Constitution, 1870, art. 9, sec. 1.

Illinois

Constitution, 1870, art. 9, sec. 1. “The general as- sembly shall provide such revenue as may be need- ful by levying a tax, “by valuation, so that every per- son and corporation” shall pay a tax in proportion to the value of his, her or its property.”

Present Law. Rev. St., 1905, c. 120. In Illinois mortgages are taxable as personal property. Every person is required to list all moneys loaned by him as owner or agent (sec. 6). Where a deed for real estate is held for the payment of a sum of money, the sum thus secured is considered personal property and is listed and assessed as credits (sec. 21) ; personal property, like real estate in Illinois, is assessed at one- fifth of its listed value (sec. 312). The usual deduc- tion of debts from credits is allowed (sec. 27).

Indiana

Constitution, 1851, sec. 193. The general assembly shall provide, by law, for a uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation ; and shall prescribe such regulations as shall secure a just valuation for taxa- tion of all property, both real and personal.

Present Laiv. Ann. St., 1901, vol. 3, sec. 8417a, as amended by Laws 1903, c. 27, sec. 36. In Indiana mortgagors may have the amount of the mortgage in- debtedness, not exceeding seven hundred dollars, still unpaid on the first day of March, deducted from the assessed valuation of the mortgaged premises for that year, and the amount remaining after the deduction has been made is to form the basis for assessment for the real estate. In no case is a deduction to be al- lowed greater than one-half of the assessed value of the real estate.

sec. 8417b. Any person wishing to avail himself of the provisions of the law is required to file with the auditor of the county where the estate is situated, a sworn statement of the amount of the mortgage in- debtness unpaid on the first of March. The mort- gagor must also give the name and residence of the mortgagee, assignee, owner, or holder of the mort- gage, together with the record and page where the in- strument is recorded and a brief description of the real estate given as security.

sec. 8417c. Where the mortgage indebtdness is li- able for taxation in a county other than the one in which the real estate is situated, it becomes the duty of the auditor to certify and transmit a copy of this sworn statement as made by the mortgagor to the au- ditor of the county where the mortgagee, assignee, or holder of the mortgage resides.

Court Decisions. In a case brought into the Su- preme Court to test the constitutionality of the law, the court held that the act of 1899 authorizing the de- duction for the purpose of taxation, of mortgage in- debtedness, not exceeding $700, from the assessed valuation of real estate, such deduction not to be greater than one-half of the assessed valuation thereof, was not violative of the provisions of the state consti- tution requiring equality and uniformity in taxation, nor of the fourteenth amendment of the United States constitution relative to the right to the equal protection of the laws. State, ex rel. v. Smith, 158 Ind., 543, 1901.