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Cornell University Library 
 HJ 2240.16 1910b 
 
 A report submitted to the governor and c 
 
 3 1924 014 005 064 
 
 New York 
 
 State College of Agriculture 
 
 At Cornell University 
 
 Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
 Library 
 
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 A REPORT 
 
 SUBMITTED TO THE 
 
 Governor and Council 
 
 m 
 JOSEPH S. MATTHEWS, ESQ., 
 
 DELEGATE TO THE 
 
 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 
 
 ON 
 
 STATE AND LOCAL TAXATION, 
 
 HELD AT 
 MILWAUKEE. WISCONSIN, 
 
 AUG. 30, 31, AND SEPT J^, 2, 19]^ 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014005064 
 
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 A REPORT 
 
 SUBMITTED TO THE 
 
 Governor and Council 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH S. MATTHEWS. ESQ.. 
 
 DELEGATE TO THE 
 
 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 
 
 ON 
 
 STATE AND LOCAL TAXATION. 
 
 HELD AT 
 MILWAUKEE. WISCONSIN, 
 
 AUG. 30, 3 1 , AND SEPT. 1 , 2. 
 
THIS REPORT DEALS MAINLY WITH 
 THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS: 
 
 1. An explanation of J; the Block system, 
 based on Tax maps, for the uniform classification 
 and valuation of Real Estate for purposes of tax- 
 ation, as applied to both city and farm property. 
 
 2. The Publication of Assessment Lists. 
 
 3. Tax Commissions. 
 
 4. Uniform Taxation of Insurance Com- 
 panies. 
 
 5. The Legacy and Succession Tax. 
 
To His Excellency, the Hon. Henry B. Quinhy, Governqr of 
 the State of New Hampshire, and to the Honorable 
 Council: 
 
 I beg leave to submit the following report of the work 
 aecomplished and of the future work mapped out at the 
 Conference on State and Local Taxation which was held 
 at Milwaukee, "Wis., August 30 to September 2, 1910, 
 under the auspices of the International Tax Association, 
 which by your appointment I had the honor to attend as 
 a delegate from New Hampshire. 
 
 The conference was attended by students of the sub- 
 ject of taxation, delegates and tax officials from thirty- 
 five (35) of the United States, two (2) Canadian prov- 
 inces, and sixteen (16) universities and colleges, and was 
 the fourth of its kind which has been undertaken, those 
 preceding it having been held at Columbus, Ohio, in 
 November, 1907, Toronto, Canada, in October, 1908, and 
 Louisville, Ky., in September, 1909. 
 
 The objects of the International Tax Association, as 
 stated in its constitution, are as follows: 
 
 "Its objects shall be to formulate and announce 
 through the deliberately expressed opinion of an annual 
 conference, the best-informed economic thought and 
 ripest administrative experience available for the correct 
 guidance of public opinion, legislative and administrative 
 action on all questions pertaining to state and local tax- 
 ation, and to interstate and international comity in 
 taxation. ' ' 
 
 Nearly all the tax questions which are now under dis- 
 cussion in New Hampshire have been dealt with at these 
 conferences. 
 
The New Hampshire Tax Commission of 1908 was able 
 to take advantage of the work accomplished at the meet- 
 ings at Columbus and Toronto, and derived much assist- 
 ance therefrom. 
 
 The work begun at Columbus and Toronto was con- 
 tinued and extended at the subsequent meetings at Louis- 
 ville and Milwaukee. At the Milwaukee conference re- 
 ports were submitted by several .committees which had 
 been appointed at previous meetings to investigsite 
 special subjects, and I will undertake by this communi- 
 cation to give you the benefit of those reports, in so far 
 as they appear to apply to conditions in New Hampshire. 
 
 UNIFORM CLASSIFICATION OF REAL ESTATE. 
 
