes, 
 state and local, for the year 1904 was 25.2 mills. 
 
 For sixteen years Ohio made a strenuous effort to reduce the 
 taxation of real property by means of an attempt to enforce the 
 most arbitrary and drastic law modern civilization will permit to 
 compel the listing of personal property for taxation “according to 
 its true value in money” to be taxed at a uniform rate with real 
 property. 
 
 At the beginning of the period, 1888, the average tax rate for the 
 state levied on real property was 18.9 mills. At the close of the 
 period, 1904, the average tax rate for the state levied on real 
 property was 25.2 mills, an increase of 331-3 per cent in these 
 sixteen years. 
 
 This experience should satisfy any intelligent mind that the tax 
 rate on real and personal property cannot be reduced by inquisi¬ 
 torial and drastic methods. 
 
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^DECENNIAL APPRAISEMENT OF REAL PROPERTY. 
 
 From 1850 to 1910 Ohio has suffered from an archaic system of 
 decennial appraisements of real property. * As a result, the state 
 and all local taxing bodies have been compelled to provide for 
 growing needs by levying a tax upon a real property valuation 
 from which all growth of values was excluded for ten years. This 
 made a growing increase in the tax rate inevitable. Every in¬ 
 crease in the tax rate offered an increased reward to the successful 
 tax dodger. The effect of this has been to force a growing tendency 
 to under-value real property and to omit or under-value personal 
 property. 
 
 The injustice of the law compels taxpayers to attempt to secure 
 justice by evading the law. 
 
 In an attempt to evade the law, personal property had a decided 
 advantage over real property, since it is far easier to omit or 
 under-value personal property than it is to omit or under-value real 
 property. 
 
 The logical and inevitable result of a decennial system of real 
 property appraisement is to increase the tax rate. Every increase 
 in a tax rate tends to increase the proportion of the total tax paid 
 by real property. 
 
 The experience of Ohio for sixty years proves that these con¬ 
 clusions are true. 
 
 QUADRENNIAL APPRAISEMENT OF REAL PROPERTY. 
 
 In 1909 Ohio made an effort to approach modern civilized taxa¬ 
 tion methods by the enactment of a law requiring the appraisement 
 of real property quadrennially instead of decennially. A general 
 appraisement of all real property is being made in 1910. Under the 
 new law another appraisement will be made in 1914. 
 
 For the purpose of the appraisement in 1910, one assessor of real 
 property was elected in November, 1909, for each township, one 
 for each village, and five for each city, making a total for the 
 state of 2,511. In Ohio all places having 5,000 or more population 
 are classed as cities. There are seventy cities in the state. 
 
 The law provided that these assessors should begin their work 
 January 15 and finish it on or before July 1, 1910. They are re¬ 
 quired to subscribe to an oath of office and give bond in the sum 
 of $2,000. Their compensation is not less than $3.50 per day nor 
 more than $150 per month. Provision is made for the appointment 
 of assistants. 
 
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DUTY OF ASSESSORS. 
 
 Section 5554. “The assessor, in all cases, from actual 
 view and from the best sources of information within his 
 reach, shall determine, as near as practicable, the true 
 value of each separate tract and lot of real property in his 
 district, according to the rules prescribed for valuing real 
 property. He shall note in his plat book, separately, the 
 value of all dwelling houses, mills, and other buildings, 
 which exceed $100 in value.” 
 
 Section 5560/ “Each parcel of real property shall be 
 valued at its true value in money, excluding the value of 
 crops growing thereon. The price for which such real 
 property would sell at auction, or at forced sale, shall not 
 be taken as the criterion of the true value. When the 
 fee of the soil is in one person, and the right to minerals 
 therein in another person, it shal be valued and listed agree¬ 
 ably to such ownership in separate entries, specifying the 
 interests listed, and be taxed to the parties owning the dif¬ 
 ferent interests, respectively.” 
 
 PUBLICATION OF ASSESSMENTS. 
 
 Section 5546. “In cities the board of real estate as¬ 
 sessors shall cause to be printed in pamphlet form a list 
 showing all the real estate owners in each ward, together 
 with the lot numbers, street numbers, if any, feet frontage 
 and valuation made by them of each parcel of real estate, 
 and cause a copy thereof to be mailed to each owner of 
 real estate in the ward. 
 
 “In townships and villages the county auditor shall cause 
 to be printed in pamphlet form a list showing all the real 
 estate in such township or village, together with the lot 
 number, street number, if any, township, range, survey, 
 acreage and valuation made by the assessors, and cause a 
 copy thereof to be mailed to each owner of real estate in 
 each township or village.” 
 
 PENALTY FOR MISCONDUCT. 
 
 Section 5567. “An assessor of his assistant who refuses 
 or knowingly neglects to perform any duty enjoined on him 
 by law, or consents to or connives at any evasion of the 
 
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provisions of this chapter, whereby property required to 
 be assessed is unlawfully exempted, or the valuation 
 thereof entered at less than its true value, for each such 
 neglect, refusal, consent, or connivance, shall forfeit and 
 pay to the state not less than two hundred dollars nor more 
 than one thousand dollars, to be recovered by action.” 
 
 QUADRENNIAL COUNTY BOARDS OF EQUALIZATION. 
 
 Section 5594. “The auditor, surveyor and commissioners 
 (three) of each county shall compose the county board of 
 equalization of the real property within the county, except 
 such property as lies within a city. 
 
 “The board shall convene the third Monday of July, 1910, 
 and every fourth year thereafter, and shall close its session 
 on or before the first Monday in October next following.” 
 
 Section 5595. “It shall complete its work of equalization 
 on or before the fourth Monday of February, of the year 
 next following the beginning of the equalization.” 
 
 Section 5598. “The auditor shall lay before the board 
 the returns made by the district assessors, with the addi¬ 
 tions which he shall have made thereto, and it shall then 
 proceed to equalize such valuations so that each tract or 
 lot shall be entered on the tax list at its true value.” 
 
 COUNTY BOARDS OF REVISION. 
 
 Section 5599. “The quadrennial county board of equaliza¬ 
 tion shall sit as a board of revision, when notified by the 
 auditor of the county to meet for that purpose. It shall be¬ 
 gin its seecion as a board of revision on the first Monday of 
 May following the completion of the quadrennial equaliza¬ 
 tion, and shall close its session on or before the fourth Mon- 
 of September next following.” 
 
 Section 5601. “The board of revision shall investigate all 
 complaints against any valuation filed with it as a board, 
 or made by the county auditor, and may increase or de¬ 
 crease any valuations complained of, and no others. 
 
 “No valuation, as fixed by the board of equalization, 
 shall be increased by the board of revision, in any case, 
 except upon reasonable notice as prescribed by this chap- 
 
 10 
 
ter, to all persons directly interested and an opportunity 
 for a full hearing. The auditor of the county shall correct 
 the tax duplicate according to the deductions and additions 
 ordered by the board of revision, in the manner provided 
 by law for making corrections thereof.” 
 
 CITY BOARDS OF REVIEW. 
 
 Section 5618. “Upon the written application of a county 
 auditor to the state board of appraisers and assessors for 
 levying excise taxes (auditor of state, treasurer of state, 
 attorney-general and secretary of state), for the appoint¬ 
 ment of a board of review for a municipal corporation of 
 such county, for the equalization of real and personal prop¬ 
 erty, moneys and credits with such municipal corporation, 
 said state hoard may appoint such board of review, to be 
 composed of three citizens, freeholders of such municipal 
 corporation, not more than two of whom shall belong to 
 the same political party.” 
 
 Section 5619. “Term of service. First hoard, one for one 
 year, one for three, one for five years. Thereafter, one for 
 five years when a term has expired.” 
 
 Section 5620. “Board meet annually first Monday in 
 June. May continue in session one year, but the appoint¬ 
 ing board may fix time within which the work shall be 
 completed.” 
 
