Page Six 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



\ jm iL.L<i]Mois _jm 



^=^^^==R E C O R ©— ^^ 



To advance the purpoae for which the Farm Bureau mam organic d, 

 namely to promote, protect and represent the buwineae, economic, 

 political, and educational intereata of the farmera of iUinoia and the 

 nation, and to develop agriculture. 



■ Published oni-e a month at 404 North Wesley Ave., Mount Morris, 

 Illinois, by the Illinois Agricultural Association. Entered as second- 

 clasa matter October 20, 1U2S, at the post office at Mount Morris, 

 Illinois, under the Act of March S, 1879. Accepted for mailinK at 

 special rate of postage provided (or in Section 412, Act of February 

 28. 1925, authorized October 27, 1925. The individual membership 

 fee of the Illinois Asricultural Association is five dollars a year. The 

 fee includes payment of fifty cents for subscrfption to the ItxINOIS 

 AUKICULTUKAL ASSOCIATION Recokd. Postmaster: In returning an un- 

 called fur or misdent copy please indicate key number on address as 

 is required by law. 



OFFICERS 



President, Earl C. Smith -.J Detroit 



Vice-President, Frank D. Barton..j. _ Cornell 



Secretary, Ceo. E. Metzger Chicago 



Treasurer, R. A. Cowie* , __ Bloomlngton 



EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

 (By Congressional District) 



1st tu lllh.. 



12th . 



13th.. 



14th.. 



15th.. 



16th . 



17th.. 



18th.. 



19th.. 



..p. 



... H. C. Vial, Downers Grove 



G. F. Tullock, Rockford 



C. E. Bamborougb, Polo 



M. G. Lambert, Ferris 



A. N. Skinner, Yates City 



A. R. Wright. Vema 



Geo. J. Stoll, Chestnut 



R. F. Karr, Iroquois 



C. J. Gross, Atwood 



20th L 1 Charles S. Black, Jacksonville 



21st f J Samuel Sorrells, Raymond 



22nd ; Frank Oexner, Wa.erloo 



23rd , W. L. Cope, Salem 



...Charles Marshall, Belknap 

 Fred Dietz, De Soto 



..(.. 



24th 

 2Sth 



DIRECTORS OF DEPARTMENTS 



Dairy Marketing A. D. Lynch 



Limestone-Phosphate J. R. Bent 



Finance \ R. A. Cowles 



Fruit and VegetaUe Marketing I -A. B. Leeper 



Comptroller L ; J. H. Kelker 



Information L George Thiem 



Insurance Service... , V. Vaniman 



Legal Counsel Donald Kirkpatrick 



Live Stock Marketing Ray E. Miller 



Organization • G. E. Metzger 



Produce Marketing. F. A. Cougler 



Taxation and Statistics i J. C. Watson 



Tranaportation i , L. J. Quasey 



According to Ability to Pay 



THE general practice in rai.sing revenue for public pur- 

 ipcses has been and is to pluck the goose with the 

 least amount of squawking. This practice has been fol- 

 lowed for ages not only in this state but everywhere. It 

 was jeasy, therefore natural, for the farmers of the state 

 constitution of 1870 to tax visible or tangible property, 

 for it comprised the bulk of our wealth at that time. Thus, 

 our taxing system is a heritage from the past. We still 

 have it because reform is difficult. Public inertia and 

 apathy are hard to overcome. The powerful opposition 

 of countless numbers who pay no taxes and profit by the 

 existing order is another factor. 



OUT of approximately $375,000,000 of revenue raised 

 in 1927 for state, county, and municipal purposes in 

 Illinois, nearly $.340,000,000 was derived as taxes from 

 real and tangible personal property. Approximately 

 $300,000,000 of this represents taxes levied against real 

 estate. This in spite of the fact that tangible property 

 produces only about 10 per cent of the total income of 

 the state. 



The modern theory of taxation is to levy according 

 to ability to pay. No one denies the fairness and justice 

 of -such a system. Yet, when an effort is rpade to partially 

 substitute the income basis for the present iniquitous 



property tax all sorts of specious arguments and reasons 

 are brought forth to block such a program. 



THE state income tax now pending in the Legislature, 

 which is sponsored by the Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion, endorsed by the Illinois Bankers' Association, and 

 supported by home owners and real estate people, is de- 

 signed to replace a portion of the heavy tax burden now 

 resting on the shoulders of property owners. It will secure 

 some contribution from those who are now escaping their 

 just share of the cost of government. The proposed tax will 

 raise, it is estimated, approximately $8,000,000 of net 

 revenue. Two million dollars of this will replace a like 

 amount now levied on farm property in Illinois; $4,000,- 

 000 will replace a like amount now levied against Cook 

 County real estate; and $2,000,000 will replace a like 

 amount now levied against property owners in down-state 

 cities and villages. 



THE state income tax is the only measure now pend- 

 ing in the Legislature that will lessen the taxes of 

 property owners. The rates are modest, exemptions rea- 

 sonable, and the property tax credit is fair and equitable. 



Many tax reformers like to deal with our tax problem 

 in the abstract. They contend that a constitutional amend- 

 ment is necessary if we are to have a fair taxing system. 

 We contend that a state income tax is now possible by 

 virtue of authority granted in ARTICLE 9, Section 2 of 

 the Illinois Constitution which provides as follows; 



"The specification of the objects and subjects of taxa- 

 tion shall not deprive the General Assembly of the power 

 to^ require other subjects or objects to be taxed in such 

 manner as may be consistent with the principles of taxa- 

 tion fixed in this Constitution." 



THE state income tax is a "lieu" or replacement tax. 

 Here is how it would operate in the case of an owner 

 of a 160 acre farm: 



Let us assume that the farm and personal property 

 of the operator is assessed a total tax of $180. Many in 

 Illinois pay more. Let us assume that the operator has a 

 wife and three dependent children. Under the proposed 

 state income tax the exemption for him and his wife would 

 be $2000, and $500 each for the children, making a total 

 exemption of $3500. The proposed tax levies one per 

 cent for the first $5000 of income, or $50. The next 

 $5000 of income is assessed two per cent, or $100. The 

 income beyond $10,000 is assessed three per cent. Thus, 

 to pay an income tax of $180 the head of a family with 

 three children would have to receive a net income of 

 $14,500 annually to pay as much as a farmer now pays 

 on a ICO acre farm on which $180 in taxes is levied. 



The feature of the bill which allows people who pay 

 a property tax to deduct such tax from their computed 

 net income tax, would result in few home or land owners 

 paying any .state income tax. On the other hand, those 

 obliged to pay an income tax because they pay no prop- 

 erty tax would be amply able to do so. 



ONE might well ask opponents of such a measure to 

 what extent they are now dodging taxes. Our pres- 

 ent property tax system comes near to being a single tax. 

 The burden increases each year with the rising tide of 

 public expenditures. Until the burden is more equitably 

 distributed, therefore, the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 has declared its opposition to increases in tax rates and 

 to additional projects, the cost of which now comes out of 

 the general property tax. We believe this is a sound 

 policy and the only one which we can follow if we are to 

 secure a better system of taxation and one based on the 

 recognized and accepted theory of ability to pay. 