 Much time has been devoted to the consideration of 
 ways and means to improve existing methods of vp,luing 
 and assessing real estate, which are acknowledged to be 
 unsatisfactory in many of the states. In this, connection. 
 Prof. John H. MaeCracken of New York University, in 
 a paper which was read at the Columbus meeting, called 
 attention to the system of land taxation in New York 
 City, which, he said, "sy^as worthy only of admiration, and 
 was probably, on the whole, the most equitable in its dis- 
 tribution, the simplest in its administration, the most pro- 
 ductive in proportion to the conscious sacrifice , involved, 
 and carried with it fewer evil consequences than any tax 
 system hitherto devised. The New York system is known 
 as the "Block System." 
 
 Professor MaeCracken 's paper was followed by another 
 written by Mr. F. A. Dethriek, .master of the State Grange 
 in Ohio, and cha,irman of the Committee, on. Taxation qf 
 the National Grange, in .which' the block system was 
 approved. 
 
 The system is described by Mr. Lawsqn. Purdy,, presir, 
 dent of the Department of Taxes and Assessments, New, 
 
York City, in a paper which was read at the Toronto 
 meeting, in which he says: "Accurate maps are the foun- 
 dation of a good system of assessing real estate. The 
 maps should be prepared in accordance with the block 
 system. . . . The system is applicable to both city and 
 country. . . . Briefly described, the block system of 
 assessment in the City of New York is as follows : 
 
 "A land map of the city was prepared . . . upon 
 which is exhibited in sections and section numbers, and 
 block and block numbers, the separate parcels of land 
 taxed within each of the city blocks. Each lot or parcel 
 of land shown on the map is designated by a lot number. 
 . . . The word "block" as used in this system desig- 
 nates a plot or parcel of land wholly embraced within 
 continuous lines of streets. . . . Blocks are numbered 
 from number one consecutively upward. The numbers 
 never change and the boundaries never change. . . . 
 
 "On the assessment roll the blocks appear consecu- 
 tively, and within each block the lots are placed in accord- 
 ance with their location on the streets, commencing at one 
 corner and proceeding continuously along each side of 
 the squares which constitute the block. Any lot may be 
 located rapidly and certainly either on the assessment 
 roll or on the map. ' ' 
 
 A unit of value is then establighed. The unit ordinarily 
 employed in the city being the value per front foot, and in 
 the country the value per acre. In making the assess- 
 ment of city real estate, the assessor establishes the value 
 per front foot of inside lots of a given depth, exclusive of 
 the buildings. The same value per front foot is used in 
 assessing all lots within the same sphere of influence, with 
 due allowance for corner lots. The values thus found are 
 extended on the maps. The value of improvements is 
 then separately ascertained. For that purpose definite 
 factors of value are established, which are applied uni- 
 formly to all buildings. 
 
If the buildings are suitable to the location and to the 
 best use of the property on which they stand, the total 
 value is then found by adding the value of the improve- 
 ments to the value of the land. When buildings are so 
 located that they are not suitable for the purposes to 
 which they are or can be applied, sufficient allowance is 
 to be made therefor, so that the assessed value shall not 
 exceed the actual selling value, as otherwise ascertained. 
 
 In a paper read at the Louisville meeting, Dr. L. G. 
 Powers, chief statistician. Bureau of the Census, Washing- 
 ton, D. C, again calls attention to the widespread lack of 
 system in the assessment of real estate, and urges the 
 adoption of a system for the valuation and assessment of 
 farm property similar to that which I have just described. 
 He shows that although 75 per cent, of the general property 
 tax of the United States is levied and collected upon realty, 
 many of the states make no provision for the preparation 
 and publication of classified and detailed lists of real prop- 
 erty, while the personal property, which bears the other 25 
 per cent, of the tax, is ordinarily required to be listed in 
 detail. 
 
 To illustrate his point, he describes conditions in New 
 Hampshire, as they appear to him, in the following 
 language : 
 
 "In its public summar;^of property listed for taxation. 
 New Hampshire presents- a summary of personal property 
 under twenty-one different heads, but includes realty 
 under the two titles (a) 'Mills, factories and machinery,' 
 and (b) 'Improved and unimproved lands and buildings.' 
 The state exhibit of the value of lands and buildings is 
 unaccompanied by any statement of the acreage of farms 
 or other lands, or of the number of town or city lots, or 
 the value of improvements upon the several classes of 
 realty. Judging by this publication, a casual student of 
 the subject, unfamiliar with the history of recent contro- 
 versies in the Granite State, might reasonably conclude 
 