 Section 5621. “The county commissioners shall fix the 
 salary of the members of the board of review, which shall 
 not be less than $3.50 per day and not exceed $250 per 
 month for the time such hoard is in session. 
 
 “No member thereof shall be engaged in any other busi¬ 
 ness or employment during the period of time covered by 
 the session of the board.” 
 
 Section 5624. “Boards of review, within and for their 
 respective municipalities, shall have all the powers and 
 perform all the duties provided by law for all boards of 
 equalization and review. They may hear complaints and 
 equalize the valuations of real and personal property, 
 moneys and credits within their respective municipali¬ 
 ties.” 
 
 11 
 
POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE STATE TAX COMMISSION 
 OF OHIO. 
 
 The State Tax Commission of Ohio was created by act of the 
 legislature May 10, 1910. It is composed of three members, not 
 more than two of which shall belong to the same political party. 
 Their salary is $5,000 per year. They are required to devote their 
 entire time to the work of the Commission. Their powers and 
 duties for the administration of all laws for the asessment of taxes 
 are broad and mandatory. For the assessment of real and personal 
 property, their powers and duties are set forth in the following 
 sections of the act of May 10, 1910: 
 
 “Section 81. The Commission shall prepare and transmit 
 to the auditors of the several counties, such forms of re¬ 
 turns to be made by them to its office, and such instruc¬ 
 tions as it deems conducive to the best interests of the 
 state upon a subject affecting taxation, or the construction 
 of any statute affecting taxation the execution of which 
 devolves upon any county or local officer. It shall see that 
 all laws concerning the valuation and assessment of all 
 classes of property, and the collection of taxes thereon are 
 faithfully obeyed. It shall issue such orders and instruc¬ 
 tions to the different taxing officers as will carry into ef¬ 
 fect the provisions of law relating to taxation and shall en¬ 
 force the same agreeably to the provisions of this act. 
 Each such officer shall obey and observe all such orders 
 and instructions, and upon failure shall be subject to the 
 penalties herein provided. 
 
 “It shall order a reassessment of the real or personal 
 property in any taxing district, when in the judgment of 
 said commission such property has not been assessed at 
 its true value in money, to the end that all classes of 
 property in such taxing district shall be assessed in com¬ 
 pliance with the law. When a reassessment is ordered in 
 any taxing district the commission shall appoint an ap¬ 
 praiser or board of appraisers who shall forthwith pro¬ 
 ceed to reassess such property in such taxing district and 
 who shall have all the powers, shall perform all the 
 duties and shall receive the same compensation from the 
 same sources as provided by law for the assessors of real 
 or personal property as the case may be. It shall require 
 
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county auditors to place upon the tax duplicate any prop¬ 
 erty which may be found to have, for any reason, escaped 
 assessment and taxation. 
 
 “It may raise or lower the assessed value of any real 
 or personal property, first giving notice to the owner or 
 owners thereof fixing a time and place for hearing any 
 person or persons interested to the end that the assess¬ 
 ment laws of the state may be equitably administered. 
 Said hearing shall in case of realty be had within the 
 county in which said realty is situated, and in case of 
 personalty within the county wherein the owner thereof 
 resides if a natural person residing in this state. 
 
 “For the purpose of protecting the public interest the 
 Commission is authorized to appear and upon its applica¬ 
 tion entitled to be heard in any court or tribunal in any 
 proceeding in which an abatement of taxes is sought. It 
 shall be the duty of the clerk of any court of record in this 
 state to immediately transmit to the Commission by regis¬ 
 tered letter a copy of the petition filed in any action in 
 which an abatement of taxes, assessed by the Commission, 
 is sought, and charge the fee therefor in the costs. 
 
 “County auditors and all local officers shall observe and 
 use such forms and obey such instructions.’’ 
 
 PENALTIES—ACT OF MAY 19, 1910. 
 
 “Section 111. Whoever violates any provision of this 
 act, or neglects or refuses to perform any duty herein re¬ 
 quired, for which a penalty has not otherwise been pro¬ 
 vided, or neglects or refuses to olbey any lawful require¬ 
 ment or order made by the Commission, for every such 
 violation, failure or refusal shall be fined not less than 
 twenty-five dollars nor more than one thousand dollars 
 for each offense. In construing and enforcing the provis¬ 
 ions of this section, the act, omission or failure of any 
 officer, agent or other person acting for or employed by any 
 public utility, company, corporation or association acting 
 within the scope of his employment shall in every case be 
 deemed to be the act, omission or failure of such public 
 utility, company, corporation or association.” 
 
 13 
 
“Section 112. Whoever, being a member of the Commis¬ 
 sion, or an assessor or a member of a county board of 
 equalization, or a person whose duty it is to list, value, 
 assess or equalize real or personal property for taxation, 
 shall knowingly or wilfully fail to list or return for assess¬ 
 ment or valuation any real estate or personal property, or 
 knowingly or wilfully lists or returns for assessment or 
 valuation any real or personal property at and other than 
 its true value in money, or shall wilfully or knowingly fail to 
 equalize any real or personal property according to its true 
 value in money, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars 
 nor more than five hundred dollars, and in addition thereto, 
 if he be an officer, shall forfeit his office or position.” 
 
 FULL VALUATION: NO INCREASE IN TAXATION. 
 
 Taught by the example of West Virginia, the State of Ohio has 
 commenced the work of placing all property on the tax list at its 
 true value in money. 
 
 To protect taxpayers for an increase in taxation, induced by a 
 large increase in the taxable value of property listed for taxation, 
 the legislature at its session in 1910 enacted a tax limit law in¬ 
 tended to safeguard taxpayers against increased taxation. 
 
 Section 3 of this law provides, in substance, as follows: 
 
 “The maximum rate of taxation in any taxing district for 
 any purpose, as now fixed, shall be and is hereby changed 
 so that such maximum rate, as levied on the total valuation 
 of all taxable property in the taxing district in each of the 
 years 1:911 and 1912 and any year thereafter would produce 
 no greater amount of taxes than the present maximum rate 
 for such purpose, if levied on the total valuation of all tax¬ 
 able property therein for the year 1910 would produce, plus 
 the additions provided for in Section 2, which are ‘an 
 amount equal to the aggregate amount of taxes levied in 
 in such district for the year 1909 plus 6 per cent thereof 
 for the year 1911, 9 per cent for the year 1912, and 12 per 
 cent thereof for any year thereafter.* Any minimum rate 
 required by law to be levied for any purpose, is hereby 
 reduced in like proportion that the maximum rate is herein 
 reduced. The intent and purpose of this act is to provide 
 that an increase in the total valuation of all taxable prop- 
 
 14 
 
erty in the several taxing districts shall not increase the 
 total amount of the taxes now levied therein, excepting to 
 the amount of the additions herein provided for.” 
 
 Here is a positive safeguard provided to protect taxpayers 
 against over-taxation during the four years’ period for which values 
 are established by the quadrennial appraisement. 
 
 Public sentiment aroused to make it certain that there shall be 
 no tax evasion by under-valuation will inevitably demand that there 
 shall be no over-taxation. 
 
 This tax limit law, as shown, provides a mathematical rule by 
 which the amount that should be raised by taxation in any district 
 can be definitely and easily determined. This renders groundless 
 all fear of over-taxation, provided the people intelligently and ef¬ 
 fectively perform their moral and civic duty by creating a public 
 sentiment strong enough and sufficiently well directed to make the 
 enforcement of the law a certainty. 
 
 SENTIMENT IN FAVOR OF FULL VALUATION AND A LOW 
 
 TAX RATE. 
 
 The constitutional provision requiring the taxation of all prop¬ 
 erty by a uniform rule at its true value in money has never been 
 obeyed in Ohio. There is no evidence that a proper effort has 
 even been made to enforce the law. Ohio is now reaping the 
 natural fruit of permitted disobedience of law. 
 
