Newspapers / The Roxboro Courier (Roxboro, … / March 25, 1931, edition 1 / Page 2
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PARnNFR unllUnLn SALES TAX from first page) ^Assembly could, within tin of reasonable taxation, find revenue to sustain the Mac Lear till, I to ready to five my foil support to tt' For these reasons I have remained silent on 4hia subject aad given mj ' to-other matters of iegW whlch I deemed of great In to th? State, while those the Mac Lean bill proee their Inquiries to find new of taxation to sustain Jt ' is never a pleasing responSlbil for the Governor to become s npion on either side of a ques on which there Is deep-seated of opinion in the General and in the thinking ol the people of the state. But I can not shrink from the responsibility which the high office that I hold Imposes. I am thoroughly convinced of the unwiridOm of the adoption of the policy of levying7 any form of sales tax. My opposition to sales taxation as a means of state revenue is bas ed on the deep conviction that it Is not a sound or just principle of taxation, and that the commerce clause of the constitution of the United' States renders Jt -impracti cal as an important source of state revenue. As to the principle Involved, in sales taxation: No matter how often it has been .said. It should never be discarded from our thinking on this subject, because it is fundamentally and ever-lastlngly true, that sales taxes take no measure of ability to pay tarfes. They are based on hu man needs, and not on ability to pay. It is my profound conviction that we would do a serious injus tice to the great body of citizenship in our state. Immediately and for the future, if we should establish this basis of taxation, fundamentally un sound in principle, and should in corporate It into the revenue sys tem of the state. I do not see how we could Justify a tax reduction on the factory by Imposing a tax on the purchases of its labor. That is the distinctive characteristic of sales taxation It assuredly offers no av erage relief for the average proper ty owner. It relieves those whose ownership of property is well above the average and gathers from those who are below the average or who own no property at all. I am un alterably opposed to that principle of taxation, and to any legislative! program that finds it necessary to sustain It. As to its praeucaomiy : 11 me tales tax were not fundamentally objectionable and unsound in prin ciple. it would Still be impractical for use in any large way In a pro gram of stat' taxation, because no state c<mi police its borders against interstate rommeroe. nils point has jjo doubt been well argued in your discussions of this, question, but we should not permit our extremities to dull ?ur understanding of it. and its Important relation to taxes on sal's. There is at all times' a deli cate balance as between purchase within and without the state as to many articles and commodities. Any tax that we add to sales within the state helps to turn the scale against business in North Carolina and in favor of business outside of North ? Carolina. I cannot favor any sys tem of taxation that Imposes this additional burden on the retail mer chants of North Carolina, and that penalizes business within and en courages business without the state. The same reasons that condemn a general sales tax have their appli catinn to xne selection 01 articles of common use among the whole body of citizenship of the rtate, and the designation of such articles as luxuries, and the imposition of ex treme rates of tax upon the retail sales of such articles. ' This is but a little- more ingenious method of Imposing taxes to relieve wealth, and without regard to ability of .those wljw are taxed to. pay the tax. It seems to me a narrow compre hension of the subject to designate such articles as luxuries. The use of such articles recognizes no rank of nobility or fortune. Their use Is as common among . the poorest as among the- wealthiest classes. And * twenty per cent tax upon their use is In fact as essentially a tax upon " those who can 111 afford to pay it as is a small percentage tax upon general sales*. It is contrary to my conception of a fair tax In that it is a perversion of the doctrine of ability to pay. In the last analy sis, It Is not paid by the producer of the article (fixed but is passed on ? to the consumer >nd is in fact a tax poverty. ? ft is the very opposite of the income tax, the fairest and Justeqft tax any government im poses. It violates every tenet of the Democratic Party In that It taxes the weak to relieve the strong. Lux uries defined ? In any proper Sense range upon a higher level than this and can only be reached by taxing propet tv or Income that furnishes the basis for their indulgence. May I be, pardoned if I Illustrate this principle by reference to i ' somewhat good-humored critic ism of my position which I read in yes * ? ? t?iy a dMioni^m the present legUlati? Situation to I foot ball parlance. am* on the Ooveraor to take the ball and score