PRESENT STATUS OE FOREST TAXATION 473 



unimproved lands are taxed. To the writer, it is clear that the tax on 

 the timber growth should be based on a value approximating at least 

 the annual increase. As far as possible, therefore, the taxes should be 

 collected as near to the time the crop is harvested as can be conve- 

 niently done. In other words, the tax should be collected when the 

 timber is cut. To the extent that this is done, we will be acting in con- 

 formity with Adam Smith's well-known canon of taxation: "Every 

 tax ought to be levied at the time, or in the manner, in which it is most 

 likely to be convenient for. the contributor to pay it." The levy on the 

 cut, we believe, should be the principal tax, but it should not be the 

 only tax levy made. If the levy on the cut were the only tax, the result 

 would be that many valuable lands would be exempted, and therefore 

 land speculation rather than timber culture would be encouraged. If 

 the tax on the crop when harvested were the only levy made, lands 

 which are more valuable for other purposes, such as agricultural, might 

 be held for forestry. Again, if such a method of taxation were intro- 

 duced, many localities would be robbed of a considerable amount of 

 revenue, which would either have to be made good through higher 

 levies on other kinds of property or the State would have to make good 

 the deficit, depending possibly upon subsequent reimbursement when 

 the tax is collected on the cut.^ Such a plan does not appear best or 

 even advisable. However, when States reserve lands for forest pur- 

 poses, the practice is sometimes adopted of paying annually certain 

 specified sums to the local communities. Thus the State of Pennsyl- 

 vania, which owns about 1,000,000 acres of forest reserves, pays to the 

 local divisions in which the lands are located two cents per acre for 

 school and two cents per acre for county or road purposes. 



To the writer, the only logical and equitable course to pursue in re- 

 gard to the taxation of forests, especially commercial forests as dis- 

 tinguished from farm forests, is to treat them as business propositions 

 requiring no special favors. This class of property is capable of bear- 

 ing a portion of the financial burden and should be taxed. It should 

 be treated, however, in accordance with the inherent facts and condi- 

 tions. Those engaged in commercial forestry should not be considered 

 objects of charity nor should they be entitled to a bonus, but they 

 should be treated simply as are other undertakers engaged in business 

 for business profits. 



We do not wish to convey the impression that the problems of forest 

 development and conservation can be solved through taxation alone. 



' Report of the Massachusetts Commission on "The Taxation of Wild or Forest 

 Lands" (1914). 



