New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-03-12

nPsan;tv of an affidavit. II one be sworn ie' "''
- sworn-thst's the doctrine. clo,L., Of
~sssin. il il suggested that County Olerhs ~
Sc e searched with the vie" oil ssSersa.u,ne 5
shs amount of Mortgages IN tnem' anu sno "~ 60.
s 80. Mortgaeees that they may be assessed nc
OF GS; Wy nut there would be but little, II any
eoIS,tg for il. if the Assessment Laws De
he.n5ad on the plan which il proposed Oy 'ue
WIZ p"nra 7 conclude this article, permit me 20
,A-ovx ont one or two more suggestions III iS6Itu
e. securing uniformity In texa1lon .uSs ossosod
~ suppose there be one good eihcient assessor
,Ns.,ch town. and. after he has completed MS as
n s-S Roll or at any other time Ia the year
Rat the Legislature may think pest, SUPPOSE al
tbe Assessors in the County meet a. soiuo Oo"si~
Zee therein. for the purpose OF reviewing anu
Psoo $500 as,sssments, agreeing upon some
oS.S &c valuation to be observed throughout
o. nonrtrv in cases Of neglected sell tsxatlon
80 ~ reed be. eauahZing taxes, soolect now.
81, >. revievg Of the Board OF Supervisors az
;ts animal session, and for any other purpose car
.orIs,ed 70 reach the desired object Again. les
one County Assessor be elected "a eVoly Oo ~
oFtbe state. Let the County Assessors meet az
some central point in the State, annually with the
lev of eoualizing Taxation throughout the state,
and trepsacting all other business tsnolnS W lac
sane end. | have thrown these hints together
With the view o. inviting thought on tue suuyec':
cannot dismiss this subject, however snort VI
ellnding once more 20 the deiectively admins
taraS system of assessment. The assessors In
CIV town are 80 remiss IN dlscharglng tnelr
od;cial DUTY that they do not assess even all the
real estate in town IN any one year lnueeu' IL
Il not long since they neglected 70 assess
one of the largest and most valoaoie farms IA
town and several smaller places, 10 one single
year AGAIN. | know a man whose personal
yIrcnersv liable 10 taxation is estimated 20 Oe
10Th from fifty TO one hundred thousand dollars,
,wbo regularly swears off all his personal prop
erty whenever taxed for it, In accordance with
The oath prescribed in the statute, VERBATIM re-
fusipg at all times to be sworn by any oath vary
me from il. an the least. l will venture to say
that be loans more money, annually, with single
exception, than any other man in town. he has
two children, son and daughter, and In loan
ing money, he makes the notes, or other o0llga'
tons, payable either TO the son or daughter.
ibis man, it is cOnjeotured, has given his person
Al property TO his TWO children, and, in return,
they have given him written instrument, in
which he is secured the sole and perfect control
of IL retaining the same In his own hands, to do
with it and use it as be pleases during his lie.
Now, suppose these TWO children 20 be OF age,
of course and unmarried, living at home with
their father, and not owning foot OF real estate
in the world, how, ask, are we TO collect taxesot
either father or children, under the present law
If you tax the father for personal property, be
viii swear it off, If you tax the children, they,
rs they have no colleetsbe property within the
reach Of the collector will only laugh at you.
Again, know two other men, brother in-law
and son in.law, both wealthy farmers, who, pos
eessipg large amount of property in notes and
other obligations, evaded. taxation not many
years since after this manner: On the day that
the assessors had advertised to meet to close
their book and hear grievances, the tathernaw
early ia the day conveyed all his personal proper
ty to his son in. law and then called on the as
nd NIL
returning home, the sonia law, in return, trans
ferred all his personal property TO his tatherln'
law, and also called on the assessors and swOre
of has assessment; and on arriving home In the
evening they regulated their money matters
between them, satisfactorily to BOTH l
will mention another man, who, having
thousands upon thousands Of dollars at interest,
remarked to friend, the other day. that, 0a0ther
gear, he should pay no taT on Personal Property
adding, at the same time, that, whenever he loan
ed man money, in future, he, instead OF securing
himself by Bond and Mortgage on Real Estate,
should take the Title for the same in his own
name, agreeing however, to transfer the title to
the borrower as sson the Principal and Inter
est are paid. He said he had let money in this
manner already. While | mere y mention this
case TO show to what extent the faculties OF man
are frequently exerted in devising plans to elude
taxation, must confess that do not possess sut-
icient credulity to believe that this old Friend
will 40 completely forget the teachings OF ELIAS
Hicks as to carry this intention into execution
Again there are men in our large Cities who may
also be regarded as being quite familiar with the
art of avoiding taxation. =,
These men, pos sessing almost boundless wealth.
leave the CITY anu reside in the Country during
the summer season, returning, usually, IN tho
month of September During their absence from
the CITY. the CITY Assessors complete the assess
nnent Of the Property of the City; hence all the
Personal Capital belonging to these temporary
country residents, OF course, escapes taxation;
To tax them in the sountry, during their brief
stay there, would be perfectly useless inasmuch
as their return to the Oity would, under the pre-
sent Law, place the tax beyond the reach OF the
Collector; and as there is no provision In the
present Law for taxing nonresidents for Personal
Property, it would be a violation Of the Law to
tax them in the city. Now, shall law any lon
rer remain in the state Book GaGmeDded, so de-
fective and unequal in its practical operation, as
70 DO evaded by men who are clearly the most
able to bear their just and equal proportion OF
Taxationf Let this question be answered by
the Representatives Of the People ia the present
Legislature. RURAL OBSERVER