Show gov dern on tax n lil dispelling S all doubt as to his attitude de on tax revision governor george H dern has taken a position strongly advocating vo the passage or of the proposed constitutional amendments by the people this tall fall ills HIS po position s was outlined in an address del delivered evered monday september esth before the state federation of labor at its annual convention in salt lake 1 I am heartily in favor of that program because I 1 believe it Is to be an improvement upon present inequitable tax system he said 1 I am in tavor favo r of it because I 1 think it 11 will make posa possible ible a fairer distribution ot of the tax burden than we have today governor dern dem pointed out many flaws in the present constitution the effect of which Is to grant exemptions to the great mass of intangible property and render it impossible to either tax the property itself or to tax the income derived rho ved experience he said has hag shown a it to be faulty to tax a few classes of intangibles not exem exempted apted by the constitution at the same rates as are applied against tangible property this he declared Is required under the prevailing uniform rule in the constitution ution the charge that intangible property Is being favored by laxity on the part of tax officials was refuted by the governor lie he said the principle ot of taxation of intangibles at the same rates as tangible property is wrong and it cant be flone done in some states there is nearly as much ln in intangible as there Is in tangible property ty it if the same ratio holds true in utah it means that one halt half the wealth in the state Is escaping taxation governor dern asserted for twenty five years past the people have been agitated by this condition home owners and farmers have bitterly complained that they were carrying the burden of government while others more able to pay than they were escaping their lust just share of the load he said erry eary in his administration governor dern announced he had told the state board of equalization to work out a more fair system of taxation their report as quoted by the governor was we cant make a start until we amend the constitution the hands bands of the legislature are so tied by constitutional restrictions that it could not give the people relief no matter how willing it might be to do so governor dern took tok the position that the constitutional exemption of certain intangibles and the requirements that the remainder be taxed at general property rates had almost eliminated intangibles from the tax rolls it if the proposed amendments are passed he contended the state would be benefited through collection of a fair tax on intangibles which would not be a heavy burden on that property but which would still yield sufficient revenue to reduce the tax on tangible property which Is now carrying the heavy load his position on the amendment for creating a tax corn commission mission was equally strong in recommending its approval by the people he argued that more than thirty states now have a successful central administration that the amendment only authorizes the legislature to give additional authority to the tax commission that the legislature must be trusted not to abuse this power governor dern dem also contended that the legislature had not abused its power in taxation of mines in the past and should be trusted to work out a better system ofra lne taxation in case a better method beao und could be found this he said was proposed after january 1 1935 by the amendment relating to mine taxation the governor made it clear that the proposed amendments would only untie the hands of the legislature to deal with the subject the detail ot of the plan was left t to the legislature to decide in conclusion he urged that the system of taxation proposed in utah was not an experiment every feature of the plan Is in successful operation in one or more states today the system Is not radical nor revolutionary in any respect but merely proposes to shift a part of the tax load from property to intangibles and income there Is a cry for justice and he urged the people of the state to join in the cry and keep it up until justice ice was done |