Two presidents of the United States, braving ecclesiastical censure,
have had the moral courage to speak out on the present question. One of
them, the heroic Grant, was heretical in his religious views; the
other, the martyred Garfield, was an orthodox Christian, and had been a
clergyman and president of a religious college. In Grant's presidential
message in 1875, he said:
"In connection with this important question, I would also call your
attention to the importance of correcting an evil that, if permitted
to continue, will probably lead to great trouble in our land before the
close of the nineteenth century. It is the acquisition of vast amounts
of untaxed church property. In 1850, I believe, the church property of
the United States, which paid no tax, municipal or state, amounted
to $87,000,000. In 1860 the amount had doubled. In 1870 it was
$354,483,587. By 1900, without a check, it is safe to say, this property
will reach a sum exceeding $3,000,000,000. So vast a sum, receiving
all the protection and benefits of government, without bearing its
proportion of the burdens and expenses of the same, will not be looked
upon acquiescently by those who have to pay the taxes. In a growing
country, where real estate enhances so rapidly with time as in the
United States, there is scarcely a limit to the wealth that may be
acquired by corporations, religious or otherwise, if allowed to retain
real estate without taxation. The contemplation of so vast a property
as here alluded to, without taxation, may lead to sequestration without
constitutional authority, and through blood. I would suggest the
taxation of all property equally."
With no less emphasis President Garfield put himself on record in the
following words:
"The divorce between church and state ought to be absolute. It ought to
be so absolute that no church property anywhere, in any state, or in
the nation, should be exempt from equal taxation; for if you exempt the
property of any church organization, to that extent you impose a tax
upon the whole community."