siderable amount of data relating to exchange rates is summarized and tabulated.

The Annual Report of the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society, 1916 (174 Second Ave., New York), notes the expansion of the work of this society. Virginia has been added to the field of operations of the loan department. Out of $2,065,000 loaned, the loss thus far during seventeen years has been $64,000, or a little over 3 per cent.

The Massachusetts Special Commission on the Cost of Living has made a report on Bread (Jan. 17, 1917, pp. 17); on Relation of Transportation to Prices (Jan. 22, pp. 6); on Department Stores (Jan. 23, pp. 3); and a Final Report (Feb. 15, pp. 14).

The Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Convention of the Investment Bankers Association of America held October 2, 3, and 4, 1916 (Chicago, 111 West Monroe St., 1916, pp. 293), besides the verbatim report of proceedings, includes a paper on the tax situation in Ohio, New York, and Massachusetts and reports of the public utility securities commission and the municipal securities commission with a proposed model municipal bond act.

Among banking documents are to be noted:

Seventh Annual Report of the Superintendent of Banks in California, 1916 (Sacramento, pp. 611).

Statement Showing the Condition of Illinois State Banks, November 18, 1916 (Springfield, pp. 423).

Fourth Annual Report of the Banking Commissioner of Kentucky, 1915-1916 (pp. 149).

Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the State Banking Board of Nebraska (1916, pp. 421).

Annual Report of the Board of Bank Commissioners of New Hampshire (Concord, 1916, pp. 388).

Report on Banks of Deposit and Discount, and Private Banks, by the Superintendent of Banks of the State of New York (Albany, pp. 460).

Tenth Annual Report of the State Bank Examiner of the State of Washington, December 31, 1916 (Olympia, 1917, pp. 42). With this is a separate containing the new banking code approved March 10,

1917.

Public Finance

PITTSBURGH COMMITTEE ON TAXATION STUDY. The extension of the functions of cities and the insistence upon the more adequate perform

ance of old functions are putting heavier pressure upon municipal revenues. City officials are feeling the necessity of increasing revenues by searching out new sources of income or by utilizing more fully those already existing and of adjusting more equitably the burdens of taxation among the taxpayers. In pursuance of these objects the city council of Pittsburgh in 1916 authorized the appointment of a Committee on Taxation Study to investigate the tax system and to submit recommendations to the council. Mr. William Price was chairman of the committee and Professor John T. Holdsworth was chairman of the subcommittees on planning and formulation of the report. The results of the investigation have just been published in a pamphlet which contains matters of interest to other cities. (Report of the Committee on Taxation Study to Council of the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1916, pp. 105.)

The limits of this review preclude as full a discussion of the contents of the report as its importance would justify. The committee recommends first the retention of the so-called graded tax on real estate which provides for the gradual reduction of the rate upon buildings until it becomes equal to one half of the rate on land. The economic results of this law have been obscured by the effects of other recent changes in the taxation of real estate in Pittsburgh and the committee believes that the experiment "should be given full and fair trial.”

In discussing the question of local administration the committee urges the adoption of a more scientific and equitable system. "A mere statement of the way properties are assessed indicates: first, wasteful duplication of work; and second, the complete lack of modern methods, rules and equipment for arriving at uniform and equitable assessments." The committee favors the consolidation in one board of the duties of assessing all property within the county; the consolidation in one office of the duties of collecting city and county taxes; the substitution of annual for triennial assessments; the adoption of modern methods of assessment including the section, block, and lot system; improvement in the collection of delinquent taxes; and greater publicity in assessment and taxation matters.

The report relates the question of "zoning" to taxation by showing that public regulation of the use of real estate is necessary "to prevent the needless destruction of these values" and that the absorption of suburban districts "whose inhabitants make their living in the city, but now pay no taxes for the city privileges which they enjoy" would increase city revenues. It also favors a constitutional amendment and statutes authorizing excess condemnation.

Tables in the report show that almost one fifth of the value of real estate is exempt from taxation. The committee criticises the existing method of granting exemptions and discusses the economic basis of exemption and the lines along which a "radical revision of the whole exemption system" may be attained. It also advocates the taxation of the local real estate of public utility corporations, now exempt, at the same rate as other real estate upon assessments made by state officers.

It recommends that special services rendered by the city to private concerns or individuals should be made self-sustaining; that larger revenues should be obtained from the rental and use of city property and that the automobile license tax should be increased by 50 per cent and that 30 per cent of the total proceeds should be distributed to the city.

The abolition of the following impositions is recommended: "the mercantile license tax, which is wrong in principle and necessarily bad and costly in practice;" the occupation tax, "which costs more to assess and collect than the amount of the collections"; and the personal property tax as soon as a graduated income tax, or a graduated direct inheritance tax, or both, can be secured.