 G 
 
that the commonwealth was more likely to be torn with 
 bitter discussion concerning the taxation of sheep and 
 goats, of wagons and automobiles, and of dogs and baby 
 go-carts than over the relative taxation of railroads and 
 of the lands of the farmers and lumbermen. Those who 
 are familiar with the issues dividing state parties, and the 
 mooted questions about taxation discussed in farmers' 
 gatherings of New Hampshire, or around the tables of 
 railroad directors, know, however, that such a conclusion 
 would be faulty. The apparent greater importance as- 
 signed to personalty by the published list marks the 
 absence of any intelligent system of appraising the value 
 and equalizing the assessment of realty for taxation, 
 rather than any recognition of the greater importance of 
 a just taxation of pigs and goats ahd jewelry and personal 
 adornments, than of farm lands, forests and railroads." 
 
 He then offers a few crumbs of comfort by adding : 
 
 "New Hampshire is not, however, a sinner above all 
 other states in giving greater consid«ration to the listing 
 of personal property, than to the preparation of intelli- 
 gent and illuminating exhibits of the various classes of 
 realty;" and then goes on to say that 
 
 "One result of this absence of the provision specified 
 is that neither the educated nor the uneducated can take 
 the state or local report of assessed valuation and reach 
 an intelligent conclusion concerning the relative assess- 
 ment and taxation of any two classes of real property, 
 such as farms and property devoted to other purposes. 
 One class of property may be greatly favored, and there 
 is nothing in the assessment roll or published report that 
 can be considered as conclusive proof of such favoritism, 
 or to show to a given individual whether or not he or his 
 neighbor is being excessively taxed. 
 
 "The situation thus created can, and often does, give 
 rise to many unsettled questions concerning the adminis- 
 tration of state and local governments. Thus, in one of 
 
 7 
 
our states in which railroads are assessed separately from 
 other property, but all real property is assessed under 
 one or two heads or titles, there has long been a semi- 
 political controversy as to the relative burden borne by 
 the railroads and other industries. It is a state in which 
 there are large areas of land covered with primeval for- 
 ests used only for cutting logs, wood pulp and other forest 
 products. Some of the most intelligent people claim that 
 the railroads are paying relatively only one-third as much 
 tax as the farmers and lumbermen; and, on the other 
 hand, the railroads claim that they are paying as heavy a 
 tax, if not heavier, than the farmer, and that their burden 
 of taxation is much greater relatively than that of the 
 lumberman. An analysis of the published reports of the 
 state, and comparisons of the data of such reports, with 
 reliable information obtainable from other sources, alike 
 fail to be conclusive as to the contention of any of the 
 parties to this controversy. 
 
 "So long as this condition prevails, the state referred 
 to will afford the dishonest firm or corporation a ready 
 means for evading just taxation, and will find that the 
 subject of taxation and the administration of public-serv- 
 ice corporations are used by demagogues for the purpose 
 of stirring up strife and agitation, without advancing the 
 interests of any class of the people or any industry in the 
 community. All industries will continue to be more or 
 less disturbed and subjected to unjust burdens, suspicion 
 and annoyance. The same situation, with minor varia- 
 tions, exists in every state where the published lists of 
 the tax-gatherer provide no more information covering 
 the real property taxed. This condition of affairs ought 
 not to exist. Taxation should be lifted as much as pos- 
 sible out of the domain of party politics and placed on the 
 broad basis of a statesmanship guided by exact knowledge. ' ' 
 
 And in conclusion says: 
 
 8 
 
"If anyone listening to my remarks has been given the 
 impression that I am advocating the adoption of new and 
 untried devices in the field of taxation, I will answer I 
 am merely urging the application to taxation of the ana- 
 lytical and statistical methods which the business world 
 has utilized in so many fields, and upon which it is relying 
 in an ever-increasing measure as a guide for business 
 administration. Correct analysis lies at the basis of all 
 modern business success; and statistics based upon such 
 analysis are playing an ever-increasing part in guarantee- 
 ing such success. 
 