 Unpunished law breaking in one direction inevitably breeds dis¬ 
 respect for law in all directions. Recent events in Ohio, disclosing 
 the true attitude of many people toward their laws, are showing a 
 degree of degeneracy that is appalling. Instead of enjoying the 
 blessings and stability of a government by law, we have a govern¬ 
 ment by passion, prejudice and ignorance that is fast developing a 
 condition of anarchy. Our form of government cannot endure un¬ 
 less it is supported by loyal obedience to law on the part of its 
 citizens. To prevent our form of government from perishing it is 
 absolutely necessary that a public sentiment be created and main¬ 
 tained that will, with righteous indignation, brand every law¬ 
 breaker as a traitor to his country more dangerous to the preser¬ 
 vation and perpetuation of its institutions than those who openly 
 assail its authority and flag by force of arms. 
 
 There are two things which must be .done by those who believe 
 in “a government of the people, by *the people, for the people.” 
 
 15 
 
They must see to it that their laws are just, and that they are 
 obeyed. If they fail to do these two things intelligently and ef¬ 
 fectively, they must prepare themselves for a reign of anarchy, to 
 be followed by a dictatorship. 
 
 During the year 1909 I made many addresses and used every 
 instrumentality at my command in an effort to create a state wide 
 public sentiment that can be depended upon to sustain public offi¬ 
 cials in their efforts to enforce the law. Some fruit of this work is 
 seen in the laws enacted by the Legislature in 1910 and in the plat¬ 
 forms of the Democratic and Republican parties adopted in June 
 and July of this year. 
 
 The Democratic platform declares: 
 
 "We favor a maximum aggregate tax rate of 10 mills, 
 without any right to increase it except by a vote of the 
 people.” 
 
 The Republican platform declares: 
 
 "We favor assessing all property, real and personal, at its 
 true value in money and limiting the tax rate for all pur¬ 
 poses to 10 mills.” 
 
 In my opinion, when all property is listed for taxation in 1911 at 
 its true value in money, and the amount to be collected by taxation 
 is limited in each taxing district to the amount collected in such 
 district in 1909 plus 6 per cent, the tax rate in 1911 for all purposes 
 will not be more than 7.5 mills in a majority of all the taxing dis¬ 
 tricts in the state. 
 
 Such a consummation will be a landmark in the progressive de¬ 
 velopment of Ohio. 
 
 PUBLIC OFFICIALS MUST BE SUSTAINED BY AN INTELLI¬ 
 GENT PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 
 
 For the first time in its history, the State of Ohio has a State Tax 
 Commission endowed with ample power to enforce its taxation laws. 
 Back of the State Commission are county and city boards of equali¬ 
 zation, revision and review. These officials, intelligent, energetic 
 and determined as they undoubtedly are, cannot enforce the laws 
 unless supported by a clearly expressed public opinion. When citi¬ 
 zens are willing to obey the law its enforcement is easy. 
 
 A deep seated, long established evil, by means of which those 
 who practice it secure substantial tangible reward of cash in 
 
 16 
 
pocket; an evil that feeds greed at the expense of morality and 
 civic duty, as does the evil of tax evasion by under valuation, can¬ 
 not be uprooted by an act of the General Assembly. The General 
 Assembly has performed its full duty by providing the means by 
 which this evil can be eradicated. If now the people fail to per¬ 
 form their duty, their lack of moral and civic stamina will be 
 responsible for the failure now to secure all the benefits which 
 recently enacted improvements in Ohio tax laws have made pos¬ 
 sible. 
 
 Efforts are being made in various directions, inspired by many 
 reasons, to create a vigorous public sentiment to sustain a demand 
 for “law enforcement.” No law has greater need to be sustained 
 by such a sentiment; no law, intelligently and completely enforced 
 throughout the state, has greater power to benefit the people by 
 securing for them diversified, widely disseminated and enduring 
 economic advantages than has the law now on the statute books 
 governing the assessment of real and personal property for taxa¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Intelligent public sentiment cannot be created and maintained on 
 this subject without the creation of voluntary organizations through 
 which all taxpayers can co-operate. For this reason I have recom¬ 
 mended the taxpayers in each taxing district in the state to organ¬ 
 ize an efficient committee through which they can co-operate with 
 the taxing officials of their district, and with each other, to secure 
 an intelligent enforcement of the tax laws of the state. This is the 
 only way in which the vicious system of tax evasion, which has 
 been permitted to exist since the adoption of the present state con¬ 
 stitution in 1851, can be broken up. Every one knows this system 
 is vicious, but no one can break it up single handed. This cannot 
 be accomplished by the officials and taxpayers in a single district 
 or county. It can be accomplished only by a state-wide movement 
 that will reach and organize the taxpayers in every taxing district 
 in the state. 
 
 CORRECTION OF ORIGINAL ASSESSMENTS THE ONLY 
 EQUALIZATION REQUIRED. • 
 
 A fundamental mistake will be made if any city or county board, 
 or if the state board of equalization, now designated by law as 
 “The Tax Commission of Ohio”, shall undertake to equalize values 
 by any procedure other than that of correcting all original assess- 
 
 17 
 
ments so as to make it certain that each piece of property listed 
 for taxation is placed on -the tax list at its true value. This is the 
 only method of equlization approved by those who promoted the 
 enactment of the quadrennial appraisement law of 1909. It is the 
 only method of equalization approved by those who promoted the 
 enactment of the tax limiting law, and the state tax commission 
 law, of 1910. It is the only method of equalization that can destroy 
 the evil of tax evasion through undervaluation. It is the only 
 method of equalization that can remove all inequalities between 
 taxpayers; that can stop rewarding dishonest, and penalizing hon¬ 
 est, tax assessments. 
 
 It is obvious tthat, when each piece of property is entered on the 
 tax list at its true value in money, all inequalities between tax¬ 
 payers will be obliterated; that all tax evasion by undervaluation 
 will be wiped out; that the values of all property will be equalized; 
 that no further equalization work can be required. 
 
 THE HORIZONTAL METHOD OF EQUALIZATION 
 CONDEMNED. 
 
 All inequalities in valuations between the counties of the state, 
 and between townships, villages and cities within counties, exist, 
 primarily, in inequalities in the original assessments as between 
 taxpayers. The requirements of justice demand that such inequali¬ 
 ties shall be removed by the correction of the original assessments, 
 not confirmed by the horizontal method of equalization between 
 taxing districts. 
 
 The method of equalizing values between the counties of the 
 state, and between townships, villages and cities within counties, 
 by adding or deducting a certain per cent of the total, applicable 
 to all valuations alike, does not remove inequalities—it confirms 
 all inequalities existing between taxpayers. Instead of destroying 
 the evil of undervaluation, the horizontal method of equalization 
 protects all undervaluations and makes certain the rewards sought 
 by those who seek to evade the payment of a part of the tax justly 
 due from them. The evil of undervaluations cannot be destroyed 
 until the horizontal method of equalization is abandoned. 
 
 ANNUAL ASSESSMENTS NECESSARY FOR ECONOMICAL AND 
 ACCURATE WORK. 
 
 One of the worst effects of the system of decennial appraisements 
 from which Ohio has suffered is found in the fact that such a sys- 
 
 18 
 
tem destroys all possibility of securing the services of experienced 
 men to do the work. Not only this, it makes it impossible to keep 
 the records of one appraisement in proper form to be of service 
 in making the next appraisement. 
 
 On account of these conditions, those who are now attempting to 
 appraise all real property in Ohio at its true value in money have 
 not only to contend with the custom of undervaluation, confirmed 
 by sixty years practice, but they have to contend with the want of 
 correct records, rules and instructions tested by use, and their own 
 lack of experience. 
 
 Work done under these conditions must necessarily be imper¬ 
 fectly done and thus render the imposition of an added expense 
 necessary to correct errors and produce equitable results for tax¬ 
 payers. 
 
