PARK AND CEMETERY 
AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING 
PUBLISHED BY ALLIED ARTS PUBLISHING COMPANY 
R. J. HAIGHT, President H. C. WHITAKER, Vice-President and General Manager O. H. SAMPLE, Secretary-Treasurer 
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SEPTEMBER, 1916 
EDITORIAL 
VOL. XXVI No. 7 
Cemetery Taxation 
The ever-present question of cemetery taxation is occasion- 
ally presented in one or another aspect in the courts. State 
laws and their interpretation by the courts are often not 
clearly defined concerning cemeteries of all kinds nor ceme- 
tery property of all kinds. Every cemetery official should 
keep thoroughly informed on every aspect of this subject, 
e.specially with regard to conditions in his own state. The 
laws in general on this subject are similar in most states. 
The policy of the law, as shown both by statutes and court de- 
cisions, is quite well summed up in the section of the North Caro- 
line statutes which provides an exemption from taxation for such 
real estate “as may be set apart for graveyards or burial lots, 
except such as is held for the purpose of speculating in the sale 
thereof.” In substance, this is the law throughout the country. 
That is, the real estate of cemeteries is exempt from taxation 
when not owned and used for profit, regardless of whether the 
ownership be private or by a municipality or association. And 
it would be inferred from court decisions that a religious society 
is no more entitled to exemption than a private individual if its 
cemetery be conducted for profit. 
The reason for according exemption to cemeteries is thus 
stated by the Louisiana Supreme Court in a case where an asso- 
ciation was held to be exempt from taxation as to lands held 
for future use, as well as those actually occupied by graves. 
It was decided in Louisiana in the case of Metairie Cemetery vs. 
Board of Assessors that the unsold portion of a cemetery is not 
subject to taxation unless used for purposes of private or cor- 
porate profit or income; and the court said that in establishing 
this exemption the law concerns itself exclusively with the pur- 
Good Roads in 
One of the provisions of the federal aid road bill, which was 
signed by the President on July 11, appropriates $1,000,000 a year 
for ten years to be spent by the Secretary of Agriculture for the 
construction and maintenance of roads and trails within or partly 
within the national forests. 
The bill provides that, upon request of the proper officers of 
the states or counties, the money shall be used for building roads 
and trails which are necessary for the use and development of 
resources upon which communities within or near the national 
forests are dependent. The work is to be done in co-operation 
with the various states and counties. Not more than 10 per cent 
of the value of the timber and forage resources of the national 
forests within the respective county or counties in which the roads 
or trails will be constructed may be spent. Provision is made for 
the return of the money to the treasury by applying 10 per cent 
pose and use of a cemetery, and not with the nature of the owner- 
ship, whether by private individuals or otherwise. The decision 
also goes so far as to say that small profits will be disregarded, 
since some charge to cover expenses is usually exacted in selling 
lots. But in a later case the same court recognized the principle 
that the moment amounts are collected for the purpose of profit, 
although under the guise of salaries, the exemption ceases. The 
New Jersey courts have ruled that lands lying within a cemetery 
and bought for future use for interments are not taxable, although 
not presently used for burial purposes. 
In a Minnesota case involving Lakewood Cemetery it was held 
that a portion of a tract of land purchased by a cemetery asso- 
ciation is exempt from taxation, when its acquisition is necessary 
for use in the near future as a burial place for the dead, and 
the association intends to plat the same as a part of its cemetery, 
and place it upon the market for sale, as soon as the entire tract 
can be acquired under condemnation proceedings pending. Con- 
ducting a greenhouse thereon for the purpose of growing flowers 
and plants to be used in beautifying the grounds is not a use 
of such tract for other than cemetery purposes, so as to render 
the tract 'taxable, notwithstanding the fact that a small surplus 
of the stock of the greenhouse has been sold for the benefit of 
the association. 
Although land held by a cemetery company or association is 
exempt from taxation, as stated above, there is no exemption of 
personal property, in the absence of express statutory provision. 
So it has been decided by the Missouri Supreme Court that the 
proceeds of lot sales and chattel property held by an association 
was subject to taxation. Similar decisions have been announced 
by the highest courts of New Jersey and Kentucky. 
National Forests 
of the annual receipts of the national forest in the state or 
county until the amount advanced is covered. 
Officers in charge say that the bill will make possible the con- 
struction of many roads which are greatly needed. Since 1913, 10 
per cent of the receipts of the national forests have been used in 
road and trail building, but the funds have been inadequate to 
meet the needs. Many isolated communities within the national 
forests are entirely dependent on the government roads and trails. 
In some instances these settlements are said to be almost entirely 
without means of communication. According to Forest Service 
officials, the money now made available will permit the construc- 
tion of many roads necessary to open up inaccessible terri- 
tory and will greatly facilitate the development of large areas. 
It is said that detailed plans covering the policy to be fol- 
lowed in building roads are now being made. 
Form and Placement of Monumental Lettering 
In small, inexpensive monuments there is necessarily a mini- 
mum of decoration, and it is therefore all the more important that 
the placing of what decoration is used be carefully considered. 
The decoration should be a part of the design ; it should be 
suited to the form and style of the members on which it is 
placed, and not merely stuck on to make a little more stone- 
cutting. The style of lettering and the arrangement of the family 
name and the inscription should be a part of the decorative 
scheme, and frequently the decoration about the family name 
is all the ornamentation that will be needed. The old, hack- 
neyed style of S])reading out the big, l)attleaxe letters to 
cover as much of the base or of tbe monument as possible is 
passing out of use on monumental work of tbe better class. 
In modern designs the letteritig ;ind decorations are studied 
together, and form an integral and harmonious part of the 
iirchitecture of the monument. 
