82 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



happened. The per capita tax is increasing rapidly in the United 



States. Kansas is a fair example. In that state the per capita tax' 

 has increased as follows : 



1880 $5.72 1900 $ 9.38 



1885 7.01 1905 11.57 



1891 9.47 1907 12.41 



1895 976 



The need of greater revenue by modern states and the appre- 

 ciation of the increasing burden of taxation are forcing greater 

 attention to be given to tax problems. To get an ever-increasing 

 revenue demands deeper study of the sources from which taxes are 

 drawn than was the case at an earlier date when government needs 

 were less and opportunities for making money were greater. 



The principal problems in getting a greater revenue are the atti- 

 tude of the individual toward state activities, and the improvement 

 of the existing system of taxation. The attitude of the taxpayer 

 toward state activities is greatly influenced by the keenness with 

 wHch he feels the tax burden. New reforms are opposed when he is 

 frightened by a possible increase of his tax. 



When great skill is used in devising a tax system, it is possible to 

 collect very heavy taxes and still preserve in the taxpayer a sym- 

 pathetic attitude toward the additional activities constantly under- 

 taken by modern states. Germany is perhaps the best example of 

 this. That nation has employed her men of science to devise a tax 

 system with the result that taxation there is claimed by impartial 

 writers to have attained a higher degree of perfection than any- 

 where else in the world. It is a favorite saying of German writers 

 on finance that, if taxes be scientifically levied, they will not become 

 any special burden, just as a soldier's knapsack, if scientifically 

 adjusted, will be carried without fatigue. From the ease with which 

 high taxes are collected from all classes, and the little evasion which 

 exists there, it appears that the Germans have in large measure 

 established the truth in the above comparison. 



The system of taxation in general use in the United States is 



' special Report, Kansas State Tax Commission, 1909, p. 6. 



