138 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE 



we find the one, in some the other, the principal member of the tax system. 

 Where the property tax is the main source of taxation, the income tax is apt to 

 be used also as a supplementary tax, and vice versa where the income tax is the 

 principal tax. 



Local Taxation. — The foregoing discussion has related to state taxation 

 only. It is impossible to form a true idea of European forest taxation without 

 taking account also of the taxation of the local bodies districts, counties, com- 

 munes, parishes, and so forth. The local organization of European countries 

 is so diverse and their systems of taxation so varied, that it is entirely out of the 

 question to give anything like an adequate account within the limits of this chap- 

 ter. The following is nothing more than the briefest and most general outline 

 of the subject. As a general rule the local bodies of European countries obtain 

 their revenues, (1) from various contributions from the state or other higher 

 political bodies; (2) from communal property and public industrial enterprises; 

 (3) from various fees, licenses, and so forth; and (4) from taxation. Taxation 

 is ordinarily relied upon to make up whatever deficit remains after the revenue 

 from the other sources has been applied to cover expenditures. The taxation of 

 the local bodies as a rule consists in additional rates imposed upon the principal 

 state taxes, in somewhat the same way as the states, counties, and towns share 

 in the general property tax in this country, the chief difference being that in 

 Europe the tax is a state tax and the administration in the hands of state officials, 

 the local bodies merely adding their necessary rates. Where a state obtains its 

 revenue, for example, from the income tax and the property tax, local bodies may 

 add their own additional rates to one or both of these taxes. It should be men- 

 tioned also that in ma,ny states where the ground tax has been given up as a state 

 tax it is still commonly kept in force as a basis for the addition of local rates, 

 and so continues to be a source of local revenue. The rates of the local taxes on 

 income, property, and soil show the utmost variety. Many of the communes 

 impose no taxes whatever, securing all necessary revenue from the other sources 

 named. Among those communes which impose taxes the rates vary all the way 

 from almost nothing to three or four times the state rate. Maximum limits are 

 often fixed by state law. 



Conclusion. — In general the methods of taxing forests in Europe, while de- 

 cidedly superior to the American system, are still far from having attained perfec- 

 tion. European foresters have been for years engaged in more or less bitter 

 controversy over alleged theoretical defects of their tax systems as applied to 

 forests, as well as over practical rules of administration. While we have much 

 to learn from European experience, no one familiar with the subject would think 

 of suggesting that any European system be introduced bodily here. Knowledge 

 of European experience will not relieve us of the necessity of developing a system 

 of taxation of our own suited to American conditions. 