 No amount of good intentions and diligent work on the part of 
 an assessor can render his service economical and satisfactory 
 unless he has the necessary ability to do his work well, which can 
 be acquired only by study and experience. It is not possible to 
 select a body of assessors, by election, out of the general citizen¬ 
 ship, to be employed for six months once in ten years, or once in 
 four years, who will be as capable of doing their work correctly 
 and as economically as will assessors, originally appointed with 
 reference to their fitness for service, under a system that will 
 keep them continuously employed. 
 
 It is hoped that the people of Ohio will be sufficiently instructed 
 by the experience they will gain from the appraisement now being 
 made to induce them to adopt annual appraisements in place of 
 quadrennial appraisements, and the permanent employment of ap¬ 
 pointed assessors in place of elected assessors to serve for six 
 months once in four years. 
 
 Annual appraisements and permanent employment is the only 
 system under which the work of appraising real and personal prop¬ 
 erty can be economically and accurately done. This is the only 
 system under which it is possible to enforce tax laws and establish 
 justice in taxation. 
 
 A NOTABLE OCCASION: EIGHTEEN HUNDRED NEWLY 
 ELECTED ASSESSORS OF REAL PROPERTY IN 
 CONFERENCE. 
 
 At the election held in November, 1909, the people of Ohio 
 elected one assessor of real property for each township, one for 
 
 19 
 
each village and five for each city, making a total of 2511 for the 
 state, to begin their work on January 15’, 1910. 
 
 Immediately after election, the auditor of state began to receive 
 appeals from these newly elected assessors for instructions as to 
 how their work was to be done. Soon there was a flood of such 
 appeals emanating from every section of the state. 
 
 As a scientific appraisal of real property had never been made 
 in Ohio, and as the work done for the decennial appraisement of 
 1900 was done in a way to be utterly valueless as a guide for the 
 work to be done in 1910, the auditor of state found himself unable 
 to satisfy the demands made upon him. 
 
 To meet this emergency, he called a state conference of all 
 elected assessors of real property to be held in Columbus, Decem¬ 
 ber 15, 1909. 
 
 This conference was attended by abou,t 1800 assessors, all eager 
 to learn how to do their work correctly. They were addressed by 
 Governor Judson Harmon and Auditor of State E. M. Fullington, 
 who warmly advocated the policy of full valuations and reduced 
 tax rates. 
 
 Desiring to obtain, for the service of the state, the best instruc¬ 
 tion that could be given to these assessors in an off hand discus¬ 
 sion of their problems, and answers to their questions, as president 
 of the Ohio State Board of Commerce, I appealed to Mr. Lawson 
 Purdy, president of the Department of Taxes and Assessments of 
 New York City, and Mr. A. C. Pleydell, secretary of the New York 
 Tax Reform Association, to attend and address this conference for 
 the purpose of giving these assessors, so far as it could be done in 
 such manner, the benefit of their studies, observations and expe¬ 
 rience. As it was impossible for Mr. Purdy to respond to this call 
 for help, he delegated Mr. George J. Craigen, assistant chief of the 
 real estate bureau in his department, to attend the conference and 
 give the assembled assessors the benefit of his fifteen years con¬ 
 tinuous service in the work of appraising real property in New 
 York City. Mr. A. C. Pleydell accepted the invitation. 
 
 No speakers ever had a more intensely interested audience than 
 they had on this occasion. The afternoon session, 1500 assessors 
 present, was addresed by Mr. Pleydell. A division was made for 
 the evening session; township and village assessors were requested 
 to meet in one hall to be addressed by Mr. Pleydell, city assessors 
 were requested to meet in another hall to be addressed by Mr. 
 Craigen. 20 
 
The interest at these meetings was so intense an announcement 
 was made that, although the conference was called for but one day, 
 an overflow meeting would be held the next forenoon in the assem¬ 
 bly rooms of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and would be 
 addressed by Mr. Craigen and Mr. Pleydell. As many assessors 
 attended this meeting as could find standing space in the audience 
 room. 
 
 RULES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF REAL 
 
 PROPERTY. 
 
 During their addresses, and in answering questions, Mr. Craigen 
 and Mr. Pleydell made frequent reference to certain tables, rules 
 and suggestions that were in daily practical use for the assessment 
 of real property by assessors employed in New York City and in 
 New Jersey. Repeated and urgent requests came from numerous 
 assessors for a copy of these tables, rules and suggestions, which 
 are the product of years of practical experience. 
 
 To satisfy this demand, I announced that the Ohio State Board of 
 Commerce would arrange to have these tables, rules and sugges¬ 
 tions printed and would supply a copy of the same to all tax 
 officials and assessors in the state free of charge. 
 
 Mr. Lawson Purdy, Mr. George J. Craigen and Mr. A. C. Pleydell 
 kindly collaborated in the preparation of a thirty paged booklet, 
 which was printed in New York under their supervision, containing 
 the tables, rules and suggestions desired. This booklet was sup¬ 
 plied to all tax officials and assessors in Ohio, by the Ohio State 
 Board of Commerce, as announced. Its value was quickly recog¬ 
 nized. Copies were sought by real estate men and taxing officials 
 in other states. That it has been the means of rendering a needed 
 and valuable service is attested by many letters received from 
 assessors after their term of service had expired, but one of which 
 can be given space here. It is as follows: 
 
 “Lima, Ohio, July 18, 1910. 
 
 “Ohio State Board of Commerce, Columbus, Ohio. 
 
 “Gentlemen: As a quadrennial appraiser of real prop¬ 
 erty for the city of Lima, Ohio, 1910, please permit me to 
 extend to you my sincere thanks, and express my hearty 
 appreciation for the services rendered me by your book of 
 ‘Rules and Suggestions’ in computing the value of lands In 
 parcels or broken lots. 
 
 21 
 
“When the price per foot front of a standard depth lot 
 has been established, then your percentage tables become 
 invaluable; and I can see no better way to do justice to the 
 property owners of the same taxing district than that of 
 your system. 
 
 “Feeling that a general use of your plans would be 
 largely conducive to equity in taxation, I am, 
 
 “David M. Fisher.” 
 
 RECOMMENDATION: A COMMITTEE TO COMPILE A BOOK 
 OF TABLES, RULES AND DIRECTIONS FOR THE 
 ASSESSMENT OF REAL PROPERTY. 
 
 Guided by this experience, I believe the International Tax Asso¬ 
 ciation can render a service of great practical value by creating a 
 committee under whose auspices, in co-operation with the city, 
 county and state tax officials of every state and province and with 
 real estate men generally, a book of tables, rules and directions for 
 the assessment of real property can be compiled and published, to 
 be supplied at cost of publication to the taxing officials of every 
 state and province desiring the same. 
 
 The official adoption by any state of tables, rules and directions 
 so formulated will render the work of assessing real property uni¬ 
 form, equitable and economical throughout the state, and similar 
 action by all states will result in a body of comparable statistics of 
 real property values that will be of the highest value to property 
 owners and taxpayers, taxing officials and state legislatures. 
 
 Comparable statistics, scientifically developed, will result in uni¬ 
 formity in tax laws and administrative procedure. In its report, to 
 be submitted to this conference, the Committee on Uniform Classi¬ 
 fication of Real Estate well says: 
 
 “Without a proper statistical basis, true comparison be¬ 
 tween states and localities is impossible, and withouF true 
 comparison the determination of the real economic effects 
 of tax laws and their administration is impossible.” 
 
 AN ASTOUNDING PROPOSITION: EXPLOITATION OF TAX 
 ASSESSMENT WORK BY A PRIVATE CORPORA¬ 
 TION FOR PROFIT. 
 
 I have never known a person engaged in tax reform work who 
 had a self-seeking commercial purpose. It is difficult to correctly 
 express the surprise and indignation felt by myself and others 
 
 22 
 
 
when men appeared at the State Conference of Real Property 
 Assessors, distributing circulars announcing that a private corpora¬ 
 tion organized for profit proposed to contract with city boards of 
 real property appraisers to do the work of determining the value 
 for taxation of all real property in their respective cities. 
 