 ' ' In pleading for the use of a classified listing of real 
 estate, under heads that fully elucidate and set forth the 
 character of land and the amount of land of each specific 
 class or character, I am urging the extension into the 
 field of taxation of the method that has everywhere dem- 
 onstrated its ability to make facts eloquent for equity, 
 and to use them as a guide for the business men, the leg- 
 islator and the statesman." 
 
 After the presentation of Doctor Powers' paper, the 
 following resolution was adopted: 
 
 "Besolved, That the conference recommends to the In- 
 ternational Tax Association that a committee be appointed 
 upon uniform classification of real property, which shall 
 prepare and submit to future conferences and to the leg- 
 islatures of the states and provinces, a classification of 
 real property, such as is contemplated by these resolu- 
 tions, and to submit to future conferences such further 
 recommendations as the committee may deem advisable 
 to secure the early adoption by our several states and 
 provinces of such uniform classification of real property 
 values. ' ' 
 
 And the following-named gentlemen were appointed to 
 constitute the committee : 
 
 T. C. Townsend, state tax commissioner. West Virginia, 
 chairman. 
 
J. B. Frost, member state tax commission of Washing- 
 ton. 
 
 "William S. Glass, member state tax commission of 
 Kansas. 
 
 John Perrie, tax commissioner, province of Alberta. 
 
 A. C. Pleydell, secretary of New York Tax Reform 
 Association. 
 
 L. G. Powers, chief statistician, Bureau of Census. 
 Frank Sehutz, tax commissioner. City of Milwaukee. 
 J. J. Thomas, State Board of Equalization, Utah. 
 
 B. L. Heydecker, assistant tax commissioner, City of 
 New York. 
 
 This committee corresponded with the central super- 
 vising body in tax matters in each state, territory and 
 Canadian province, requesting information as to the con- 
 ditions and methods prevailing in the several jurisdic- 
 tions, and suggestions for the improvement of the same, 
 and submitted its report to the Milwaukee Conference. 
 
 In approving and recommending the use of maps, and 
 the application of the block system to the assessment of 
 farm property, as suggested by Doctor Powers at Louis- 
 ville, the committee says in its report: "The committee 
 has been guided in its work by the paper on the uniform 
 listing of real estate by Dr. L. G. Powers . . . which 
 was read at the Louisville Conference, and which was 
 the moving cause of the adoption of the resolution under 
 which this committee was appointed. 
 
 "... Doctor Powers has laid stress, in his paper, 
 on the necessity for maps as a fundamental requirement. 
 In this he is supported by economists and practical ad- 
 ministrators, and your committee is convinced that maps 
 which show the territory included within the territorial 
 limits of the taxing area are prerequisites to a proper 
 classification and listing of real estate. 
 
 "... The tax map, which every taxing district 
 
 10 
 
should provide for its assessor, need not be an elaborate 
 affair. An outline map, or a sketch map, will serve until a 
 better one built upon an actual survey can be pro- 
 vided . . . 
 
 "The map should be divided into convenient divisions, 
 and the parcels should be numbered consecutively within 
 each division. Each farm or separately owned parcel 
 should be one parcel and have a number. Thus, for ex- 
 ample, we should have: 
 "Parcel 61. Division 3. Township of 100 acres. 
 
 ' ' The name of the reputed owner should be given, not for 
 the purpose of making the assessment against the owner, 
 but for purposes of identification and ease of locating a 
 parcel upon the map. The assessment should be against 
 the land, as a parcel upon the roll, and the question of 
 who owns it is, and should be, immaterial. 
 
 "classification op real estate. 
 
 "Having obtained a map, on Avhich the separate farms 
 or parcels can be shown, we come to the classification of 
 land. Let us divide the subject and consider rural lands 
 and urban lands. 
 
 "I. Rural Lands. 
 
 "Doctor Powers proposed eight classes for rural lands: 
 
 " 1 . Land under cultivation or being used for meadows. 
 
 "2. Land not under cultivation, but capable of being 
 plowed. 
 
 "3. Land covered with a growth of timber. 
 
 ' ' 4. Orchards. 
 
 "5. Waste Land. 
 
