of

CITY SCHOOL OFFICERS. For the managemer public schools a few of the small cities are joined to the counties in which they are located. In most cities, however, there is a city (division) superintendent appointed by the State Board of Education. The superintendent has general charge of the schools of the city. He is subject to control, however, by the city school board, the members of which are usually appointed by the city council.

CLASS EXERCISES

1. Try to find out the population of your city, or of the nesrest city to you. Is its population said to be increasing? Can you see any evidences of the increase, such as the building of new residences or business houses? What natural advantages has your city? What attracts people to it?

2. Mention some of the things that city governments provide that are not undertaken by county governments. Why does this difference exist? Explain, then, why the city government differs from that of the county.

3. Explain what is meant by a city charter. Find out whether the government of your city (or the nearest city to you) is established by an old special charter. If so, find out how the city council is organized. Are there one or two bodies? What are they called?

4. How many wards are there in your city (or the nearest city to you)? Are the councilmen elected by wards? How many in each ward? When are they next elected? How long do they serve? What is a city ordinance? 5. Who is the mayor of your city? How and when was he chosen? How long does he serve? What are his duties?

6. Who appoints in your city firemen, policemen, street cleaners, health officers, officers who lay out and pave the streets?

7. Does your city own the waterworks? The gas plant? The electric plant? If so, who appoints the officers who manage these enterprises? 8. Describe the government of Richmond. Of Norfolk. Describe the "modified commission form" of city government. The "city manager form." The "general councilmanic plan."

9. Tell what officers control the schools in your city.

10. If you live in a town, tell some of the things that your town government undertakes. What officers does it have? How many members are there in the town council? What is the chief difference between towns and small cities?

11. Give the names of the important officers of your city or town.

CHAPTER XVII

STATE AND LOCAL TAXATION

THE MEANING OF TAXATION. We have seen that the government undertakes to perform many services in the interest of the people-services which contribute very greatly to our individual happiness and prosperity. Naturally it requires a great deal of money to support these services which the government undertakes. Salaries must be paid to officers, many buildings must be erected and maintained, roads and streets must be improved. The money for these and for many other services which the government performs must be secured from the people of the community. The government secures this money by a system which we call taxation.

A tax is a sum of money taken from the individual to be used by the government for the interest of the whole community. Or, as it is sometimes briefly put, "a tax is private property taken for a public purpose"-this property being almost invariably in the form of money.

Many people feel that it is a great hardship to pay taxes to the government; they look upon this almost as oppression. Some of them do not think that they are doing anything wrong if they avoid paying their taxes whenever that is possible. They do not seem to realize that the government gives them something in return for the money that they pay in taxes. It gives them, as we have seen, innumerable protections for their life, their liberty, their health, their property; and innumerable community benefits, such as good roads and streets and schoolhouses for the education of their children. People ought to be just as willing to pay for these things as they are ready to pay for things which they buy in the shops. Most of us get far more from the government in the way of pro

tection and benefits than we ever actually pay for in taxes. The fact is that we cannot do without the services which the government supplies, and the government is absolutely dependent on taxes for its support.

THE PRINCIPLES OF TAXATION. We have seen that the government sometimes takes an individual's property under the power of eminent domain, when such property is needed for opening a street or road or for any other public purpose. Property taken in this manner is not regarded as a tax, because the individual is paid directly in money for the property that is taken. When the government takes the individual's property in the form of taxes the individual is of course not paid anything directly. He gets his compensation only indirectly in the form of services which the government provides.

Ever since the Revolutionary War it has been settled in the United States that the people alone shall have power to tax themselves. This does not mean that each person may say how much he will or will not contribute to the support of the government. It simply means that taxes can be levied upon us only by those whom we ourselves elect to represent us for this purpose-by the General Assembly of the state, or the board of supervisors of the county, or the council of a city. This is the first important principle of taxation.

The second principle of taxation is that as nearly as possible people shall pay taxes according to what they can afford to pay. If we look at the benefits which each of us gets from the government this principle may not seem wholly fair. The rich man, who pays large taxes, receives no more benefit from the roads and streets and schools than does the poor man who pays little or no taxes. On the other hand, it would be absurd for the government to tax everybody the same amount, without any regard to differences of wealth and income among the people. This would simply mean that many persons would be unable to pay the taxes imposed upon them. It is manifest

that the government can get money for its support only from people who have money. We have, therefore, hit upon the general principle that people must contribute to the support of the government in proportion to their ability to do so. The poll tax of a dollar and a half a year, which is assessed upon all men over twenty-one years of age, is an exception to this general principle. So also are those special assessments which the government levies (when, for example, a road or street is improved) in proportion to the amount which the adjoining property is increased in value by these improvements.

The third principle in our system of taxation is that taxes must be equally and impartially laid. All the people of a certain class and all the property of a certain class must be taxed alike. The government cannot, for example, levy a tax of a certain amount on one man's farm or income and refuse to place the same tax upon another farm or another income of equal value. While this principle is clearly just and reasonable, it should be noted that it is not always easy to apply. As we have seen, property is assessed for taxation by many different officers throughout the state; and it often happens that property in one community is assessed more nearly at its true value than property in some other community. This is sometimes true even with reference to different pieces of property in the same county. The government should, and probably will, make every effort to overcome these inequalities.

TAXES ON REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY. Property in lands and buildings is known as real property. It is this variety of property that bears the heaviest burden of taxation, this being due in part to the fact that it is impossible for the owners of such property to hide it. Property in the form of farming implements, cattle, furniture, jewelry, books, and such things, as well as property in the form of money, is known as personal property. The government also endeavors to collect taxes on this kind of property. The fact is, however, that taxes on personal property have everywhere proved

to be very largely a failure. This is partly due to the fact that the owners of such property may deceive the officers of the government by refusing to acknowledge all that they possess. It would seem, however, that the officers of the government very seldom make an honest effort to secure all the information possible about the personal property of the people.

In every community in Virginia some property is free from taxation. It would be absurd, for example, for the government to tax public buildings, roads, and streets. This would simply mean that the government was paying taxes to itself. Certain other classes of property, such as public libraries, colleges and other educational institutions, churches and ministers' residences, Young Men's Christian Association buildings, and charitable institutions are also free from taxation. Such property as this is not taxed because, although it is owned by private persons or associations, it is nevertheless regarded as being used for the general benefit of the whole community.

INCOME TAXES. Many persons receive large salaries and have other sources from which they get incomes, although they do not possess any real property, and little, if any, personal property on which the government actually collects taxes. It is not just that such persons should be entirely free from taxation. The government, therefore, places a tax on all incomes over and above a thousand dollars a year. As in the case of personal property, these taxes are very difficult to collect. The officers of the government have to rely almost wholly upon the individual's willingness to declare exactly what his income is. That this form of taxation has not been a great success is clearly shown by the fact that in twenty-five or thirty counties of the state no income taxes are paid at all.'

FRANCHISE TAXES. Certain persons and corporations are taxed for special privileges which the government has