 This was a bald proposition to the boards of assessors to permit 
 a private corporation to exploit for gain the work they were elected 
 to perform with the aid of individually employed assistants. 
 
 I at once denounced this proposal in the public press, informing 
 the assembled assessors and the public that all assessors in Ohio 
 would be furnished, without charge, with the tables and rules in use 
 in New York City for determining the value of real property, ac¬ 
 knowledged to be the best in use by any tax assessing officials in 
 this country. This was done by supplying the booklet to which 
 reference has been made. 
 
 In a “letter of transmittal”, published in this booklet, Mr. Lawson 
 Purdy, president of the Department of Taxes and Assessments, 
 New York City, says: 
 
 “These tables cover the rules that are commonly used by 
 the deputies to assist them in determining and checking 
 the relative values of different parcels of property. They 
 will be of material assistance to any assessor. But they 
 cannot take the place of personal inspection nor do they 
 remove the necessity for the exercise of careful judgment. 
 
 “This department is always glad to be of service to tax 
 officials in any state, and if the assessors from your state 
 should visit this department, they will receive a cordial 
 welcome and will be afforded all possible assistance.” 
 
 This private corporation has made but one contract in Ohio. It 
 is, however, apparently canvassing the whole country soliciting 
 from city authorities contracts to perform tax assessment work 
 upon terms which, if entered into, will constitute a public scandal. 
 
 To illustrate: The contract attempted to be negotiated by this 
 private corporation with the taxing authorities of the city of Phila¬ 
 delphia calls for payment to be made by the city at the rate of 
 $1.70 for each parcel of land and $1.70 in addition for the buildings 
 erected on the land, the taxable value of which is determined by 
 the .appraising corporation. 
 
 The following is taken from the Philaelphia Record for July 22, 
 1910: 
 
 23 
 
“There seems to be no limit to the cost of the proposed 
 revision of the real estate assessments as indicated in coun¬ 
 cil yesterday. The finance committee approved a bill that 
 will give the committee $85,000 out of which the appraisal 
 company will receive about $70,000 for revising the ap¬ 
 praised value of seven wards. 
 
 “The company has fixed a rate of $1.70 per parcel, and 
 where a lot is also occupied by a building, the whole is con¬ 
 sidered as two parcels and the cost for appraising would 
 be $3.40. It is estimated that at this rate, or the price of 
 $70,000 quoted for the seven wards for which the appraisal 
 company is to get a contract, it will cost $350,000 additional 
 for the other forty wards.” 
 
 The Philadelphia Record says editorially in the same issue: 
 
 “Philadelphia has seventy real estate assessors at an 
 annual salary of $4000 each. The Board of Revision of 
 Taxes and its staff costs $60,240 more each year in salaries 
 alone—a total of $340,240. If we are going to let out the 
 work of assessing property values in this city we had bet¬ 
 ter do away with the officials who are paid to make the 
 assessments and save this third of a million that seems to 
 be a duplicate expense.” 
 
 I am not informed as to whether this corporation has a fixed 
 price and is offering its services to all cities on identical terms, 
 or whether it fixes its price according to the wealth or gullibility 
 of its victims. The one contract it has made in Ohio was made 
 with the board of real property assessors for the city of Columbus 
 for a lump sum of $7000 to cover the work for the entire city. 
 This price is enormously less than it would be at the rate of $1.70 
 for each parcel of land and $1.70 in addition for each structure on 
 the land appraised. There are in the city of Columbus 65,000 lots 
 and 34,000 buildings, making a total of 99,000 parcels. At the 
 price charged Philadelphia by this private corporation, $1.70 per 
 parcel, the cost to the city of Columbus would have been $168,000. 
 The contract was made by Columbus for only $7000. Poor gullible 
 Philadelphia!!! 
 
 How the taxing authorities of any city can justify themselves 
 for making a contract similar to the one proposed to be made with 
 the city of Philadelphia is beyond my ability to understand. 
 
 24 
 
Mr. A. C. Pleydell makes the following statement in a letter 
 published in the Philadelphia Record for July 30, 1910: 
 
 “Tables compiled by the New York City Tax Department 
 and published in its report for 1907 show, for the large 
 cities of the country, the following cost per parcel of as¬ 
 
 sessing property: 
 
 New York .$ 88 
 
 Boston . 2 00 
 
 St. Louis . 45 
 
 Detroit . 34 
 
 Baltimore . 29 
 
 Milwaukee . 31 
 
 Philadelphia . 53 
 
 Newark . 1 10 
 
 Pittsburg . 85 
 
 “These figures include the total cost of the departments, 
 which, in every instance, have other duties beside the mere 
 appraisal of real estate; and the parcels are the number 
 of lots into which the city is divided, and this includes 
 both lots and buildings. Boston is high because of the 
 irregular character of its property, and the smaller pro¬ 
 portion of ordinary residential areas within the actual city 
 limits. ,, 
 
 THE ASSESSMENT OF PROPERTY FOR TAXATION IS A 
 GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION. 
 
 The exploitation for private profit of a public servivce that is 
 lirectly responsible for determining the values of property for 
 axation cannot be condemned too strongly. It is a return to the 
 system in vogue in ancient Persia when despots farmed out the 
 jollection of taxes to petty satraps. It will tend to transform those 
 yho exercise the power of taxation into farmer-generals, a priv- 
 leged class in France before the Revolution of 1789, who farmed 
 r leased the public revenues of the nation and were guilty of 
 ;reat extortion. 
 
 I endorse most emphatically the following statement made by 
 tr. A. C. Pleydell in writing upon this subject: 
 
 “The assessment of property for taxation is a govern¬ 
 mental function which should not be contracted out to pri¬ 
 vate individuals. To determine the relative values of real 
 
 25 
 
estate requires the exercise of judgment and discretion, 
 and involves not merely the doing of justice between indi- | 
 vidual property owners, but, also, the determination of the 
 amount of their contributions to the public revenues. This 
 is too serious and vital a matter to be turned over to con¬ 
 tractors, however well qualified they might be to furnish 
 technically correct valuations. 
 
 “If assessment conditions in any city are bad, they will 
 not be permanently corrected by bringing someone from 
 the outside to make a valuation by a method of their own, 
 for, in subsequent years, the same inequalities will appear. 
 
 The only way to secure good assessments is to have pub- 
 lie officials who are capable of doing their work, and hav- 
 ing them work out a system which can be used by them 
 and their successors.” 
 
 In view of the foregoing, I recommend that the proposed con* 
 mittee on “Tables, rules and directions for determining the taxibl; 
 value of real property” be instructed to devise and recommend a| 
 necessary forms for maps, field books, records and other offic? 
 utilities designed to render the work of determining and registering 
 values continuous, accurate and economical. 
 
 In case any person becomes known to said committee as posses^ 
 ing exceptional ability for such work, I recommend that he b 
 employed to aid the committee in its work, and also, wffien r^ 
 quested, to visit the assessment departments of cities and countie 
 for the purpose of instructing-taxing officials in the practical us 
 of the tables, rules and directions, and in the preparation and us 
 of maps, field books, records and other official utilities devised anJ 
 recommended by the committee, to the end that the best method! 
 developed by study and experience may be placed at the service oi 
 every city, county, state and province without exploitation by prj 
 vate individuals or corporations. 
 
 POSITION OF REAL ESTATE IN THE TAXATION SYSTEM, j 
 
 Real property is the fundamental basis of every system of taxa 
 tion. It is tangible. Its location is fixed without power of re 
 moval. Every dollar required to be raised by taxation, that canno 
 be obtained from other sources, must be and is obtained from th< 
 taxation of real property. 
 
 26 
 
Those who seek to secure an unjust advantage through under* 
 aluing real property do not secure as large a reward as their 
 tort-sighted policy leads them to believe they obtain, because 
 ie tax rate is determined by the total value of the tax list and the 
 mount of money to be raised. Every decrease in the total of the 
 jx list increases the tax rate on all property, including real estate. 
 The temptation to practice tax evasion by the undervaluation of 
 3 al property, and by the undervaluation or secretion of personal 
 roperty, increases in proportion to the increase in the tax rate. 
 