 "6. Mineral Land. 
 
 "7. QuartyLand. 
 
 "8. Land that is valuable by reason of oil, gas or other 
 deposits. 
 
 11 
 
"Applying short terms (even if not quite exact) to 
 these classes, we shall have : 
 
 "(1) Cultivated; (2) Arable; (3) Timber; (4) Or- 
 chard; (5) Waste; (6) Mineral; (7) Quarry; (8) Oil and 
 Gas. It may be possible to combine the seventh and 
 eighth with the sixth,, but if the eight subdivisions are. 
 adopted they will produce much better statistical results. 
 "Assuming such a classification, and also assuming that 
 John Smith is shown upon the tax map and the tax roll 
 as the reputed possessor of a farm of 100 acres, the entry 
 would be as follows : 
 
 "Parcel 61. Division 3. Township of. 
 "Cultivated 
 Arable 
 Timber 
 Orchard 
 Waste . 
 Mineral 
 Quarry 
 Oil and gas 
 
 "In apportioning the number of acres to each class, if 
 there is an accurate survey, or if the map is in sufSeient 
 detail to show, the survey or map would be followed. If 
 no survey existed, or if the map were merely an outline, 
 or sketch map, the assessor would use his own judgment, 
 guided by the statement made to him by the owner when 
 he visited the property for assessment purposes. 
 
 "After all the parcels had been classified in this way 
 by the assessor, he would proceed to determine the value 
 of the land in each parcel. To arrive at this, he would 
 determine the maximum and minimum value of an acre of 
 land in each of the classes in the division of the township 
 under consideration. Then applying his knowledge of 
 
 35 
 
 acres. 
 
 12 
 
 acres. 
 
 5 
 
 acres. 
 
 2 
 
 acres. 
 
 39 
 
 acres. 
 
 
 
 acres. 
 
 1 
 
 acre. 
 
 6 
 
 acres. 
 
 100 
 
 acres 
 
 12 
 
the actual conditions, as to topography and location, in 
 each parcel, he would fix the assessment of the land in 
 each class for each parcel and extend the total as the 
 land value of such parcel. ' ' 
 
 Having found the value of the land, the assessor is then 
 to find the value of the improvements separately, as in the 
 case of city property. 
 
 PUBDIOITT. 
 
 As a further aid in securing equality in the assessment 
 of property. Prof. James E. Boyle of the State University 
 of South Dakota, in a paper read at the Toronto Confer- 
 ence, suggested the publication of the assessment lists. 
 Such publication has long been required by law in some 
 of the states, while in others the practice has not nlet with 
 favor. Professor Boyle cites the cities of Brookline and 
 liowell, Mass., and the town of Sunapee as places where 
 the plan has been tried. 
 
 Regarding the town of Sunapee, he says : 
 
 "... The town of Sunapee, N. H., is another ex- 
 ample from New England. Here the list is published an- 
 nually in pamphlet form, the paper and press work being 
 of excellent quality. The list for 1906 contains 54 pages, 
 and names of 800 taxpayers, with a complete inventory 
 of real and personal property, total valuation and total 
 tax. There were printed 500 copies at a cost of $75, or 
 fifteen cents per copy. For 1907 the list was slightly 
 enlarged, and the cost was $100." . . . 
 
 And in conclusion says : 
 
 "It is not a cure-all. But it is certainly a powerful, 
 safe and wholesome stimulus, producing in the assessor a 
 ruling desire to find all taxable property, and to value if 
 correctly, while at the same time it enables the taxpayer 
 to see at a glance what degree of efficiency is reached by 
 his employee, the assessor." 
 
 13 
 
On the same subject, Mr. Purdy said, in his Toronto 
 paper : 
 
 "To determine the value of land with the greatest 
 accuracy it is necessary to secure as nearly as possible 
 the opinion as to value of the largest number of persons 
 who help to make the market, either by being themselves 
 buyers and sellers or the advisers of buyers and sel- 
 lers. . . . 
 
