CHAPTER SEVEN 



FURS AS A SOURCE OF STATE REVENUE 



That the fur industry can be made an important 

 souice of revenue for a state is proved by the amount 

 of moneys collected during the trapping season in 

 Louisiana as a tax. This state first enacted a severance tax 

 law whereby 2 per cent of the value of the product severed 

 should go to the state. The Louisiana legislature several 

 years ago, to facilitate the collection of this tax, placed valu- 

 ations en the pelts of the various fur-bearers so as to im- 

 pose an arbitrary tax. Muskrats and opossum pelts were 

 valued at I2V2 cento, calling for a specific tax of 14 cent; 

 skunk, civet cat, wild cat, fox, wolf, were valued at 50 

 cents, with a specific tax of 1 cent; mink and raccoons were 

 valued at $2.EQ, with a specific tax of 5 cents; otters were 

 given a valuation of $12.50, with a specific tax ox 25 cents. 

 In the 1924-1925 season the wild life division of the De- 

 partment cf Conservation collected $24,206.10, which went 

 into the general fund of the state, as not one cent of this 

 amount was allowed the Conservation Department for its 

 collection. The severance tax was collected on 5,445,014 

 pelts of all kinds, which was regarded as only 80 per cent 

 of the total take, as, due to a change of administration, 

 work on the collection was not started until some time after 

 the trapping season was under way. The auditor reported 

 the following figures : 



SEASON 1924-1925 