 It is easier to evade taxation by undervaluing, secreting or re- 
 loving personal property beyond the jurisdiction of taxing officials 
 lan it is to evade taxation by undervaluing real property; there- 
 >re, the custom of undervaluation is more favorable to personal 
 roperty than it is to real property. 
 
 Undervaluing real property justifies and compels the undervalua- 
 on and secretion of personal property. 
 
 The just rule that all property shall be taxed on the basis of its 
 rue value requires that, whenever real property is taxed on the 
 asis of any per cent of its true value, all other property shall be 
 axed on the same basis. In view of this fact it is folly to single 
 ut a certain class of property to be valued under drastic rules 
 esigned to result in a top-notch value assessment without bringing 
 he valuation of all property up to the same standard. The re- 
 uirements of justice will not permit this to be done. 
 
 No owner of real property has a moral, he should have no legal, 
 ight to contend that property owned by public utility corporations, 
 r that any other class of property, should be taxed on full value 
 r hen his own property is not so taxed. 
 
 Several cases have been decided by United States courts re- 
 uiring a reduction of full value assessments of certain property to 
 ie same per cent by which general property was under valued. 
 Mr. Edward R. O’Malley, Attorney-General for the State of New 
 ark, referring to the settlement of franchise tax cases where the 
 ranchise had been taxed at full value by the State Tax Commis- 
 ion, in a letter addressed to the district prosecuting attorney of 
 Tassau county, under date of May 10, 1910, says: 
 
 “Upon the investigation of these cases it developed that 
 the relator would give evidence upon the trial that real 
 property in the town of Hempstead is assessed by the local 
 assessors at from 10 to 25 per cent of its full value. 
 
 27 
 
“The result was we were obliged to settle the assess¬ 
 ments mentioned at 37 y 2 per cent for the year 1908, and 
 35 per cent of the assessment for the year 1909. These set¬ 
 tlements were certainly favorable to the town, in vivew of 
 the fact that real property is assessed so low.” 
 
 Mr. J. E. Frost, president of the State Board of Tax Commis 
 sioners for the State of Washington, in an official letter date*: 
 December 1, 1909, says: 
 
 “The ratio of assessed to actual value is ascertained by 
 this board, and the operating property of the railroads, 
 street railroads, telegraphs and other public service con¬ 
 cerns assessed by this board, is assessed and equalized in 
 the various counties throughout the state at the same pro¬ 
 portion of its actual value as general property is assessed.” 
 
 The fundamental first step necessary to exterminate the evil ot 
 tax evasion by undervaluation and omission in all of its forms i 
 to make it certain that real property is assessed at its true value 
 The doing of this will establish a just basis for demanding that al 
 other property shall be taxed at its true value, and the reduced tai 
 rate so induced will render it possible for the owners of othe 
 classes of property to pay the tax required without suffering con 
 fis cation. 
 
 CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF HIGH TAX RATES. 
 
 (1) Undervaluation of real property is the fundamental cause o 
 high tax rates. It is absolutely necessary to increase a tax rate ir 
 proportion to the decrease of the total of the tax list, caused bj 
 undervaluation, in order to raise the amount of money required. 
 
 (2) Values of real property, fixed for more than one year, make 
 it necessary to provide for growing needs by levying a tax on 2 
 basis from which all growth in the value of real property is ex 
 eluded for the period the assessment is allowed to stand unchanged 
 This forces an increase in the tax rate from year to year. 
 
 (3) The custom of under valuing real property justifies and 
 makes necessary the custom of under valuing or omitting personal 
 property. This results in still further decreasing the total of the 
 tax list and compels a corresponding increase in the tax rate. 
 
 (4) It is not possible to under value real property In the same 
 proportion that it is possible to under value or omit personal propi 
 erty. Therefore, the vicious method of tax evasion by under valu- 
 
 28 
 
ng real property results in the payment of a larger proportion of 
 ;he total tax by the owners of real property than they will pay 
 vhen real property is assessed at its true value and the tax rate is 
 jorrespondingly decreased. 
 
 (5) The combined effect of these causes has resulted in raising 
 he average tax rate in Ohio from 10.7 mills in 1851, when the 
 State Constitution was adopted, to 30 mills in 1900, a rate that com- 
 jels the undervaluation or omission of personal property. 
 
 CUSTOM FAVORS TAX EVASION BY UNDER-VALUATION. 
 
 The moral and economic development of the people still gives 
 'reed mastery over patriotic civic duty. 
 
 Custom still holds mastery over organic and statutory law and 
 ustifies taxpayers in evading lawful requirements through induc- 
 ng assessors to disregard the law by placing the assessed value of 
 heir property on the tax list at the lowest figures they dare to 
 nake. 
 
 Custom not only approves the action of assessors in favoring 
 heir friends and neighbors by under valuing their property, but it 
 ipplauds them for attempting to serve the general interests of 
 heir township, village or city by aiding the taxpayers in such dis¬ 
 tricts to evade, by means of undervaluation, the payment of a part 
 >f their just share of county taxes. 
 
 Gathering strength by every step taken in broadening its base, 
 iustom applauds with increased ardor the so-called patriotism of 
 jounty officials who are most successful in aiding their county to 
 escape the payment of a part of their just share of state taxes by 
 neans of securing approval from the state board of equalization 
 >f the most heavily under valued county tax list. 
 
 DISHONESTY REWARDED—HON ESTY PENALIZED. 
 
 Governed by custom, instead of the requirements of correct moral 
 md economic principles and statutory law, dishonest taxpayers who 
 successfully evade the payment of a part of their just share of taxa- 
 ion by securing undervaluation are rewarded, and honest tax- 
 •ayers who aid assessors in listing their property at true value are 
 tenalized by the amount of the tax so evaded. 
 
 In the past the law has provided no adequate means for enforc- 
 ng the constitutional provision requiring the assessment of all 
 iroperty at true value; it has permitted individual taxpayers, and 
 
 29 
 
taxing districts, to reap the rewards of successful evasion through 
 corresponding decrease in the amount of their tax bills, and hi 
 penalized honest taxpayers who have not resorted to evasion b 
 undervaluation by compeling them to pay, in addition to their owi 
 full share of the tax, enough more to make good the loss of revenu 
 caused by the under-valuation secured by others. 
 
 The fact that those who seek undervaluation are always activ< 
 while those who desire honest administration of the law are alway 
 passive because they expect the assessor to place their property of 
 the tax list at its true value, accounts for a majority of the horribli 
 examples of tax evasion found in every list of taxable property 
 This is the fundamental cause of unequal assessments and of i£j 
 justice between taxpayers. 
 
 TANGIBLE SAVINGS—INTANGIBLE LOSSES. 
 
 Savings secured by dishonest tax evasion are tangible. Lossef 
 caused by dishonest tax evasion are intangible. 
 
 The dishonest taxpayer who succeeds in cutting—say $100—o: 
 of his tax bill, through securing an undervaluation of his propertjj 
 knows the amount of his saving. He does not permit his cor 
 science to be disturbed by thinking far enough to discover that hi 
 has made this gain only by filching that amount, by due process o 1 
 law, from the pockets of his neighboring taxpayers. 
 
 The honest taxpayer whose tax bill is increased by reason of th< 
 savings others are making through evasion secured by undervalii 
 ation, does not know the precise amount of his loss. He knows j 
 high tax rate has caused him to pay a large tax bill, but he doei 
 not know why the tax rate is higher than it should be. He simpl^ 
 grumbles and subsides. His failure to study the problem with suf! 
 ficient care and intelligence to enable him to discover precisely 
 why and how he is victimized also prevents him from knowing 
 precisely how work for the improvement of tax laws is a direci 
 benefit to him. He is the victim of the greed of dishonest tax 
 payers on the one hand, and of his own lack of intelligent attention 
 to his civic duty on the other hand. 
 
