Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1856-01-22

iubt uttu TUG eAaMpto'i Ac, gOOy nus Ia
vorite objects which he thinks itIhara to
tax. The more generally We -adopt,the
principle Of taxing equally all property.
the more equitable and fair will be the
effects. Their. unequal operation, rather
than their amount, makes taxes oppress-
ive. In our State, tax inequalities are,
necessarily unjust. Every dollar thet is
remitted to, or withheld by, one person,
must be made up and paid by others ]
The amount Of taxes is not reduced by
suffering property to escape; the only re-
suit is that the taxes are unjustly levied.
Exemptions and deductions but mar the
unifomilyIand equality of our ta4 laws,
and for this reason. If for no other, there
should be as few allowed as possible. !,
An equal tax on property based on
these rules, with few exemptions and de-
ductions, leaves very little opportunity
: for Individual evasions. It's assessments
and valuations are more easily perfected;
they may be made quicker and yet be far
less inquisitofial. Such system must
eventually recommend itself to o'all as the
one best adapted to our circumstances as
i peopls.. Under it the measure Of tax.
alton would bs based upon a general
piihciple-that principle would be en-
forced by the people themselves. They
would watch and expose individual fail.
ures to list, and thereby carry out the
honest object Of the law. Then the
people will soon habituate themselves Z
10 look lor and detect the true cause Of
any increase in the taxes, and their rec
lormatory efforts, being rightly directed, I
would always be successful, = Z
The preceding remarks are not intended
to preclude all amendments to our tax
law. On the contrary, tits admitted that
several might be made which would rem
der them more efficient. The ASSESS
ments and valuations Of personal prop.
erty, especially, should be accelerated,
SO that little il any property could be
listed twice, There IS no reason why,
by, proper subdivisions, II could not BE-
done within . few days, This would
not.increase the expense. The phrase.
ology Of the tax law might also be made
more, definite in many instances. The
word qcredits"' should be SO qualified as
to include only such outstanding dues
as have assumed definite shape and
value, Thus equalizing and perfecting
our tax laws, and regulating and reducing
the taxes themselves, by imposing proper
restraints on the authorities that levy
and expend them, we shall have true
public economy, light expenditures, and
a wise distribution Of the same, together
with faithful application ofthe peoples
money to the frugal purposes Of a DEM
ocratic government ,,39 s.lo
% Intimately connected with the tax
laws is the custody Of the public money
between its collection and disbursement.
The money collected upon the grand du.
pIicate in one year is not disbufsed until
the year following, so that much Of our
public revenue remains one year 10 not
disbursed until the year following, so that
much of our public revenue remains one
year anfl,mbreIin the State aud County
Treasures. " Evils have arisen From this
whick require early attention.. o Our rev.,
enue officers have thus been tempted 10
use the public funds for purposes of pri.
vste emolurnent. The pernicious in>
fuences that must nacacsarily Anw from
such malleasance, TO say nothing oil the
danger 10 which the public treasure is
exposed 2are too obvious for. comment.
10 Nor would it change the matter by
depositing the public funds with banks.
The best treasures Of a free and intel
ligent people are their own pockets, and
no government has any right to deprive
its members of their means one moment
sooner or longer, than. is unavoidably
necessary for the public service. From
these considerations, would respectful.
ly suggest that our assessments, valna.
tions, and everything connected with the
making up Of the grand duplicate and
subsequent collection Of the revenues,
be 80 arranged as to bring the collection
and disbursement Of our taxes within the
same year. After careful deliberation /
can see no unsurmountables obstacle to
such an arrangement. The acceleration
ofthe assessments Las already suggested,
dictated by other reasons. Everything
relating to the preparation Of the grand
duplicate being paid by the day and the
amount Of work, ii is easy seen that the
expenses Of accelerated action would not
be greater than at present. II, in addl-'
ton to this, the taxes could be collected
semi. annually, instead Of annually, as
they now are, they would be far less Sc
verely felt blythe people. Their present
collection occurring at the very period
when moneyis most needed for the pro,
duce and provision business Of the coun,
try,- aggravates their exactions. At all
events, lhe most stringent laws should at
once bepassed against the private use Of
the revenues Of the State which no we'll
organized Government will permit fora
niHoineu',e nHon'e'u',e 81 III. t6s.es t.4s'r .4.ys f,,. ~
Several the appeal cases in reference
to the question of,bank taxation are still
pending before the Supreme Court Of the
United STATES. | have no official infor.
nation as to the time when final de.
cision may be expected. Ht 1b84as
Two cases, the Piqua Branch, Bank,
Us. the Treasurer OF Miami county, and
the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Com,
pany, vs. the Treasurer Of Hamilton
- "A eNI T.Ip