The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1857-07-13

tue prOpOItion W thcH Value SIos HAS
generally obtained in their sppraisement)
all we have to do, under the SD section
Of the city charter, is to tender the taxes
properly chargeable." that is, the taxes
on the $500. and if they are refused. We
have done everything necessary to pro-
tect ourselves and our property. From
the signs of the times, that is just the
course which will be pursued If the ne
cessity for it again presents ITSELF
"a Tax Payer" limits his complaint
Of the injustice done by this method Of
appraisement to the inequality thereby
produced between the owners Of real es-
tate and personal property. supposing the
latter to be fairly given in and appraised;
but it has much broader scope. The
only defence to this complaint-that 1T
matters not whether the appraisement be
high or low, so it is uniform"-is. as
shown by your correspondent, absurdly
untenable;" but it is worse than that ev-
en-. 1t is based upon false assumption.
1t is not true that the real estate Of the
city has tany time, for four years, been
uniformly appraised with reference to
any standard Of value. A comparison
of valuation Of property in different
parts of the city will convince any fair
minded man. who knows anything about
the value of city property, that gross in
equalit:os have existed. and injustice
been done, in hundreds Of instances. be
tween owners of real estate alone. This
is q matter Of common notorlety and
street talk. 1t is impossible, too, that
it should be otherwise, where the value
sought, is mere fancy or fictitious one.
arrived at, after the manner in which the
Yankee schoolmaster worked out the sum
of the moons distance from the earth; j.
e. by guessing at one quarter Of the sum,
and then multiplying by four. I have
great faith in our city fathers as practi-
cal business men, but when thew leave
the realm Of fact for that of fancy, l havs
no moro confidence in them, than would
have in myself in cockboat in mid.
ocean without compass or rudder.
Another cause Of tbs inequality Of the
burthens Of taxation, as between the
owners of real estate and personal
property is the partial and unfail
manner in which the latter is Civ
en- in and appraised. While real estate
is appraised at from one fifth to q fourth
more tran itcan be sold for upon credit,
7 the heavier amounts OF personal proper
ty are unifor mly-with Jew honorable
exceptions - taxed upon valuations
from 80 to so per cent less than their
actual cash value.
This to some. may be . startling as
sertion, but II is true, and can be prov.
ed. We may find it somewhat Difficult
to believe, but it is nevertheless the fact
that there are, and have been for years
according to the tax duplicates, 4 hal
dozen wholesale grocery houses, dom
business in the city Of Evansville. an
making fortunes with stocks Of less tina
} $1,000 each; while there are others ar
! praised at less than $4,000. which ar
r we'll known by every body but the as
SCISSOR and board o: equalization. to b.
worth at least $4,000; there ar
: wholesale dry goods houses with stock
: Of less than $4,000. and retail dry good
8 stores, in three story bricks, doing tn
largest business in that line, with stock
less than the smallest cross-road con
Germs could get along with. There i
: not wholesale queensware hous'
, in the city that pays on q valuation {
, more than $4,000; not a jewelry store o
, more than 5000; there are but two 6rm
in the whole city in any line of business
whose stocks are set down at more tina
$4,000.
There is one firm who boast Of maxim
. last year, a profit of $4,000. who. &C
cording to the tax books, have never ha
that amount of stock out of which
make it. These are but few Of tn
multitude Of instances Of gross, palpabl
and lnsafferable frauds, which q thol
ough examination Of the duplicates
former years and the assessment roll
| this year would develope. / shall max
). no further comment upon them, at pre'
ent, than to say that is was among tn
class favored by such valuations Of pei
sonal property that the doctrine that :"
matters not whether the appraisemetn
e real estate be high or low, SO it is nm
o form" had its origin and has found il
e advocates.
% There il only one other cause Of Inc
. quality in the burthsns Of taxation N
lspectivsly shared BY our citizens,