534 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



with an approach to fair and equal treatment. The valuation 

 of the " main stem " of the New Jersey roads was made by civil 

 engineers, and it is believed to have met the constitutional provision 

 as to " true value." In the valuation of a vast quantity of other 

 property no such expert knowledge could be applied, and especially 

 is this true as to " personal property." Real estate might be ap- 

 proximately valued and a cadastre or record prepared, but after 

 twelve months the most carefully compiled valuation would be out 

 of date. Before personal property the assessor would still stand 

 powerless. No multiplication of officers or no system of control 

 over the many local assessors can solve this question in a manner 

 satisfactory to justice to both State and taxpayer. 



It would seem, then, as if an abandonment of what has been 

 regarded as almost essential features of the State tax systems alone 

 offers relief. No such abandonment can be effected unless an ade- 

 quate revenue from other sources be provided. The " general prop- 

 erty tax," with its futile and laughable incompetency to reach the 

 most profitable sources of revenue, should be modified, and even 

 eliminated as far as is possible. The general principle underlying 

 it, of taxing every form of property, was suited only to a time when 

 the bulk of a man's estate consisted in visible and tangible objects 

 lands, houses, live stock, and furniture. With every creation of a 

 credit instrument, with the immense development of corporations, 

 the principle has become weaker, until it now stands confessedly in- 

 applicable to at least four fifths of the personal property in exist- 

 ence, and this proportion grows larger each year. 



PHASES OF PRACTICAL PHILANTHROPY. 



BY HARRIET A. TOWNSEND. 



T I THE annual reports of the "Conference of Charities and Cor- 

 -*- rections " indicate a growing interest in the study of scien- 

 tific philanthropy. That there has been marvelous progress in 

 methods of charitable work during the past decade no one will deny, 

 but, gratifying as this is (or appears to be on the surface), we find 

 a somewhat discouraging feature in the tendency of the present to 

 multiply institutions, to inaugurate new and extravagant enter- 

 prises where theories may be proved, and which threaten to be- 

 come burdensome to a generous public and to absorb energy in the 

 financial struggle to maintain them which is sorely needed for the 

 more vital issues of the work. The purpose of this article is to 

 give information about simple and practical efforts which have met 