 ' ' Some years ago, in the City of St. Paul, Mr. "William 
 A. Somers invited all persons interested in the assessment 
 of the city to attend in a large room, where maps of the 
 city were exhibited. On these maps the value per front 
 foot, 100 feet deep, was set do-^vn on each side of every 
 block. Criticism was invited of those unit values. As a 
 result o| the criticism the values w«re changed until they 
 were substantially approved by practically all those in 
 the city who had a well-informed opinion as to values. 
 The assessment of the land of St. Paul that year repre- 
 sented the consensus of opinion of those who knew what 
 the land in St. Paul was worth. This same method was 
 tried in the City of Cleveland, with a view to securing an 
 accurate statement of the value of land in the city for 
 the purpose of aiding the assessing board, over which the 
 authorities of the city had no direct control. The exper- 
 iment in Cleveland aroused much interest and is said to 
 have been a success." 
 
 And, speaking of the maps such as are contemplated 
 by the block system, he says : 
 
 "These maps should be bound in pamphlets, each pam- 
 phlet covering so much of the city as may be convenient. 
 The maps or map pamphlets should then be distributed 
 to those best informed in regard to land values, with a 
 request for criticism." 
 
 The Committee on Uniform Classification of Real Estate 
 in its report to the Milwaukee Conference, deals with this 
 subject as follows: 
 
 14 
 
"We may have gained the tax maps and the classifica- 
 tion of real estate, by means of which an accurate assess- 
 ment may be made in any district ; but there remains one 
 other desired cheek upon the assessor, and that is pub- 
 licity beyond his own district. The whole state is inter- 
 ested in accurate assessment in each locality. The state 
 can only be informed of local assessments by accurate sta- 
 tistics: Statistical information as to assessed values is 
 needed, therefore. By means of statistics, general aver- 
 ages can be struck. "When any locality rises or falls 
 sharply above or below the average, it is a danger signal 
 and calls for immediate investigation. The committee, 
 therefore, recommends that the tax law of each state be 
 amended by inserting the following : 
 
 "statistics op assessed value op real estate. 
 
 "On the day of in each year, each assessor 
 
 shall report to the tax commission (or central supervising 
 body) the following information: 
 
 "1. The number of separately assessed parcels of rural 
 land in his district. 
 
 ' ' 2. The number of acres of rural land assessed. 
 
 "3. The number of acres of each class of rural land 
 assessed. ' 
 
 "4. The total value of each class of rural land assessed. 
 
 ' ' 5. The total value of rural land assessed. 
 
 "6. The total value of rural land assessed, including 
 buildings and improvements. 
 
 "7. The number of separately assessed parcels of ur- 
 ban land in his district. 
 
 "8. The number of separately assessed parcels of each 
 class of urban land. 
 
 "9. The number of acres of undeveloped acreage. 
 
 "10. The total value of each class of urban land 
 assessed. 
 
 15 
 
"11. The total value of urban land assessed. 
 ' ' 12. The total value of urban land assessed, including 
 buildings and improvements." 
 
 TAX COMMISSIONS. 
 
 The report of the same committee shows that "twenty 
 states and one Canadian province have tax commission- 
 e'rs; one state has a state board of assessors; niue states 
 and one territory have state boards of equalization; six- 
 teen states, one territory ahd eight Canadian proviiees 
 place the supervision of tax matters in the hands of some 
 state official, charged with auditing duties. 
 
 "The powers of the state tax commissioners vary 
 greatly. Some are commissioners in name only, some 
 have merely advisory power, while a few have broad pow- 
 ers of direction and supervision." 
 
 Several speakers at the conferences have declared that 
 very little good can be accomplished by the process of 
 equalization. Mr. Purdy says, in his Toronto paper, that : 
 
 "No board for the correction or review of assessments 
 has ever existed that can do very much to correct a poor 
 assessment. ' ' 
 
 And Professor Boyle, in his paper, says : ' ' The attempt 
 to cure the defects in the assessor's work by a so-called 
 board of equalization, and then 'equalize' this board's 
 work by another board of equalization above, is a process 
 as clumsy as it is ineffective. We have arrived at the 
 point where prevention, not cure, is to be sought." 
 
