220 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



will not need rebuilding for a long time to come. It does seem to me possible 

 that there might be a reduction in taxation for State purposes, if strict econ- 

 omy is practiced. 



As to our county taxes, I do not see any necessity for their being materially 

 increased in the future, except that the people of Berrien county, cannot 

 much longer postpone the building of a county court-house, when for a few 

 years you may expect a higher rate of taxation. 



What can we do to prevent a further increase of taxation? We should 

 require all officers to be honest and faithful in the discharge of their oflBcial 

 duties; see that they spend no more time in their official capacities than neces- 

 sity requires; place in positions of trust men who have established a reputa- 

 tion for honesty and uprightness, and who value their reputation as far more 

 binding upon themselves than any that could be imposed by legal bonds. 

 "Whenever you find it necessary to build at the expense of the tax-payers make 

 your buildings permanent, then you will not be compelled to tax the people 

 again to replace the same improvement in a few years. Teach the people that 

 it is as much a wrong to steal from the public treasury as it is to steal from 

 one's neighbor, and then compel all officials to act in accordance with such 

 teaching. This would be a step in the direction of reform, and there is no 

 reform that would be more acceptable to the people at this time than a reform 

 in taxation. 



As this is a meeting of agriculturists, perhaps we had better consider 

 briefly whether they, as a class, pay any more than their just proportion of 

 the taxes of the nation. 



The majority of farmers do not own any taxable property aside from the 

 farms they till, and the teams and tools used to cultivate their farms. This is 

 property that is visible to the assessor, and not one dollar in five thousand 

 of this kind of property escapes his vigilant eye. This is not the case with 

 those whose property is in notes, mortgages, stocks, and bonds. This class of 

 property is easier to conceal from the assessor, and a large proportion of this 

 kind of property does escape taxation. In fact I have known owners of 

 this kind of property to change their place of residence for no other reason 

 than that their financial affairs were too well known to the assessor where 

 they formerly resided. 



How many of you believe that the merchant, manufacturer, lawyer, doctor, 

 or the banker pay taxes on more property than they are worth? I do not 

 think there is one present who has any such belief. How is it with the farmer? 

 Many of them pay taxes on two or three times as much property as they are 

 worth. It is the desire of every farmer — and it is a laudable desire too — to 

 own the land he tills, to have a place he can in every sense of the word call 

 home, consequently when he becomes possessor of sufficient wealth to pay one- 

 half or one-third towards a home, he generally buys, and is virtually a half or 

 one-third owner, and yet he must pay taxes upon the whole value of the 

 property. He hopes by hard labor and strict economy to be able, some day 

 away in the future, to pay the other half or two-thirds value of this property, 

 and become absolutely its owner. Now he is no more than a half or one- 

 third owner and yet he must pay the same tax now as he will have to pay 

 when by years of toil he adds the other half or tv/o-thirds to the value of his 

 estate. 



Is it right to Uius hamper a man who is striving to become one of nature's 

 noblemen, the owner of the land he tills and the roof that shelters himself 

 and loved ones from the chilling winds of winter ? How is it with the men 