I a touchdown for the team of "toe little man." The trouble with my Mend b that he wants' me to make the same ' mistake with deliberation 'that a famous root ball. (tar. to a game to California made a few years 1 ago. when In the excitement of the ? game he lost his sense at direction and after a magnificent field run I carried the ball over the wrong goal ' Une and scored a touchdown for the opposing team. No forms of ' ? sales tax can be levied upon ar- j i tides consumed by the little man that will not Increase his dllBcul ' ties in playing the game of life. The right of the little man to lire ts not related by blood or marriage , to any form of sales tax. The light of the little man to live 1 I is not a figment of my imagination. It Is a fundamental issue In North Caroline If my part f has stood for anything through its long his tory, it has s tood for" the demo cratic doctrine df shielding the weak i and repressing the strong, and 'yet 1 we have here a new and strange i brand of democracy proposed. In- ' stead of taxing the strong to aid the ! > weak, we plan to tax the weak to ' ; relieve the strong. J do not ? hesl- ( tate to say that this theory of taxa- i tion* violates every principle of Thomas Jefferson and outrages l every teaching of Andrew Jackson. I The application of the convictions J I have stated to the results of the < labors .of your Finance Committees, < and the conclusions reached , by < them, lead me Irresistibly to the re- j commendation that some other and i more oertain method of relief should i now be sought than that embodietT ? tn the revenue bill now before the House. The conclusion has been l reached by the sub-committee re>- j . presenting both the House arid Sen- J Late that the MacLean bill cannot i be effectuated without a sales tax. J I earnestly hope that no sales tax j in any torm will be imposed on the ] people of North Carolina. I am J quite oertain in my own opinion (hit the people we are all trying earn- j estly to help will not be helped by j ?any revenue raised through sales J taxation; and I therefore recom- ? mehd that so much of the purpose J of the MacLean bill as cannot be. carried out~wlthout.' a sales tax be J eliminated from its stop? and pur- J pose. | I mis posiuon 01 oppueuituu wc rales tax I take as a definite fiscal and economic policy, and as a mat ter of principle. In talcing it, I have ntr desire to invad* the responsibility of the legislative branch of govern ment by attempting to set up your revenue measure in detail, except that I do wish that no policy and no line of actiou_be adopted which is inherently urtfair on the ope hand to the consuming public, or on the ~ other "to any legitimate' 4nd helpful business or industry that is making its contribution to the welfare of our state. I have arrivel at these conclusions after mature deliberation and after conference with the Tax Commis sion. the Advisory Budget Commis sion, the State Educational Com mission,. the State Superintendent, and the State Board of Equalization. |i have not reached this decision | lightly or quickly. It reflects my conscientious conviction for the wel J ? farfr and future prosperity of the people of my state, for whose wel fare my highest ambition Is to con tinue to make some contribution ? be It large or small ? as the year* go on and as I have the power to i work for. North Carolina. I t wwwmmmnrt fh?t vnn pnirf jt/i much of additional taxation as you ; And to be reasonable outside of the , ''ales tax field, and that, after tak- < lng care of the necessities of the ] state government such additional i sums be used for direct reduction | of tlie public school tax levy. I In making this recommendation : i I am not unmindful of the sumJj total of contributions that will be 1 made by .thls General Assembly to rha. cause of relieving property, tax ation In North Carolina npr of* its constructive legislation to provide more efficient and economical gov ernment In Its state and local units. When I came in atf Governor two years ago. the state government was . .appropriating the. sum of <3.250.000 for the support of the six months school. I recommended an Increase In this fund and urged recognition i of the necessity for making some , ] provision for state aid to the ex tended term where the tax burden ?*?