Louisiana had a ten per cent. tax on foreign heirs from 18281 until 1877 when the law was repealed.

Alabama in 18482 imposed a tax of two per cent. on bequests of personal property and devises of real estate to collateral heirs, modified later to apply to personal property, the rates changed and the law abolished in 1868.

1 Acts 1828, 1.0. 95.

2 Laws of 1847-48, No. 1, Sec. 86.

The states which do not tax inheritances are: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.

An examination of the foregoing table will show that at the time of the publication of Dr. Richard T. Ely's valuable work in 1888 on "Taxation in American States and Cities," only seven states had adopted the inheritance tax. His clear and strong presentation of the social and economic principles justifying the taxation of inheritances and bequests appears to have attracted the attention of legislators throughout the country and exerted a marked influence upon legislation in that direction, for within a very few years many other states enacted inheritance tax laws..

With suitable exemptions and proper graduation of the rate Dr. Ely said: "This tax could embarrass no one" and "answers the requirements of every canon of taxation."

The amount of revenue that may be expected from the taxation of inheritances in this state cannot be estimated with accuracy in advance of its practical operation. Two or three years at least will be necessary to show how much may be relied upon annually from this source. The product of the tax is fairly constant in some of the states, although fluctuations do occur, due in part to the transmission of large estates in particular years and smaller estates in other years. The exemption, rate of tax, and whether applied to direct and collateral heirs, or only to collaterals, will have a decided effect on the total revenue which may be realized from the tax.

The financial condition of the people in the states will vary. In the older and wealthier states like New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, a much greater revenue proportionately may be looked for than in Wisconsin. For the purpose of comparison with the peceding table, and for a study of the effect of exemption, rate of tax, etc., on revenue, the following table is given showing the income derived from the inheritance tax in the several states for eleven years.

Yield of state inheritance taxes in the United States, 1891–1901.

Yield of state inheritance taxes in the United States, 1891-1901-- Con

New Jersey

60, 151

82, 247

New York....

North Carolina

1, 120

Ohio.....

Pennsylvania..

113,832 112,902

163, 741

1,796, 652 1, 829, 942 1, 997, 2102, 194, 612 4, 334, 803 1, 031, 607

98 1,477 24,887 925,717 894,741

24, 159 834,856

237

933, 575 1, 167, 666 1, 232, 082

85,520 177,075

17,547 22,943

Tennessee.

4

Vermont

61,000 37,301

Virginia..

13,661

26,328

2,766

50,758

1,733

West Virginia.

14, 268

1,436

28,296

1,813

Wisconsin.

2,507

15,503

1 For two years.

2 Calendar year.

3 The figures given do not include interest

4 Not separately reported.

An act of the Wisconsin legislature in 1868 relating to the compensation of county judges' authorized county boards to fix the salary of county judges to be paid out of the county treasury. Section 4 of the act made it the duty of executors, administrators or guardians to pay to the county treasurer the following sum according to the value of the estate as shown by the inventory and appraisal; that is to say, when the value of the estate shall

Exceed $1,000 and not exceed $2,000....

$20

These sums were to be paid upon the return of the inventory and appraisal, and county judges were prohibited from allowing the accounts of executors, administrators or guardians until the production of satisfactory proof of payment. The act did not apply to counties wherein the county judge had civil jurisdiction.

1 Ch. 121, Laws 1868.

The act of 1868 was repealed in 1872.1

In 1877 "an act regulating the salary of the county judge of Milwaukee county," the charges prescribed by section 4 of Ch. 121, 1868, were re-established upon estates in Milwaukee county. This law was carried into the revised statutes of 1878.3

In 1889 section 2483, Stat. 1878, was repealed and a new system of charges provided in lieu of fees in counties with a population exceeding 150,000. Milwaukee county was the only one in the state having that population. By this law, executors, administrators and guardians were required to pay to the county treasurer one-half of one per cent. of the appraised value of the estate or property of the ward as shown by the inventory and appraisal up to $500,000, and one-tenth of one per cent. on amounts in excess of $500,000. Estates of $3,000 or less were exempt from probate fees. The amount of existing specific liens was to be deducted in fixing the value of es

tates.

The charges were payable on the return of the inventory and appraisal, or the value of the estate established by proof, and before the inventory and appraisal were filed, or the approval of the bond of the executor, administrator or guardian.

The Supreme Court in State ex rel. Sanderson v. Mann,1 decided that the charge imposed by the last act was not a probate fee, but a tax, that being imposed on the whole estate regardless of its solvency was not a succession tax, and that as the law imposed a tax in Milwaukee county only it violated secs. 31 and 32, Art. IV of the constitution, prohibiting the enactment of special laws for the assessment and collection of taxes, and providing all laws for such purpose “shall be uniform in their operation throughout the state."

be

The charges prescribed by the laws of 1868 and 1878, fore cited, were at higher rates on the small estates than on the larger ones. The fees on an estate of $1,010 would be nearly

1 Ch. 40, Laws 1872.

2 Ch. 98, Laws 1877.

3 R. S. Wis., 1878, sec. 2483. See also Ch. 262, Laws 1880.

476 Wis., 469.