FOREST TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES 179 
TABLE 63.—Portion of area of each property class delinquent in 1930 for taxes of 
1927 or 1928 or both years; selected counties, North Carolina } 
| Beaufort County Chatham County Macon County 
Property class Cae ee a 
ot ot ot 
1927 1928 years 1927 1928 years 1927 1928 years 
Forest: Percent Percent \Percent Percent | Percent |Percent |Percent |Percent |Percent 
Corporation__-_-_-__----- 7.0 22 6.7 3.1 9.4 Soll 0.0 1.8 0.0 
Resident individual__-___ 10. 8 13. 2 9.5 1.6 8.6 1.2 12.8 39.9 11.9 
Nonresident individual-_- 4.8 4.4 4.2 2,3} 11.3 PA 22. 5 28.5 20. 0 
Ota ees See ee 8.1 16. 6 7.4 2.0 10. 0 il, 2 14.9 al 3 13.6 
IRFansition ales ease ee 5. 1 8.9 4.8 2.3 4.7 2.3 74, 20. 2 201 
aR ee ee et 4.8 10. 8 3} 3) 1.3 4.3 57 5.0 23.9 4.5 
Residentialae=s]-s2 ss. ee ee 14.1 25. 4 10. 7 3.8 10.9 1.4 12.3 37.0 11.6 
BUSTING SGU ren rn ia 58 Bi 6.3 131, 7 6.3 .0 .0 .0 9.2 17.4 9.2 
Unclassified. _____..-_-_____- 6.6 18. 4 4.8 2.4 9.0 1.8 19.8 31.8 12.1 
Total for county________-____ 6.3 13.9 5.1 1.5 5.3 .9 8.2 25. 2 7. 4 
1 Sources of data: Computed from county tax scrolls of 1928, and county tax receipt books, 1927-30. Classi- 
fication by property classes made with the aid of county officials and others. 
In these three North Carolina counties the forest and residential 
classes of land display a slightly greater propensity toward delinquency 
than the other classes of land. It should be explained that all tracts 
under 10 acres that could not be classified as farm or business proper- 
ties were included in the residential class. This class thus contains 
some forest tracts of less than 10 acres. The forest tracts proper were 
divided into three classes according to ownership—those owned by 
corporations, those owned by resident individuals, and those owned 
by nonresident individuals—but one class appears to be no more 
subject to delinquency than another. The forests as a whole, how- 
ever, show more delinquency than farms in all three counties and 
more delinquency than transitional properties in Beaufort and Macon 
Counties. Transitional properties are those which have some cleared 
land but are mainly forest. ‘They are likely to be in a state of tran- 
sition from forest to farm or from farm to forest. The unclassified 
group shows a relatively high ratio of delinquency. It probably con- 
tains many forest tracts, for the owners were mostly nonresident and 
the property unoccupied. Allin all, the North Carolina study shows 
a slightly greater tendency toward delinquency in the case of forest 
land than in the case of other classes of land, but it should be noted 
that the figures relate only to short-term delinquency. 
REVERSION OF DELINQUENT LANDS 
DELINQUENT-LAND POLICIES 
Except in a few States, there has in the past been no large amount of 
land so unattractive to private ownership that no one would pay taxes 
on it, and for that reason the States have not had a definite policy as to 
the handling of forfeited lands. In many States the law itself is 
obscure as to what can bedone. Public sentiment and the courts have 
favored the original owner and have made it difficult for either an 
individual or the Government to acquire a clear title to land forfeited 
because of tax delinquency. Thereis no doubt that many owners have 
escaped the payment of a part of their taxes through the leniency of 
tax collectors or the laxity of the foreclosure proceedings. The in- 
creasing volume of delinquency in recent years and the increasing 
