196 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



not represent more than twenty-five per cent of such aggregate. In 

 the United States the increase in recent years of personal property 

 has been so remarkable as to entitle it to be regarded as phenomenal; 

 and it can not be doubted that in highly civilized and densely 

 populated States, like ISIew York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, etc., 

 the aggregate of property classed as " personal " is greater in actual 

 value than the aggregate of " real " property. In the great American 

 cities the value of personal property probably closely approximates 

 the English proportion. A recent report of the Boston Business As- 

 sociation expresses an opinion that the value of the personal property 

 of that city is three or four fold that of its realty! And yet the 

 amount of personal property made available for tax assessments 

 shows everywhere a remarkable decrease; and this, notwithstanding 

 a great concurrent increase in population and in the assessed value 

 of real estate. It may also be regarded almost an economic axiom, 

 that universally the market value of the aggregate of land and that 

 of the aggregate of other productive capital are equal; and for the 

 reason that the market value of land is merely the reflection of the 

 value of the productive capital placed upon it and its immediate 

 vicinity. It would therefore seem to be certain that the decline in 

 the valuations of personal property, above noted, is not real, but 

 simply represents the failure and utter inefficiency of the existing 

 laws which have been enacted with a view of assessing and collecting 

 taxes upon such property. 



The following are some of the most striking illustrations of the 

 decline of tax valuations of personal property in recent years in 

 the United States: Thus, in 186G, the valuation of the city of Cin- 

 cinnati, Ohio, for purposes of taxation was, realty $66,454,602, 

 personalty $67,218,101. In 1892 — twenty-six years after — the 

 tax valuation of the real estate of the city was $144,708,810, while 

 its personal property had decreased to $44,735,670; or, in other 

 words, while the personal property of Cincinnati returned for taxa- 

 tion in 1866 was greater than the returned amount of real estate, 

 the amount returned in 1892 was only about a quarter as much* as 

 the real estate; and yet during this quarter of a century the city of 

 Cincinnati nearly doubled its population, and undoubtedly increased 

 its wealth in a far greater proportion. In the city of Boston the 

 value of the realty returned for taxation in 1868 was $287,635,800, 

 and of personalty $205,937,300. In 1890 the corresponding figures 

 were, realty $619,990,275, personalty $202,051,525, a dispropor- 

 tionate gain of realty of $417,938,750. 



In the State of Massachusetts in 1862 personalty was assessed 

 at $309,000,000 to $552,000,000 of real estate, or in the ratio of 

 fifty-six per cent of the latter. In 1891 the personalty was $556,- 