The committee approves the present practice of deriving state revenues from the tax on corporations but suggests some desirable changes. The committee investigated the operation of the law imposing a fourmill tax on intangibles and concludes that there is much evasion and that the tax as administered is inequitable. While granting that a more efficient collection of the tax would result from a greater centralization of assessments, it holds "that even with this kind of centralization the present system of taxing intangibles in this state cannot be administered to accomplish results as fair and satisfactory as can be secured by means of a graduated income tax." This discussion and the conclusion of the committee will be of especial interest to those persons in other states who are seeking a substitute for the personal property

tax.

Probably the most important recommendations of the committee are those relating to the taxation of inheritances and incomes. In a concise but convincing way it is urged that the present law taxing collateral inheritances should be extended so as to include the taxation of direct inheritances and that the "tax rate should be made progressive, both with respect to the size of the inheritance and with respect to the degree of relationship of the heir." The committee further recommends the adoption of a state income tax with the following features: progressive

rates; low exemption; "information at the source"; the inclusion at the outset of individuals only; the application of the personal property tax paid by an individual on his income tax; the distribution of the proceeds (excepting an amount to cover expenses of administration) to the local governments; and a tax commission or commissioner to administer the law and to appoint income assessors.

The appendix contains an interesting discussion of the income tax with an analysis of the tax laws of Wisconsin and Massachusetts and the proposed law in New York, an instructive account of the tax system of Pennsylvania, and an explanation of the New York system of assessing real estate.

Indiana University.

WILLIAM A. RAWLES.

The Governor's Budget Estimate of the State of New York, transmitted January 3, 1917 (pp. 75), marks a new step in state finance, being authorized by the act of 1916.

The New York State Tax Bulletin, Vol. I, No. 5, issued by the State Tax Department, contains a Review of Local Assessments, 1916 (Nov., 1916, pp. 66).

The Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the New York Tax Reform Association gives a summary of tax legislation in New York during the year 1916 (29 Broadway, pp. 8).

The two lectures which William A. Prendergast, Comptroller of the City of New York, delivered at New York University in March, 1916, on Financing the City of New York, have been reprinted as a pamphlet (pp. 41). This is a valuable contribution to the subject of municipal finance, making a useful generalization of the principal facts as to the budget, borrowing policy, debt, and sinking funds.

The Minnesota Tax Commission has published advance sheets on Comparative Cost of State Government, by Professor R. G. Blakey (St. Paul, 1916, pp. 78).

The Fifth Annual Report of the Colorado Tax Commission (Denver, 1916, pp. 264) refers to the unsuccessful efforts to abolish the Colorado Tax Commission, and contains the report at length of the survey committee of state affairs which engaged Dr. Robert M. Haig, of Columbia University, to make a survey and appraisal of the revenue system of the state. This is an interesting summary of more than local value.

The Fifth Report of the Tax Commission of Kansas (Topeka, Jan. 9, 1917, pp. 83) recommends an amendment to the legacies and successions tax law, the establishment of county assessors, and the collection of statistics of mortgage indebtedness. On pages 22-53 is reprinted an address by M. M. Flannery before the National Tax Association on "Amendments to the tax laws of other states," giving rates and exemptions. On pages 55 and 56 are tables, showing the methods of taxing intangible property in the different states. Pages 57-68 deal with the tax on legacies.

The Report of the Kentucky Tax Commission, a special commission appointed in 1916 (Frankfort, 1916, pp. 42), recommends the appointment of a central board or tax commission which should be responsible for the assessment of all property. The present method of equalization is regarded as defective. The draft of the act to carry out this suggestion, as well as other recommendations, is included in this report.

The Annual Report of the State Tax Commission of New York for 1916 (Albany, 1917, pp. 81) notes that the increase in assessed values of real property amounted to over $328,000,000 during the year, and it is believed that this justifies the retention of the present policy.

The Ninth Report of the Board of State Tax Commissioners and State Board of Assessors of Michigan (Lansing, 1916, pp. 89) describes the progress which is being made in cash value assessments.

The Seventh Report of the Tax Commissioner of Texas, 1915 (Austin, pp. 54), contains a summary of the constitutional provisions of the state in regard to taxation.

The Biennial Report of the Commissioner of Taxes of Vermont (Rutland, 1916) is almost exclusively devoted to statistical tables.

The Sixth Biennial Report of the State Board of Tax Commissioners of Washington for 1916 (Olympia, 1916, pp. 139) deals (pp. 7-10) with the workings of the inheritance tax of that state. Several pages are devoted to the subject of valuation of public service properties. The commission recommends that under the general property tax, property should be valued at its full market value.

The Eighth Biennial Report of the Wisconsin Tax Commission (Madison, 1916) reviews the working of the income tax (ch. 3); recommends the substitution of county for local assessors, and the repeal of the personal property tax; discusses municipal accounting and auditing (ch. 7). Chapter 8 deals with the subject of government expenditures with per capita tables worked out,