shall be made payable to the trustees of trust funds for the town or city of

Section 8 repeals c. 40, Laws of 1899, and c. 83, Laws of 1901.

Section 9 repeals all acts and parts of acts inconsistent. with this act, and provides that this act shall take effect upon its passage, which was April 21, 1915.

Some claim that section 3 of this act should be amended so that the powers of trustees in regard to the investment of trust funds should be broadened, giving them the right to invest the trust funds in the securities allowed savings banks to hold, and thus obtain a larger rate of interest. The object of savings banks and trust funds is for different purposes. The bank is to furnish a place where small sums of money may be deposited with reasonable safety and at the same time provide a fair rate of interest for the depositor. The trust fund is given or bequeathed by a person to be placed in some safe investment, where it will furnish an annual income, though it may be small, for some charitable purpose selected by the giver and thus perpetuate the name of the giver to future generations. The element of speculation or the thought of obtaining a larger income should never enter into the management of these trust funds held by towns and cities.

DISTRIBUTION OF TAXES COLLECTED BY

THE STATE.

JOHN WESLEY PLUMMER, State Treasurer.

Manchester Conference, December 20, 21, 1916.

I have been asked to say a few words about the distribution of the taxes to the cities and towns from the state treasurer's office, it being the opinion of some that it would be of interest at this time.

When the selectmen came to the treasurer's office to settle their accounts, there were many who made inquiry in re gard to the items of credit, but as the settlement is now made, the selectmen do not come to the office and I suppose there are some who do not know the sources of these credits.

The taxes distributed from this office are the insurance tax, railroad tax, savings-bank tax, literary fund, building and loan association tax and school fund.

The insurance tax is a tax of one per cent assessed upon the capital stock of the domestic or home insurance companies which have been chartered by New Hampshire and are doing business in this state. The law requires the treasurers of these companies to furnish the state treasurer with a list of its stockholders, giving the name, number of shares held by each and the place of residence. The towns whose residents own any of this stock receive three quarters of the tax on account of the shares held, the state keeping the other one quarter and the tax on the non-residents' shares as revenue.

The railroad tax is assessed by the tax commission at the average rate of taxation throughout the state. In making this apportionment we have to first deduct one

quarter of the tax to be distributed on account of the right of way and buildings. The directors of the railroad corporations are required to make a return once in five years of the amount expended in each town on its line for right of way and buildings. This amount forms the basis for the distribution of the one quarter. The other three quarters is divided on account of the shares. The treasurers of the railroad corporations are required to furnish the state treasurer with a list of stockholders resident in New Hampshire, giving the number of shares held by each and the place of residence. The assessors of the cities and selectmen of the towns are required to make a return of the shares owned by the residents of their cities and towns to the state treasurer. These returns are checked up with the returns from the treasurers of the railroad companies, and where the towns claim shares and the railroad returns substantiate it, the town gets the tax on their account. The amount of the tax to be distributed on account of the shares is divided by the whole number of shares in the corporation, which determines the amount per share to be paid.

Before going further, let me say that it would be well for the selectmen to make an extra effort to get a complete list of railroad stock owned in their town, for the reason that if there are shares owned not claimed by them, the tax remains in the state treasury. In order that you may get a more complete return, may I suggest that it would be well to impress upon the owners that they are not taxed on railroad stock; that the railroad corporations pay the tax to the state, and any shares not returned by them deprive the town of just so much tax that rightly belongs to it.

I have noticed in some cases that a town will claim shares for the heirs of a certain party year after year, when the fact is that those shares have been transferred and are probably in the names of several heirs, in place of the name sent in on the return. It would be well to ascertain in all cases where a death has occurred whether the shares have

allow the shares unless the names appear on both the town and the railroad company's return.

Previous to 1909 the law provided that the tax should be returned to the town wherein the custodian of the railroad stock lived, but as that was manifestly unjust, the session of 1909 passed a law providing that "no apportionment of railroad taxes shall be made to a town on account of shares of stock held therein, either by banks, trustees, treasurers of societies or corporations, or by any person, society or corporation holding such shares in fiduciary capacity."

Therefore it will be seen that it will be of advantage to a town to ascertain if these shares have been transferred to some other individuals, as a return in the name of an estate or the heirs of a person cannot be allowed.

It would be a great convenience to the state treasurer's department if the towns would make their returns within the time specified in the act providing for such returns, which is on or before June first, as it would give ample time for the treasurer to check them up; and if there should be any great difference between the return and the one made the previous year, there would be an opportunity to investigate and rectify the error. As it is now, these returns come straggling along all summer, and in August we check up to see how many are missing and write to those who have not sent them in; but even this notification does not bring them all in, and I am sorry to say that there are some selectmen whom we have to notify that they are held personally liable for any loss to the town before we can get a return. It seems to me that there is no reason why these returns cannot be made out, as there is ample time between the receipt of the inventories from individuals and June first.

In regard to the savings-bank tax, the State acts purely and simply as a collecting agent for the towns, as the State keeps no portion of it. The treasurers of the banks are required to make a return of the amount of deposits of the

residents in each town and the amount of the deposits of non-residents. After deducting the exemptions allowed by statute, the taxes on the general deposits are figured at three quarters of one per cent and the capital stock or special deposits of trust companies are figured at one per cent. The town receives all of the tax on deposits held by its residents.

The tax on deposits of non-residents is what is known as the Literary Fund. The superintendent of public instruction furnishes the treasurer with a certified list of the scholars attending public schools in each town in the state. The total amount of the literary fund is divided by the total number of scholars, which determines the amount to be paid per scholar.

The item called School Fund is an appropriation made by the state for the support and encouragement of schools, the apportionment of which is made by the superintendent of public instruction and is paid on account of the average attendance of pupils, approved teachers, rebate on high school tuition and one half salary of district superintendent, the disbursements being made from the state treasurer's office.

The building and loan association tax is assessed at the same rate as the savings-bank tax and is all returned to the city or town in which the association is located.

The law provides that the taxes due from the insurance companies, savings banks and building and loan associations shall be paid on October first and the tax on railroads October fifteen. This tax is very generally paid when due, and the receipts into the treasury are increased in the fifteen days by more than one million and a half dollars. After the taxes are paid, the treasurer has to figure the apportionment and be ready to make a settlement with the cities and towns on December first, as the state tax is due from the towns at that time. In making the settlement with the cities and towns, we forward to