*? heaviest. The General Assem bly acted on this recommendation and Increased the equalization fund from *3.280.000 to *6 500.000. with $1,250,000 set aside for the extended term. I felt then and I feel now i that this sum sent yb the state to the relief of the eight monWs term ?'was the mast- helpful tax reduction measure passed during my adminis tration. " In order to bring about unity and > agreement of puipose in the place of our present contending confus-. ' Ion. I recommend that you go to the i utmost limit without injustice In ! the pursuit of . this policy. J i Not forge tltng for a moment the statement In my biennial message i that taxes on property must be re > ducrd. let us review the reduction i that will have been accomplished by : tills General Assembly If thU policy ttve estimate" mean an average re duction throughout the state a t at least IS cents. The Local Government Commis sion will provide for a reduction of at least to cents on tbe $100 of as sessed value through readjustments arid Refunding which will be per mitted In the bonded indebtedness of local governments maturing within the next two years. This Commission will save an afl ditienal 10 cents in taxes by reason off the control that It can now ewr cise over the budgets of tbe coun ties and the cities throughout the rtate. As you know, city govern njent has heretofore been wide open without any state supervision or restraint and last year increased im per , pent In cost This, the lo cal government bill corrects. These several reductions, together with the adoption of this school pol icy. win total In the aggregate, I estimate, an average of SO oenW on the $100 of assessed value in more than WeouaQes" and -an average of 13 cents state- widip. If this estimate Is correct, North Carolina will next year reoetve a reduction of $12,500, 300 In property taxes or an average deduction of 20 per cent. When we provide through all of these constructive acts a tax reduc tion eqUal to the reduction antici pated in the Mac Lean bill, I am :onfldent your action will meet the | ?xepectations of, and the approval j )f , your constituents ? especially when they understand it Is as fari is we can go at this time without adoption of new fortns of burden iome taxation. It should be remembered that the: MacLean bill itself does not purport, to take all tax off property, even] 'or the constitutional term of pub ic schools. Based on last year's ex- I :>enditureg, it would be necesasry to j levy for the total support of the si* nonths term an average rate of le&rW 25 cents in every county, af- | ter receiving the full benefit of the | revenue provided to carry out the j MacLean bill. To meet the total ] :ost of current expense alone, It' would be necessary to levy ?n additional rate in many coun ties. This phase of this problem is not generally understood by the public. It should be clearly under itood by each of you. 1 lit? lax reuuutiuu tin u uic ctuuu" nicS that will be provided by this aeneral Assembly will be distinctly helpful in promoting a return of real estate values to a normal level: But there will be no marked move ment until we make another crop. Values then will be influenced large ly bv the prevailing prices for to !>aeco, cotton, and grain: But. gen tlemen. it should be remembered that land values have been' more Drofoundlv influenced bv other fac trrs than bv taxation. If something not hapnen bv which North Carolina agriculture is able to re-I rover a large part of. the 80 million [tollers lost in declining priced of '93fl over 1958 and 1929. our efforts here are futile even though it wer# rvsftb'e to lift everv dollar of taxes From land and property in this state Prom- ih* dav I took ofBee and For'vears b?fore. I hav? devoted th? greater part of my thinking and Planning to the program of working nit a leadership and direction to the relief of the economic insecurity 'nd distress of the North Carolina Farmer. 'raxes are msrn in mis srate ana taxes must b? reduced: but the man who tells you that the tax policy of North Carolina te'the proximate ?ause the responsible reason, for the condition of the real estate mar ket. that taxes are responsible for the sunken values of farni lands, that taxes are responsible for the. prostration of eighty per cent of ?ur people! that taxes are respon sible for our army of unemployed, that taxes are responsible for stag nated industry ? that man's either uninformed or is trying to spread mil it leal propaganda for inflamma tory purposes, m every civilised rountry todav the epidemic of real "state depression prevails. The con dition is no -worse in North Caro lina than it 1? in Virginia: South Carolina, California.' or New York. It s my mature Judgment that We must face this situation without rrrejudloe, passion. or>politics. and In recognition of all factor* involv ed. and go to the utmost -limit to reduce the property tax. But Jet us remember that there is another day. and that the future of North Caro lina lies with gravest responsibility largely In our hands as we struggle through this period to make more productive the sweat of honest toil and more effective the result of ?c*entiflo management. ' * . > ft 'wm ? dtffievlt task In MM;? wnen we thought North Carolina was perpetually endowed with pros perity. to raise-general. fund revenue In thf amourif fit 15 million dollars. What we are trying io do now In hard times add business adversity Is to raise the 15 millions we raised In 1039, which was found to be Inadequate, and which necessitated ipy cutting appropriations more than three minion dollars, to meet the first shock of the on-coming de pression. We are now not |onty planning to raise Oflf flfte?i mil BntH*^UTMy frankly thatlJfmy ; drastic, too precipitate .too burden some to be