BEST METHODS OF TAXATION. 779 



character is, through a great variety of circumstances, constantly 

 fluctuating in value; is offset by indebtedness which may never be 

 the same one hour with another; is easy to transfer, and by simple 

 delivery is, in fact, transferred continually from one locality to an- 

 other, and from the protection and laws of one State to the sover- 

 eignty and jurisdiction of some other. It is not to be wondered, 

 therefore, that all attempts to value and assess this description of 

 property have proved exceedingly unsatisfactory, and that nearly 

 every civilized community, with the exception of the States of the 

 Federal Union, have long ago abandoned the project as something 

 wholly inexpedient and impracticable. 



The differences among the States in the interpretation of resi- 

 dence, of the situs of the property taxed, are also an objection to 

 this system and an obstacle to its application. The want of uni- 

 formity can not be abolished by enactments of law, because absolute 

 uniformity of laws would not insure as uniform interpretation of 

 their provisions. The rules for assessment are uniform for the 

 officers of a State, but the returns made involve such differences in 

 the application of the rules that one is forced to the conclusion that 

 a misunderstanding of the spirit of the law exists, coloring differ- 

 ently the view of each returning officer. Discrimination against 

 the county or municipality and discrimination against the individual 

 are to be met at every turn. No wording of the law can eliminate 

 this personal judgment of each assessing authority, and the super- 

 vision of the returns by State boards of equalization has introduced 

 an even greater departure from justice, as a majority, based upon 

 selfish interests, may be had, and its decision may readily be de- 

 fended as based upon good and sufficient reasons. An appeal to the 

 last resort, the higher courts, may produce redress against unjust 

 assessments, but each case must be decided upon its merits, and only 

 under very exceptional circumstances as in the recent case at 

 Tarrytown, New York, where striking and general, even personal, 

 spite had been shown in the tax levy can a number of taxpayers 

 find it their interest to combine and carry the question into the 

 courts for adjudication. 



Imperfect in theory, the machinery of the general property tax 

 is imperfect. With at present fully two thirds of the personal prop- 

 erty of the State exempted from taxation by law or by circumstances 

 growing out of its condition, or the natural depravity and selfish- 

 ness of the average taxpayer, and with a large part of the other 

 third exempted by competing nations or neighboring States, what 

 becomes of the theory so generally accepted in the United States 

 that in order to tax equitably it is necessary to tax everything? A 

 very slight examination leads to the conclusion that it is the most 



