Page:LewisMeriam-TheProblemOfIndianAdministration.djvu/70

The board of directors of the corporation could be made up in part of government officers and in part of elected representatives of the shareholders, with the government officers in the majority and in control. The representatives of the shareholders would, however, have a voice in the management and would have the Opportunity to participate in the business, to understand its problems, and to learn how things are done. It is believed that the business committee of the Klamath Indians is made up of Indians sufficiently advanced to profit from the experience and to contribute to its success. If the experiment is tried at Klamath and Menominee and proves successful, it could be extended to other jurisdictions. This subject is discussed at greater length on pages 462 to 466 of the general economic report.

Taxation of Property of Indians. The question of subjecting the property of Indians to state and county taxes should be approached from the educational standpoint. It is essential that the Indians be educated to utilize the services furnished by local and state governments and that they learn the obligation to contribute to the support of these activities. On the other hand, the educational process should be gradual and the relationship between benefits received and tax payments therefor should be obvious. It is a serious mistake suddenly to change the status of an Indian from that of a tax exempt person to a person subject to the full burden of state and county taxes, especially where the general property tax is in force, the brunt of which falls on land. The Indian has land value out of all proportion to his income from the use of that land, and thus the general property tax, when applied to him, violates the fundamental canon that taxation should be related to capacity to pay. An income tax would be a far better form of taxation for first lessons for the Indians. The imposition of the full weight of the general property tax tends to the loss of the Indians’ land.

The Division of Planning and Development, in working out plans of coöperation with state and county governments, should give special consideration to this question of taxation and seek to reach an agreement with the state and local governments whereby the Indians will pay taxes with due regard to the value of the benefits received by the Indians and of the capacity of the Indian to pay. In the long run the state and local governments cannot