accompliched at one time. I say it with grayest con cern, but with full knowledge of the fact .that with possibly two excep tions North Carolina's agriculture, industry, labor, occupations and professions are suffering from the most acute prostration of any per iod In modern times. We *i? more than blind if we ignore this econo mic truth In the proceedings of this Assembly. *? I have a definite philosophy about the needs of North Carolina, and every recommendation I 'made to you and every 1)111 presented by me for your consideration was motivat ed by only one definite purpose: namely, economyi efficiency, and tax reduction on property. I have not pressed, a single measure before you that did not have a terminal In this objective. Every major recommendation In my biennial meeasge was In har mony with the realization of this obligation and drove In the direc tion of this goal. My recommen dations with thtt respect to edu cation, highways and roads, fiscal problems, state reorganization and consolidation, and local government were Integral parts of a maturely thought out pattern of action to re duce taxes on iand and property. I have never for a moment departed in my policies gr In my thinking from my message in which I em phasized that taxes on property must be reduced. They will be reduced and when this General Assembly returns to the peoplq who sent S^m here with the program of this administration , written into law, you will carry with you the greatest tax reduction on land and property of any General Assembly in the history of North Carolina. And you will do this with out imposing a new buraen of nine or ten million dollars in the form of a sales tax on the becks and stomachs of two and one-half mil lion of our people who through ad versity, poverty, and misfortune have never been able to own a home or possess a tract of land. I flm. ready to stand oq this rec ord a.nd as a leader of mypfu-ty In this critical hour, I accept the re sponsibility and will go forward against all opposition in the next campaign cofldent of the approval of this great majority of tile citi zens of this State. In my Judgment nnither of the proposed sales tax bills would receive one-third of the vot?s of the citizens of this State If submitted to a referendum. If this plan is adopted and carried through. I bespeak here and now the whole-hearted cooperation arid asisstance .of each of you in per suading your people to practice economy and accept smaller expen ditures when your county and city I budgets are being made up next summer. Ladles and gentlemen, we may as well face this issue. Here, in Raligh. today, a tax reduction Is popular, is demanded, is right. At 'home, in June, when the budgets are being prepared, tax spending Is : equally as popular. There must be found a sound middle ground to ????and on throughout the year if < North Carolina is - to gave herself. W> must make up our minds that 1 no matter how much resentment i is arodsed, taxes cannot be reduced j *" up our minds to adopt it. I ask you this question : Do we not all recognise that W rarely get all that we aim tor In life? Some one has truly said that life- la a com promise between what one wants and what one gets. "This 1a parti cularly true In legislation. Edmund Burke, the great' British Statesman, said that in l^st analysis the essence of all legislation is oompfcmise. If we accept this as a progressive North Carolina compromise, and go home with a tax reduction of as much as fifty cents in many cades, we can trust tp a fair-minded peo ple for vindication of the wisdom of our action, tec&use our action will be deserving of vindication. Another aspect of the property tax question is deserving of our thoughtful understanding. The pres ent property tax bill of more than 60 million dollars per year was not attained hi sudden flight It did not come in a single year. And, my frie&d?. it cannot be completely re pudiated and written o it of the books in a single year. Beginning with 1923, each year -through 1928 saw an average increase in the total amount of property taxes levied in the sum of' tbi million dollars per year. One year It was eight millions, another year two millions. But for the six-year period, It averaged 4% millions. Think of it I In the rapid expansion the increase in property taxes was 8 million dollar*. Enact the recommendations I have made and you effectuate the unprecedent ed reduction of 12H million dollars in one year. , On** nf th* mnsfcnirtivp arfYim plishments of the 1929 General As sembly was to check this upward trend In property taxes. It not only checked the trend; It actually bent the line downward. Last year saw a reduction of nearly a million dollars in the property tax burden in this state as compared with the year before. If we adopt in ~ its entirety the policy that I have out lined, if we are as conscientious in June as we are in March'' in -our determination to ease this burden, we will still further and in larger measure than ever reduce this bur den, whose weight on our industries