TWENTY-NINTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



21 



DISCUSSION ON TAXATION. 



PRESIDENT COOPER. We have about three-quarters of an hour 

 before the time to take a recess, and while I do not wish to discuss the 

 propositions laid down, I want to make a statement. There are a great 

 many serious questions involved in this matter of taxation. Many of 

 the suggestions which you have heard are practically impossible, because 

 you can not get at the truth. Another thing: It is very expensive to 

 change the Constitution of the State, and it is not certain that it would 

 be any better Avhen changed. I was once called upon to suggest a plan 

 for taxation, and did suggest a plan. It was published in several news- 

 papers of the State, and there it ended, and, really, I have forgotten all 

 about it, myself. I wish to speak of the method of taxation adopted 

 by a West Indian country where I lived for ten years, the Republic of 

 Hayti. No industry, no land was taxed in the whole republic. They 

 taxed everything that was exported. Everything exported had to go 

 through the custom-house. And they levied a tax on all imports. A 

 tax on these two things was levied to get all the revenue that was nec- 

 essary to run the government. It was feasible, because they had only 

 to go to the records for the past year, if they wanted more money, in 

 order to ascertain the revenue derived from exports and imports. In 

 time every means of taxation will equalize and regulate itself. The 

 less cumbersome the system is, the greater facility in its execution and 

 the more equally you reach all the people. That was the plan of taxa- 

 tion in Hayti, and it was a very successful one. 



VICE-PRESIDENT McINTOSH. Ladies and gentlemen of the Con- 

 vention: Since your President has felt called upon to make a state- 

 ment respecting the paper just read by Mr. Tuohy, I presume a general 

 discussion of this question would be in order at this time, as we have 

 about thirty minutes at our disposal. I should be glad to hear from 

 at least half a dozen gentlemen whom I see on this floor, respecting this 

 very important subject. 



MR. KELLOGG. I would like to speak a moment on this question. 

 I know an incorporated city that has, practically, no city tax whatever. 

 You know we have two kind of taxes — a direct and an indirect tax. 

 The reason this city has no city tax whatever is because it owns its 

 water works, and the sale of water pays all the expenses of the town. 

 Now, that was an experiment on a small scale. I want to call attention 

 to the government experiment station of the world to-day, an experi- 

 ment station for all mankind. It has a full-fledged government, with 

 large cities and all the industries of any government. That is New 

 Zealand, and I want to call attention to its system of taxation. They 

 do away with the indirect tax, the tax paid to corporations, by the peo- 

 ple themselves, going into certain industries — not all industries, but 