 The impression I have gathered from the papers and the 
 discussion at the three conferences which I have attended 
 is that the most improvement has been attained in those 
 states where permanent tax commissions with supervisory 
 powers have been established, and that the broader the 
 powers given to such commissions, the better have been 
 the results. 
 
 16 
 
In a very interesting paper read at the Milwaukee Con- 
 ference, Hon. T. C. Townsend, state tax commissioner of 
 "West Virginia, details some of the results of the estab- 
 lishment of such a commission in his state, and the re- 
 sulting effort to secure an assessment of property at its 
 true value. He says: "The year 1904 is regarded as the 
 dividing line, between the 'old' and the 'new' tax laws of 
 the state. ... In 1904 the average rate of taxation 
 for all purposes was $2.15 1-3 on each one hundred dollars' 
 valuation. In 1908 the average rate for all purposes was 
 84% c^nts on each one hundred dollars' valuation. The 
 average rate for 1909 and 1910 has not been definitely 
 ascertained, but I am sure it will not exceed 85 cents 
 on the hundred. 
 
 "In 1904 the total average rate for all purposes on 
 property situated outside of municipal corporations was 
 $1.99 on each hundred dollars' valuation, while in 1909 
 the total average rate for all purposes on property sit- 
 uated outside of municipalities was 74 3-10 cents on the 
 hundred dollars. In 1904 the total average rate for all 
 purposes on property situated inside of municipal cor- 
 porations was $2.48% on the hundred, while in 1909 the 
 total average rate for all purposes on property situated 
 inside of municipal corporations was $1.05% on the hun- 
 dred dollars. . . . 
 
 "We are collecting more money for every purpose in 
 the state of West Virginia than ever before, but the tax 
 burdens have been more equally distributed, with the re- 
 sult that nine-tenths of the taxpayers are contributing 
 less since the revision of the tax laws." . . . 
 
 TAXATION OF INSURANCE COMPANIES. 
 
 Hon. Joseph A. DeBoer, president of the National Life 
 Insurance Company, of Montpelier, Vt., submitted a paper 
 at the Louisville Conference, in which he urged the neees- 
 
 17 
 
sity of uniform systems for the taxation of life insurance 
 companies in the several states, and advocated a uniform 
 state tax on gross premiums collected vrithin each state 
 and in lieu of all other taxes. At the close of that confer- 
 ence, the following resolution was adopted: 
 
 "Whereas, The taxation of the business of insurance is 
 a problem different from that presented by the taxation 
 of other corporations; 
 
 "Resolved, That the laws of the several states relating 
 to the taxation of insurance companies should be uniform 
 so far as permissible by state constitutions, and that all 
 retaliatory legislation be abandoned as contrary to inter- 
 state comity, and that this conference recommends that 
 the Executive Committee of the International Tax Asso- 
 ciation appoint a committee of three to investigate the 
 question of insurance taxation, and report to the next 
 annual conference." 
 
 The committee appointed pursuant to this resolution 
 made its report at the Milwaukee Conference and a fur- 
 ther resolution was then adopted, as follows: 
 
 "Wheeeas, a tax measured by domestic premium re- 
 ceipts of companies engaged in the business of insuring 
 lives in the several states is easily and accurately cal- 
 culated, and accords with the amount of business trans- 
 acted with the policy-holders in the several states ; there- 
 fore, be it 
 
 "Resolved, That it is the sense of the conference that 
 a uniform method of taxing the domestic premium re- 
 ceipts of all companies, foreign and domestic, engaged in 
 the business of insuring lives, should be adopted in the 
 several states of the Union. 
 
 "Resolved, That the conference make no recommenda- 
 tion as to the amount of the rate." 
 
 18 
 
LEGACY TAX. 
 
 The Columbus Conference adopted the following reso- 
 lution relative to legacy and succession taxes : 
 
 "Whereas, The principles of international and inter- 
 state comity require that the same property should not 
 be taxed by two jurisdictions at the same time, and the 
 laws for taxation of the transfer of property at death 
 commonly transgress these principles ; be it 
 
 "Resolved, That the same principles should be applied 
 in all tax legislation, to the end that no property should 
 be taxed by two state jurisdictions at the same time." 
 
