The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1853-09-06

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J could never be made productive or valua-
ble for any purpose--that of the improv-
ed land there was much of SO poor quality
as to scarcely support its cultivators, with
their utmost exertions--that this part of
the county has few mills, no manufactures
of consequence--that great share of the
farming community were small farmers Of
limited means--of French descent and un-
ehterprising, holding but little property
and adding bnt little to the wealth Of the
county. That even in the city of Detroit.
of whose wealth SO much is said, one half
or more of the population is poor--that be-
ing on the lake shore, and the principal
port in the State, she receives almost daily
an accession to her pauper population;
which adding to her numerical strength,
only weakens and impoverishes her. He
contrasted the condition ofthe people in tho
interior with the misery and squalor of the
denizens of the crazy tenements which
might be seen in the outskirts of the city
thronged with this class of her population.
and contended that all these facts show
that Wayne County is not so rich as she
appears; that her burden for local purpo-;
ses are enormously larger than those of
other counties, and should be considered
in equalizing the burden of State tax.
He contendeG that the statistics furnish
ed by the United States Census of 1850,
furnishes better data by which to estimate
her valuation than the assessment lately
taken.
These show that in 1850, and she has
made but little progress since, she ranked.
as compared with the rest of the State, low
er in the scale of importance in many res.
poets than some other counties--certainly
far lower than in the scale of her taxation.
That while she paid one sixth of the whole
expenses of the Stale, she had only one
tenth of the inhabitants. one-tenth in valu
alton of real estate, one-twentieth of the
number of farms, one. twenty third of the
acres of improved land, of horses one
eighteenth, of cows nineteenth, one
forty ninth of the wheat, one-twentieth of
corn, &C., &C., and lastly one-seventeenth
of the real and personal estate, as assessed
by the marshals.
He contended that these statistics were
the most correct that could be got at, wcro
more reliable than any others, and that
in view Of these facts it was unjust to ra,c
Wayne as high as one-sixth, one-seventh,
or one-tenth of the whole State; that this
view of the case related principally to tho
country towns; that Detroit was "a hard
nut to crack there was undoubtedly con-
siderable wealth there, but he thought the
real estate of the city assessed at specula.
tive rates, far above its real value in many
cases; while some few there were rich, the
many were poor; large share of the pop
ulation foreign, having scarcely any per-
sonal property, living in dlapidated hous-
es, with straw bed on the floor, a broken
chair or two. and scarcely able to subsist;
.hese are not our properly holders---who
are they? few wealthy men whose capt..
al is invested in banks, railroads, broker
'ge, plank roads, &C., and not liable to a.
ny but specific taxes, from which the state
nay derive benefit, but the county can
lot.
Mr. Hawley concluded his remarks by
tating his opinion to be, that under all the
acts Wayne county should not pay moro
han onetwelfth of all tho taxes of the
State
Mr.. Fralick Of Wayne, followed and sus-
aimed the views taken by Mr. Hawley at
considerable length. He further observed
hat in estimating the wealth of the city of
}etrolt, 1t was necessary to take iato con-
liberation the fact that the Central Rail
Toad Company, the Churches, &c.. held
bout S3,000,OOO worth of real estate.
'hich either paid no taxes OF specific
tate tax only.
He contended that the assessment of the
lty on real estate was too high-that the
,ndency in cities was in this direction, in
rder to make as fair show ofwealth and
nall proportion of taxes as rival cities ex-
ibited.
Mr.. f. insisted that the tax law had
cen fully and fairly carried out in Wayne
,unty as well as in the interior. That as
! of the counties have endeavored to live
D to the law, and yet there is difference
opinion as to the results, we should look
some other quarter for information. We
ok then:
/. To the fact that by the u. S. Census
turns Of 1850, Wayne County ranks (ta-
ng all things into consideration, in tho
.oportion of one-eeventh of the whole
2. We look at her population; here she
Is one-ninth.
3. To her representation in the State Le-
stature, she has about one-tenth or little
er.
Is il not fair to say that she should not
y taxes in any greater ratio than the
oportion here indicated? Again, taking
e population as ascertained in 1850, il
II be seen that at her present valuation,
ayne county is assessed at the rate of
6 dollars per capita of her population,
lile Calhoun county is assessed only 100
liars per capita of her population, Oak
Id 275, Macomb 900, and so on. 1t
Ems, then, that Wayne is too high, or the
lers too low. We claim the first TO be
} case, and trust that the consideration
all the circumstances will satisfy the
a ri nf tho focf