The chief sources of the general revenue fund are taxes on real and personal property, on liquors and cigarettes, on corporations and on inheritances; in 1909 the net receipts for this fund were $8,043,257, the disbursements $9,103,301, and the cash balance at the end of the fiscal year $3,428,705.
The rate on collateral inheritances is 5%, on direct inheritances 2%, on the excess above $3000.
In addition to their functions as guardians of the poor, the parish members have to investigate crimes and punish misdemeanours, settle litigations and divide inheritances.
He favoured abolishing the Federal inheritance tax, believing that the state alone should have jurisdiction over inheritances.
Thus an inheritance tax was first adopted by Pennsylvania in 1826, yet sixty years later only two states were taxing collateral inheritances.