 CUMULATIVE SAVINGS AND LOSSES. 
 
 When an appraisement is made annually, the gain by dishonesty 
 is the amount saved by undervaluation for one year. 
 
 When the appraisement is made for a fixed period of years, the 
 amount so saved is multiplied by the number of years in the period. 
 
 30 
 
I 
 
 This shows that in practical operation, the law says to the dis- 
 lonest taxpayer, “If you can secure an undervaluation of sufficient 
 .mount, your saving will be $100 on an annual appraisement; $400 
 n a quadrennial appraisement; and $1000 on a decennial appraise- 
 dent ” It also shows that the practical effect of permitting these 
 avings by undervaluation is to penalize the honest taxpayer in 
 precisely the same way and to the same degree. If his tax bill is 
 acreased by $100 on account of undervaluation practiced by others 
 n an annual appraisement, his loss will be $400 on a quadrennial 
 ppraisement, and $1000 on a decennial appraisement. 
 
 > AVINGS BY UNDERVALUATION INCREASE IN PROPORTION 
 TO THE VALUE OF THE PROPERTY AFFECTED. 
 
 This detail of the subject cannot be properly dismissed without 
 •ailing attention to the fact that the savings secured by under- 
 r aluation increase in proportion to the length of the period for 
 riiich the appraisement is made, and also in proportion to the 
 r alue of the property affected. 
 
 A property the true value of which is $1000, taxed at 3 per cent, 
 rill bring its owner a tax bill for $30. If he can get that property 
 >n the tax list at 50 per cent of its true value, the tax rate remain- 
 ng the same, his tax bill will show a saving of $15. But his effort 
 o secure this saving may cost him so much in time employed and 
 expenses incurred as to leave him practically no inducement to 
 nake the effort, if the saving can be realized for but one year, 
 f, however, he can secure this saving for four or ten years, he 
 nay calculate that he can obtain a substantial reward if his effort 
 o secure the undervaluation is successful and he may make the 
 ittempt. Men of small means, however, are not accustomed to 
 making close calculations of this kind, and seldom, if ever, do so. 
 
 The case of large taxpayers is radically different. A property 
 he true value of which is $100,000, taxed at 3 per cent, will bring 
 ts owner a tax bill for $3000. If he can get that property on the 
 ax list at 50 per cent of its true value, the tax rate remaining the 
 same, his tax bill will show a saving of $1500 for one year. This is 
 sufficient to pay for considerable time employed and expense in- 
 iurred in an attempt to secure this gain. If, however, the appraise- 
 nent is for a four-year period, the saving will be $6000; and if for 
 i ten year period it will be $15,000. This inducement is sufficiently 
 strong to make an attempt to secure an undervaluation a cer- 
 
 31 
 
tainty, especially while neither the law nor custom classes gain 
 made by tax evasion, secured by undervaluation or otherwise 
 with gains made by stealing and fails to brand the beneficiary c 
 such gain as a thief. 
 
 I 
 
 GREATER GAINS CAN BE MADE BY FULL VALUATIONS, 
 REDUCED TAX RATES AND LIMITED EXPENDITURES 
 THAN BY UNDER-VALUATIONS. 
 
 The State of West Virginia reduced the average tax rate for al 
 purposes, by making full valuations and limiting expenditures 
 from 21.5’^ mills in 1904 to 8.4% mills in 1908. 
 
 Taught by this example, the State of Ohio is now endeavoring t( 
 reduce its average tax rate for all purposes, by making full valua 
 tions and limiting expenditures, from 30-f mills in 1909 to less thar 
 10 mills in .1911. There is no reasonable doubt of its success if the 
 Tax Commission of Ohio will enforce obedience to the law as it has 
 been given power to do. 
 
 When large taxpayers understand the problems of taxation cor 
 rectly, they will cease to employ expert and austute attorneys tc 
 secure reductions in their tax bills by means of undervaluation 
 They will reverse the process and will seek to reduce their tax 
 bills by employing attorneys and experts to see that all inequalities 
 between taxpayers are abolished through the listing of all property 
 at full value, and that increased expenditures are not permitted. 
 They will make it certain that the saving they covet is made 
 through a reduced tax rate, made possible by a full-value tax list. 
 
 The law makes it the duty of every taxpayer to call the attention 
 of city and county boards of equalization, and of the state tax com¬ 
 mission, to any undervaluation or to the omission of any property 
 from the tax list of which he has knowledge. 
 
 Any taxpayer who fails to perform his duty in this respect can¬ 
 not consistently complain if the failure of public officials to intelli¬ 
 gently perform their duty results in injustice to himself. 
 
 When every taxpayer does his duty to himself and to his town¬ 
 ship, village, city, county and state in the manner herein indicated, 
 the number of persons who are now saying they do not see how the 
 work done and being done to improve tax laws is of any direct 
 benefit to them will be reduced to a minimum; and disrespect for 
 law, shown by tax evasion, will cease to be a controlling evil, pre¬ 
 venting a just administration of tax laws. 
 
 32 
 
Undoubtedly the situation is full of difficulties. None know bet¬ 
 ter than those engaged in administrative duties that there is no 
 short cut to success; no simple principle of action that can be 
 stated in a half-hour’s talk, except it be to organize for the crea¬ 
 tion of a masterful public sentiment and co-operate with all public 
 officials to secure an intelligent, effective and state-wide enforce¬ 
 ment of all of the requirements of law. 
 
 AN UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO REDUCE THE TAXATION 
 OF REAL PROPERTY BY THE IMPOSITION OF 
 EXCISE TAXES. 
 
 The effort to reduce the taxation of real property by the attempt 
 to enforce a drastic tax inquisitor law has been shown to be a 
 failure. 
 
 Another mistaken effort to reduce the taxation of real property 
 was initiated in 1896 by the enactment of a law assessing an excise 
 tax for state purposes of one-half of 1 per cent on the gross earn¬ 
 ings of railroad corporations. 
 
 In 1902, under the leadership of Governor George K. Nash, with¬ 
 out any economic necessity, purely for “buncombe” expressed by 
 the political demand that “The burden of taxation should be re¬ 
 duced for the farmer and small home owner,” this excise tax was 
 increased 100 per cent and its operation was extended to all public 
 utility corporations. At the same time a new excise tax for state 
 purposes of one-tenth of 1 per cent was assessed on the par value 
 of the outstanding capital stock of all corporations organized for 
 profit, other than public utility corporations, and the tax on insur¬ 
 ance premiums was increased and wholly appropriated for state 
 purposes. 
 
 In 1910 the state excise tax on public utility corporations was 
 re-arranged to make the tax apply to gross earnings from intrastate 
 business only. The effect of the re-arrangement will be to decrease 
 the amount of the tax paid by some corporations and to increase 
 it for others, without increasing (it may decrease) the amount of 
 state revenue from this source. At the same time the state excise 
 tax on corporations for profit was increased 50 per cent. 
 
 It was the purpose of Governor Nash to reduce, and finally to 
 abolish the direct state general property tax, by means of special 
 excise taxes levied exclusively for state purposes. In doing this 
 he attempted to follow the example of New York. 
 
 33 
 
I did my best to convince Governor Nash that his policy could 
 not succeed because revenue derived by excise taxes would induce 
 extravagance, as there was no way to hold appropriations in check, 
 members of the Legislature feeling no restraint from their con¬ 
 stituents who did not themselves feel a direct burden from the 
 tax. I strongly urged him to adopt the policy of abolishing the 
 direct state property tax completely by substituting for it a direct 
 state tax on the annual expenditures of all local taxing bodies, thus 
 shifting the pressure of taxation from valuation of local incomes 
 expressed by local expenditures. Such a tax would tend to restrain 
 extravagance on the part of the state and also on the part of local 
 taxing bodies, because they would at once feel the pressure of the 
 tax and would realize that the less they expended the smaller 
 would be their proportion of total state requirements. 
 
