1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 225 



in shares in manufacturing or railroad corporations within 

 the State. Every man who owns a share in the Middlesex 

 corporation at Lowell, or any other corporation that is man- 

 ufacturing in this Commonwealth, is taxed to the full value 

 of that share. So every single share of bank stock of these 

 Worcester banks is taxed at the rate of taxation here in 

 Worcester. The property that escapes taxation is other 

 than that invested in business here in this State. It is not 

 the property that is adding to the industries and business of 

 our State that escapes taxation ; it is the property that is 

 used to juggle with, that is invested in foreign mortgages 

 and foreign corporations (outside the State, I mean), and 

 money that is used for speculative purposes. That is the 

 kind of property that escapes taxation. 



Mr. Hale. This is a very important matter, and I was 

 much interested in what my friend Mr. Edson has said. But 

 we all know enough of human nature to know that a man 

 who will lie will lie just about as quick under oath as he will 

 when not under oath. A few men will be frightened at the 

 idea of taking an oath. They are liars, but they are not 

 utterly reckless liars, and they will feel the force of an oath ; 

 but the average tax liar will lie anyway. This may be 

 pretty strong language, but I think the fact warrants it. 



Now, this law which Mr. Gold has told you about in 

 Connecticut, which last year drew "out such a large sum, 

 was a compromise with perjury on our part. I think the 

 best people of Connecticut felt ashamed of it, but it was the 

 best thing we could do. We have by that law pulled those 

 sneaks up through the hole. I think by-and-by the formers 

 will plug up the hole. 



I have studied the question of taxation from a farmer's 

 standpoint. I have looked at it in all sorts of lights. I have 

 studied poor, weak human nature ; and I find that, while you 

 can touch some men by an appeal to their honesty, you 

 cannot touch them all. When you touch a man in his 

 pocket, you have got away down below his heart. It seems 

 to me a law might be passed that would compel every 

 property owner on a certain day or month in the year to go 

 before an assessor and make a record of every dollar's worth 

 of property he possesses, and make oath to it. The assessor 