 Later, a committee was appointed to draft a model law 
 for the taxation of inheritances. Hon. William H. Cor- 
 bin, tax commissioner of the state of Connecticut, served 
 as chairman of this committee, in place of Prof. Charles 
 J. Bullock of Harvard College, who by reason of illness 
 was unable to serve. The report of this committee was 
 also submitted at the Milwaukee- Conference. The 
 "model law" proposed by the committee provides for a 
 tax graded as to relationship and progressive as to the 
 amount of the bequest, and based upon the value of each 
 bequest, instead of on the total value of the estate. 
 
 It provides for the taxation of transfers of real estate 
 and tangible personal property by the state in which 
 the property is located, and of intangible personal prop- 
 erty by the state in which the decedent had his domicile, 
 regardless of its location. Exemptions and details of ad- 
 ministration are necessarily left for adjustment to con- 
 ditions in each state. The report of the committee was 
 accepted and the following resolution adopted : 
 
 "Whereas, This conference is of the opinion that the 
 adoption by the several states of the Union of an inherit- 
 ance tax law framed along the lines of that submitted 
 by the special committee of the Association would pro- 
 
 19 
 
vide a fair return to the state treasuries, avoid double 
 taxation, and promote interstate comity; 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That the secretary of the International Tax 
 Association be requested to forward to the proper officials 
 of the several states of the Union a copy of the proposed 
 law, t'ogether with the text of this resolution, with a re- 
 quest to submit the same to the proper committee of the 
 legislature at its next session." 
 
 The imposition of a transfer tax by two, and sometimes 
 three or four, states upon the same property in the course 
 of the administration of an estate is everywhere con- 
 demned. The International Tax Association is entitled 
 . to be supported in its effort to secure legislation which 
 will obviate it. 
 
 I do not, however, agree with the committee as to the 
 place where the line should be drawn between the states. 
 In designating (Section 2 of the proposed bill) where 
 each class of property may be taxed, the bill treats tan- 
 gible personal property like real estate, and allots it to 
 the state where it is located, instead of the state of the 
 decedent's domicile. I would draw the line between real 
 property on the one hand, and all classes of personal 
 property on the other, taxing real property where located 
 and all personal in the state of the decedent's domicile. 
 
 It has been repeatedly held that a legacy or succession 
 tax is a tax upon the right to take property by will or 
 intestate succession, and not upon the property passing. 
 The tax upon the exercise of such a right should belong 
 to the state which grants the right. All real estate passes 
 under the laws of the state where it is located, and all per- 
 sonal property, whether tangible or intangible, by the 
 laws of the state of the decedent's domicile. I think that 
 all transfers of property should be taxed by the state 
 from which the right to receive the transfer is derived, 
 and nowhere else, thus making the right to tax co-exten- 
 sive with the right to control the devolution of the 
 property. 
 
 20 
 
Concerning the division whiqh I suggest, the committee 
 says in its report: 
 
 "Among the states which avoid the double taxation of 
 such property and endeavor to maintain the principle 
 that all personal property should invariably be taxed at 
 the domicile of the decedent, the following are worthy of 
 particular mention: 
 
 "Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, 
 Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, 
 Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, 
 Utah, Virginia, Washington, "West Virginia and 
 Wyoming. ' ' 
 
 It seems to me that the end in view can be accomplished 
 as surely and much more easily by an effort to extend to 
 other states a principle which has already been adopted 
 in twenty states, than by trying to establish a new divid- 
 ing line. 
 
 This committee will be continued, as will also the Com- 
 mittee on Uniform Insurance Tax Laws and the Commit- 
 tee on Classification of Real Estate, and supplemental re- 
 ports wilt be made at the next conference, to be held in 
 1911. Other committees have been appointed and will 
 report at the next conference on the following subjects, 
 viz. : 
 
 Administration of Tax Laws. 
 
 Practical Substitutes for the General Property Tax. 
 
 Taxation of Banks and Financial Institutions. 
 
 Taxation of Mercantile and Manufacturing Corpora- 
 tions. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Joseph S. Matthews. 
 Concord, N. H., December 10, 1910. 
 
 21 
 

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