and our citizens has in truth become well nigh intolerable. Property tax reduction. yeS, property tax reduc tion ih the biggest amount in the history of this state! And property tax reduction achieved through a sane, conservative program of ac tion without saddling on the masses of our. people another tax that in its Injustice, and its effect is more intolerable and more throttling of the welfare of the common people than is the burden which we are determined now to take in large part off of their shoulders. Our tax grievance is in part an utterance Of the , woes and the heartaches growing out of the pres ent misfortune of our people who find ih this an expression of the multitude of the miseries of these times. Our people canhot liquidate their debt to the land banks by leg islation. They cannot s&tWfy their mortgages by legislative resolution. But when people do get caught in the barbed wire entanglements of economic depression, their one out let of resentment and discontent is uttered vocally against government and especially against the taxing power of government. NOTICE! e I have leased Latto's Clmnlnc *nd Pradnc Club and am now lo cated between the old Beade Hotel and the Methodist Church. I hare biner and better equipment and in po sition to five 70a real service. Jack Johnston, the oldest and beat prtsser in town. Is with me. Every garment will be |tven petsonal atten tion. Give ns a trial. I shall appreciate your badness. Send us your dress, 1 coat, felt hat, or suit today, and well have them batik in time to .taM their ptaoc with the smartest in {fee - Easter parade. 000 H. G. Simpson TBUrHONI n Oar Motto: "One nay* gcnrfee." If tor thU can substitute the with real economy nd real sann*; if * cm u governments ang as individuals become willing U> live on lew, to live bant if you will; If we can raise more of the consump tion goods that we now purchase; If we can do more work, economise, cut here and cut there, a little less herfc? and a little less there, we will ? emerge from this period a chastened but a conquering 'people. North Carolina is In essence a progressive state. The masses as well as the leaders, possess a high average Intelligence; and I submit that we do not have the right to expect their approval if at one blow, and without previous warning, we place nine, million dollars of tax bur den on the least able of its citizens to pay tan*. You may differ with me, and I know some of you will; you may doubt the- wisdom of njy recommen dation. and some of you will; you may question my leadership, and many of you may; but you cannot In truth say that according to my conception of my duty and accord ing to my conception of the welfare of the three million people that we are'planning to ?erve, I have falter ed In conscientiously facing this Is One word mtum/ -Ote close at this Hune feelings, the and worires multiplied the same hopes J owned u. I stood at the end of my message to you when this Oeneral Assembly eon. vened. Will you pardon me for lin ing the same words In this attempt to carry over to you today a picture of the Inner man who stood before you then and who itands here now. I feel more depely this sentiment--, now than I felt then. DUs message Into the preparation oMyhlch I have thrown the utmost of my energy * and ability Is the unselfish concept of my duty to the whole people of North Carolina. There is not a line In it or a reservation unexpressed but that is prompted by the very best impulse and the clearest thought of the man I am. I have not considered myself, I have not considered friendships, I have not considered politics In any narrow sense, but have endeavored to the completeness of my capacity to sub ordinate every person and every in terest to the welfare of my state as a whole and to' the three million North Carolinians, high and low, by whose grace and oonfldence I have the honor to bring you this message, - America's foremost Author Wrote Her Heart Out Telling This Immortal Love Story ? and THE SCREEN KEEPS FAITH! Edna F erber's Roaring; epic at the men who make empire ? and women who perserve it spread in turn alto as pag eant across the screen. Richard Dix Irene Dunne, Estelle Taylor Wii:iam Collier, Jr., Nun O'NHl, Edna Mae Oliver, George " E. Stone, Rosco Ates, anions 5000 Superlative ' . Artiste. A WESLEY RDGGLES Production \ Palace Matinee Monday 3:00-3:30 P. M. Evening Performances 7:15-9:00 P. M On the Program ? PARAMOUNT SOUND NEWS 4<l IS" For 1 8 months just past, automobiles killed more folks than were killed in any 1 8 months of the war. For $ 1 0.00 a year, you can buy a Personal Automobile Acci dent policy which pays $5,000.00 for loss of life, loss of time, hospital, nurses and doctor bills. , ... See Satterfield Insurance Agency, Gene Thompson, Walter James, or the "Old and Tried.'"- Db it now. ? * Satterfield Insurance Agy. "Old and Tried" ~
The Roxboro Courier (Roxboro, N.C.)
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March 25, 1931, edition 1
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