into consideration the subject of taxation, and report to the next Assembly. The preamble of the resolution providing for its appointment recites that, "it is believed a large amount of personal property legally and justly liable to taxation, is withheld from and not placed upon the tax list," and also, "that real estate and personal property are not now assessed at their true relative value." (Private Acts of 1867, page 248.)

The Commission thus created made their report in 1868, in which they speak of the evil now under consideration as follows:

"One of the obvious and peculiar defects of our system is, that it has no central or supervisory head, by which to secure any sort of uniformity in the manner or efficiency of its administration. It rests solely upon the interested action and determination of more than one hundred and sixty separate local Boards of Officers, all acting without concert, conference or any common control or supervision, and all alike interested, as well as their constituents, by the strongest pecuniary inducements, in the undervaluation and concealment of the taxable resources of their respective towns, in order to evade and reduce their respective State Tax apportionments. So general and significant has this practice of undervaluation become, and so palpable were the inequalities resulting from it, that the General Assembly, at the two last Sessions, appointed Boards of Valuation, or Equalization, with a view to check, in some measure, this growing evil. But when it is considered that the same pernicious influence of self-interest, which has produced undervaluations by the local town officers, was still left in full operation upon the action of every member of these Boards in the valuations in their respective local districts, it is not strange that this intended check should have proved to be of very little practical avail."

The measure of relief which they recommended for this particular difficulty was the appointment of a Tax Commissioner. He was to hold office for five years, and during the first year of his term was to cause a general revaluation of the taxable property in each town to be made by State Assessors, appointed by him for each county.

The bill reported failed to receive the approval of the Legislature, and after four years trial, the Statute as to Commission of Equalization was repealed in 1871. In 1876 another bill to create the office of State Tax Commissioner was before the Legislature, and is printed as a proposed law in the Public Acts of that year, page 145.

In 1880 the Treasurer, Comptroller, Secretary and Commissioner of the School Fund, were appointed as a Special

Commission to inquire into the condition and working of the Tax Laws of the State, and report what changes, if any, should be made. They had several public hearings, and reported at length in 1881, specifying many of the evils of our present system, and concluding with the following recommendations:

"In view of the gross inequalities of our valuation, of the imperfections of our Statutes, relating to Boards of Equalization, of the excessive taxes now bearing upon some persons, natural and artificial, we earnestly recommend the immediate appointment of a wise and competent Commission, to prepare in detail for the consideration of the next Legislature, a complete and perfect Tax Law in place of our present legislation, which, with many merits and demerits is quite like a piece of patch work. *** We earnestly recommend the appointment of a Tax Commissioner, with revisory powers; and we herewith submit a bill providing for his appointment, with an outline of his powers and duties."

The bill thus recommended was substantially that proposed in 1876, but it was not adopted.

The Special Commission submitted a second report to the General Assembly at its January Session of 1887, with bills recommended for adoption, a portion of that report and the proposed bill providing for the appointment of a Tax Commissioner, is presented here:

A TAX COMMISSIONER NECESSARY FOR THE PROPER EXECUTION OF THE LAWS.

"We believe that the time has now come when such a measure must be adopted, in order to make our Tax System accomplish its design. The additional expense attached to the creation of a new office, will, we are confident, be repaid many fold to the State itself, by the increase of revenue which may fairly be anticipated from the general supervision over its assessment and collection to be exercised by the Tax Commissioner, while the adjustment of the State Taxes between the towns can hardly fail to be made with more fairness and equality.

"It will be observed that the bill reported, requires him to visit every town in the State at least once during his official term. This will give him an opportunity to examine into the actual working of the law everywhere, to hear any complaints which may be preferred from any quarter, and to give any necessary advice and assistance to the local Assessors and Boards of Relief.

CHANGE OF OUR TAX SYSTEM IN 1850.

"The general system of local taxation now in force dates only from 1850. Until that year, it had been the practice of Connecti

cut, from her earliest Colonial days, to select certain classes of property or persons, and tax them, and them only. In 1850 and 1851 the new plan was substituted, of taxing every kind of property that was not specially exempted, and of laying no taxes on persons except for polls.

"The old theory of taxing property in proportion to its incomebearing qualities, or productive capacity, which, up to this time had been partly kept up, was now totally abandoned. Prior to 1850, real estate had been listed at only 3 per cent. of its true value, while most personal property went in at a higher percentage, according to its productiveness; much of it, and since 1836, all of it, being rated at 6 per cent. The result, of course, was that real estate was taxed only half as much as personal estate. In 1850 this distinction was abolished, and all taxable property made ratable at 3 per cent. of its value. This preserved the form, though only the form of an income tax, and was replaced in 1860 by the provision that all property should be listed at its full value.

"In 1850, also, it was first required that taxpayers should return their lists under oath.

VARIOUS LAWS ENACTED TO REACH INTANGIBLE PROPERTY.

"In the beginning of the last century, our statutes provided for the annual election of one or two 'able and faithful' men, in every town, as 'inspectors,' to see that all taxable property was assessed. Their business was to inspect the lists of every taxpayer, and if they detected any taxable property not listed, or temporarily conveyed away, to escape taxation, its ratable value was thereupon forfeited, half to them, and half to the Colony. But after ten years' trial, the forfeiture was reduced to half, and two years later it was abolished and with it the office of Inspector.