 In 1900 the total appropriations for state purposes made by the 
 New York Legislature was $23,934,000. The appropriations made 
 by the Legislature of New York at its regular session for 1910 
 exceeded $42,000,000. 
 
 In his message convoking the Legislature in extraordinary ses¬ 
 sion in June, 1910, Governor Hughes suggested to that body that it 
 “take up the whole subject of state finances and, particularly, that 
 it consider the question of a return to the plan of direct taxation 
 on real and personal property.” (Editorial: New York Commercial, 
 July 26, 1910.) 
 
 The total appropriation for the State of Ohio for the year 1902 
 was $6,166,552.99. The total appropriation for 1910 was $9,056,- 
 650.71; an increase of 46.86-)- per cent in eight years. 
 
 1896. 
 
 .$1,741,028,437 00 
 
 . 40,638,200 74 
 
 .23.34 -f mills. 
 
 1902. 
 
 .$1,990,885,388 00 
 
 . 47,658,208 89 
 
 .23.94— mills. 
 
 1909. 
 
 Total Duplicate .$2,389,978,349 00 
 
 Taxes Collected . 71,706,370 88 
 
 Tax Rate .30-|- mills. 
 
 34 
 
 Total Duplicate 
 Taxes Collected 
 Tax Rate . 
 
 Total Duplicate 
 Taxes Collected 
 Tax Rate . 
 
This shows the failure of the attempt to reduce the taxation of 
 real property by the imposition of special state excise taxes, and 
 gives apportunity again to recommend the policy of obtaining all 
 needed state revenue by a direct state tax on the total annual ex¬ 
 penditures of all local taxing bodies. This will be a practical appli¬ 
 cation of the income tax principle. 
 
 THE RESULT OF SIXTY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. 
 
 The proportion of taxes paid on the grand duplicate by real and 
 personal property was- as follows: 
 
 1850, Real Property, 77.8%; Personal Property, 22.2% 
 
 1900, Real Property, 69.4%; Personal Property, 30.6% 
 
 1909, Real Property, 67.76%; Personal Property, 32.24% 
 
 This comparison becomes strikingly instructive when it is known 
 that there is included in the personal property statement, sixty 
 years of development in the value of the personal property of all 
 railroads, telegraph, telephone, electric light and other modern 
 utilities, as well as of all industrial enterprises of every kind, and 
 all real estate used by them in the operation of their business. 
 
 In 1851, the year in which the present constitution of Ohio was 
 adopted, the average tax rate for the state, for all purposes, state 
 and local, was 10.7 mills. In 1909 it was 30+ mills. The effort of 
 today is to return to the rate of 1851 which was departed from by 
 under valuing real property, which increased the rate and pre¬ 
 vented personal property from paying its full share of taxation. 
 
 Commenting on these condition^, the Hon. James Garfield made 
 the following statement in the address previously mentioned: 
 “Another evil which has developed from the conditions is 
 the great lack of uniformity in valuation. The property 
 which suffers most under these conditions is real estate 
 and the personal property which cannot be secreted.” 
 
 FUTURE WORK GUIDED BY EXPERIENCE. 
 
 This discussion of taxation work and experience in Ohio shows 
 the steps that have been successfully taken to improve tax laws. 
 It as clearly indicates that the steps which must be taken to still 
 further improve these laws and to secure the benefits derivable 
 from such improvements are as follows: 
 
 (1) Public sentiment and the voluntary action of organized tax¬ 
 payers, co-operating with public officials of all classes, must make 
 it certain that tax evasion by undervaluation shall cease. 
 
 35 
 
(2) Public sentiment and the voluntary action of taxpayers, co- 
 operating with public officials of all classes, must make it certain 
 that no more money shall be raised in any taxing district on the tax 
 list for 1911 than was raised on the tax list for 1910, plus 6 per cent. 
 
 (3) When the total of the real property section of the tax list 
 has been fixed for 1911, as a result of the work done In administer¬ 
 ing the quadrennial appraisement law, public sentiment and the 
 voluntary action of taxpayers, co-operating with public officials of all 
 classes, must make it certain that all personal property that can 
 be discovered is entered on the tax list at its true value and that 
 in this way it shall pay its just share of taxation and contribute its 
 just portion in making up the total of the tax list, thus making it 
 possible to reduce the tax rate to the lowest practicable limit for 
 the year 1911. 
 
 Voicing what I believe to be the heartfelt desire of the people of 
 Ohio, I formulate the teachings of their experience in the following 
 propositions: 
 
 (1) All property, real and personal, should be entered on the tax 
 list at its true value. 
 
 (2) No more money should be raised on the tax list for 1911, in 
 any taxing district, than was raised in 1909, plus 6 per cent. 
 
 (3) The tax rate assessed on the tax list for 1911 should be the 
 lowest per cent that will produce as much revenue for that year 
 as was produced by the rate assessed on the tax list for 1909, plus 
 6 per cent. 
 
 It is my judgment, when these propositions are intelligently and 
 effectively applied in the administration of its tax laws, that the 
 average rate for all purposes in Ohio for the year 1911 will be 
 materially less than 1 per cent. 
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 (1) To secure justice between taxpayers by an intelligent, ef¬ 
 fective and an economical administration of the general property 
 tax, it is absolutely necessary to develop into a profession the 
 work of determining the values of property for taxation, and of 
 levying and collecting taxes by means of city, county and state 
 officials appointed regardless of political affiliations, who shall hold 
 office for not less than six years with the privilege of re-appoint¬ 
 ment, and who, in consideration of reasonable salaries, shall be re¬ 
 quired to devote their entire time to the duties of their office. 
 
 36 
 
(2) To secure a just contribution for the support of government 
 from all classes of taxable property, it is necessary to classify and 
 tax all subjects of taxation in conformity with their economic 
 characteristics. 
 
 (3) To cause a tax system to promote, instead of restrain the 
 development of all forms of production and distribution, inde¬ 
 pendent action must be secured for state and local governments by 
 assigning specific subjects of taxation to the jurisdiction of each, 
 so that no subject shall be taxed by more than one taxing authority; 
 and to permit the selection of those subjects for taxation, the 
 taxation of which will most equitably diffuse the expenses of gov¬ 
 ernment among the people of each community. 
 
 (4) To give stability and efficiency to its taxation system, it 
 should be the policy of a state to classify for taxation all corpora¬ 
 tions organized for profit and to assess each class by a law having 
 uniform application throughout the state, although the tax may 
 be collected locally in some cases, at a fixed initial rate with an 
 added differential, computed on a simple, clearly-stated and easily 
 verified mathematical basis which will avoid the uncertainties of 
 the judicial discretion of taxing officials and relieve taxpayers from 
 unnecessary accounting and annoyances in making their tax returns,. 
 
 The taxes so levied should be in lieu of all taxation of the 
 corporation or its property in any other form, excepting the taxa¬ 
 tion of its real estate, which should be subject to local taxation at 
 local rates, and should exempt from taxation the stocks and bonds 
 issued by the corporation so taxed, however owned. 
 
 (5) All property taxable on an ad valorem basis should be listed 
 for taxation at its true value in money. 
 
 (6) Taxpayers should acquire an effective control over public 
 expenditures through the adoption of the budget system of financing 
 all local and state governments. 
 
 (7) A uniform classification of the subjects of taxation, code of 
 laws and system of administration, should be devised for all states 
 in which freedom of action is not prohibited by constitutional 
 provision. 
 
 (8) In all states deprived of freedom of action by constitutional 
 provisions, constitutional amendments should be proposed and 
 
 37 
 
urged for adoption until freedom is secured. Such action should 
 be based on the opinion rendered by Justice Brewer of the United 
 States Supreme Court, found in volume 142, page 351, as follows: 
 
 “A system that imposes the same tax upon every species 
 of property, irrespective of its nature, condition, or class, 
 will be destructive of the principles of uniformity and 
 equality in taxation and of a just adaptation of property 
 to its burdens.” 
 
 38 
 

 
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