*

"The next plan was for the Assessors, if they found taxable property omitted from any man's list, to add it at a four-fold valuation, and to make out a list of those who returned none, but had taxable property, at the same rate.† Half of this valuation, that is twice the ratable value of the omitted property, or about ten or twelve per cent. of its real value, went to the Assessors, as a reward for their vigilance. This was the law for over a century, but the additions made were so inconsiderable as to average less than $30,000 in the whole State. In the Revision of 1821, the valuation was reduced from four times to three times the ratable value of the property, and the Assessors were not given any share in it.

"In 1836 the Assessors were required to add to any taxpayer's list any sum of money, or debt at interest, which they may suppose or have reason to believe is owned by or due to such person, and liable to be taxed by the provisions of this Act,

*Revision of 1702, p. 101; Acts of 1712, p. 181; Acts of 1714, p. 200.

† Acts of 1736, p. 445.

S

whether the same can be specifically pointed out or not, and which has been omitted by such person in his or her list."* The three-fold penalty also was continued, but it accomplished almost nothing, and the very able report of the Special Committee on Taxation, made to the Assembly in 1844, pronounced it entirely ineffectual.

"By the Act of 1851, † which recast our general tax system, it was provided that property of any person not returning a list should be listed by the Assessors at its 'present full, fair and just value,' and that they should add to any list returned any taxable property omitted; but the former penalties against delinquents were repealed.

"In 1865, our present penalty of ten per cent. for not returning a list was established. It will be recollected that five years ago § an attempt was made to increase it by making the addition 20 per cent. the second year, 30 per cent. the third year, 40 per cent. the fourth year, and so on. The result was to raise the total additions, for failure to return lists, in the Grand List of the State for 1883, by $335,000, and in that for 1884 by $389,000, but in 1885 such representations were made to the Assembly as to the hardship of the law, in taxing a man on what he did not own, that it was repealed.

INTANGIBLE PROPERTY SELDOM GETS INTO THE TAX LIST.

"The truth is, that no system of tax laws can ever reach directly the great mass of intangible property. It is not to be seen, and its possession, if not voluntarily disclosed, can, in most cases, be only the subject of conjecture. The people, also, in a free government, are accustomed to reason for themselves as to the justice and validity of the laws, and too apt to give themselves the benefit of the doubt, where they have in any way the power to construe it for themselves. Such a power is practically given in the form of oath used in connection with our tax lists, since it refers only to such property of the parties giving them in, as is taxable according to their best knowledge, remembrance or belief.

ASSESSORS TO VIEW ALL REAL ESTATE EVERY FIVE YEARS.

"In order to render it of any substantial value, the Assessors ought to have some knowledge themselves of the character of the improvements, as well as of the land. Many of the town officers, with whom we have been in communication, believe that the law should require a personal inspection of each piece of real estate by the Assessors, at least as often as once in five years. Two bills to accomplish this purpose-House Bill No. 193, and a substitute Bill for House Bill No. 193-were referred to us by the last General Assembly, and we believe the principle upon which

*Stat. Ed. of 1838, p. 604.

+ Public Acts of 1865, p. 199.

† Public Acts of 1851, p. 61, Secs. 33, 34.

S Public Acts of 1882, p. 174.

they rest to be a sound one. We therefore report, as a substitute for those bills, a bill for an Act requiring the Assessors to inspect all real estate as often as once in five years, unless in any particular town the Tax Commissioner shall deem it unnecessary.

"So far as the smaller towns are concerned, by dividing up the town into convenient districts, every house can annually be visited by an Assessor, and the proper tax list made out there, in far less time than it would take for the Board to wait until every householder had called upon them. Such a plan would, if faithfully carried out, accomplish the purpose of a general revaluation, with little or no additional expense. There are towns where no such valuation has been made, in any way, for thirty or forty years.

FARMING TOOLS, MECHANICS' TOOLS AND BOOKS.

"We recommend the repeal of the limit of $200.00 now affixed to the exemption from taxation of farming tools, mechanics' tools, and books kept by the owner for his own use. The better the tools our farmers and mechanics have, and the more books our people keep to read, the better it will be for the general interests of the State. The revenue now derived from these sources is inconsiderable. Only fifty-seven towns return any farming tools for taxation, and of their aggregate value of $186,208, the sum of $134,655 is contributed by a single town, Southington, almost all of which we understand, to represent the product of its factories of agricultural implements, which would not be affected by the change proposed."

PROPOSED LAW.

An Act concerning a Tax Commissioner.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

SECTION 1. The Governor shall once in every four years, commencing in 1887, during the session of the General Assembly, nominate, and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a Tax Commissioner, who shall hold office for four years from the first day of July in the year in which he is appointed, unless sooner removed by the Governor for cause, and the Governor shall fill any vacancy occurring during said four years for the unexpired portion of said term, apprising the Senate, if in session, otherwise at the opening of its next session, of such appointment; provided that the person appointed to fill the vacancy shall cease to hold the office after sixty days from the time when the Senate is apprised of his appointment, unless they, within said sixty days, give their consent thereto.

SEC. 2. The Tax Commissioner shall inquire into the execution of the laws relative to taxation, and take all proper measures to aid the due execution thereof, and perform such other duties