Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Iowa) 1861-1864, 1862-01-23

present The State Is wholly helpless as to its
revenue 1t has to depend wholly upon the
officers of counties for its collection and trans
mission. and if the county officers are incffi-
cicnt the State is remediless Each county il
now liable by law to the State for the amount
of State tax assessed in it. but this liability.
without any means Of making it practically
effective, Is useless. III the counties were re-
quired to pay the revenue due the State,
whether collected or not, the county Superyi-
sors would be stimulated to require of the
Treasurer strict performance of his dsties !;
and il, in addition. you should so change the
present law as to give county Trcasurers, i'm
lieu of salary, u per centum on the amount of
money collected and disbursed, or provide
for township collectors, to he paid in the same
way, our taxes would, i'm my opinion, be more
punctually paid. .-...-..
also recommend that it be made the duty
OF the Board of Supervisors of each county to
employ competent accountant once in each
year to examine the accounts Of each county
oiiicer, and state an account between each Of
iiccr and his county, and between officer and
officer. and also that county IRE asurers and
all other persons who receive public moneys
be prohibited, under severe penalties, from
using them in any way, or placing them with
others to be used for their private benefit
The law of Congress imposing direct tax
for the support of the General Government
gives to- any State the privilege of collecting
the amount Of tax assessed upon it's people,
and allows such State to retain fifteen per cent
of the amount, on condition the State shall
assume the payment of the balance Of the tax
Thereupon arises the important question I:
What shall the State do in the premises! 1t
must be remembered that If the State assumes
the tax, the entire amount less fifteen per
cent, must he paid by the State, whether the
INF col l..pts ha g..
recollection, let us ascertain as nearly as may
be our precise position. This State has ex-
pended for the General Government about
$3.50 900 and has been repaid the sum OF
$50, 900. The State has sold her bonds to the
amount of about 100000. The proceeds of
said sale, SlSi 900, and the $50 0C0 received
from the General Government have been ap-
piled to paying the expenses incurred by the
state, leaving unpaid, and due wholly, 1 be-
heve, To our own people, about SlS6, 900, for
which they hold, or can receive warrants
drawn on the War and Defence Fund If the
amount expended by the State which is to be
reimbursed by the General Government, be
$3.50 900, there is now due the State 1870, 600
and if the Federal tax should be $3.50 900 and
the State should assume it, there would be due
the General Government the sum of SlS2, 500
being the entire amount OF the tax less the
amount now due the State, and the fifteen per
cent. Tor assumption and collection which must
be assessed upon and paid by our people
But we must provide also for the payment
of the amount due our own citizens This
must be done by assessing the amount as a
tax, and 10y either actually collecting the mon.
ey and paying il to the holders of the war
rants, or by authorizing those holding war
rants to surrender them to the Auditor and
receive in lieu of them other warrants of the
amount of five dollars each, which shall be
receivable in payment of the Federal Tax.
These warrants being of small amounts, and
being all receivable during the present year
for taxes, would be nearly or quite at par, and
would be much more valuable to the holders
than the present ones. Should this course be
deemed advisable, it will he necessary. i'm or.
der to meet the demand made upon us by the
Federal Government. to levy "a tax Of about
S36S, COD, of which 5 1S2, 500 must be collected
in money, and SlS6, 900 may be paid in the
warrants outstanding against the War and De-
fence Fund. Onr State debt will have been
Increased by 500, 900, and we will not have
any money in our Treasury wherewth to meet
further military expenses should they be nee
essary. 1t will be observed that the sums
given are generally estimated. Absolute pre-
cision could not i'm some cis,s he arrived ut
but il will be found the estimates approximate
very nearly the truth. Ii this should not he
deemed advisable, We can present our claims
against the General Government, receive the
amount due the State, pay the outstanding
warrants in the hands of our people and e-
thcr collect in money the Federal Tax and pay
IL to the General Government, retaining the
fifteen per cent, for SO doing, or allow the Gen
cral Government to collect the whole without
interference on our part. In view of the ac-
tual condition OF our affairs, and the want of
promptitude with which our taxes are paid, |
t tha ,,I,
ed. III | had assurance that our taxes would
lie paid as they should be, would much pre-
fer the second.
Intimately connected with the subject of
taxation and revenue is the question rs to
the kind of money which shall he receive for
taxes. Under our present laws, specie only is
receivable for public dues. In view of the re-
cent suspension of specie payments by the
General Government and the Banks of the
Eastern states, it becomes question OF great
importance whether We can collect our revenue
III coin. do not believe we can, and ur-
gently recommend to you such change in our
law as will allow the payment Of taxes with
United States Treasury notes and the notes of
the State Eank OF Iowa. 1t is true the United
States Treasury notes are not payable in spc-
Gle, but II rs the interest of all loyal States
and of all loyal citizens to keep them ut par,
and the receipt OF them for taxes by the loyal
States would tend much to that end. The
State Bank Of Iowa is required 10y the law ere
ating it, at all times, to redeem its circulation
in coin, and believe il expects and is fully
prepared to meet that requi>ition. Ii, as it
seems to me we must and should receive the
United States Treasury notes not rcdeemable
i'm specie. cannot see the wisdom or Justice
of refusing to receive the notes of our own
Banks, that are so redecmablc especially when
Ivy so doing, we make the payment Of taxes
more easy to our people and more certain to
the State, and at the same time aid to
some extent in keeping in circulation
among us a currency which mas, and in my
Judgment, deserves the confidence of the
people.
The report of the Adiutant General here
with submitted, shows the number and de-
scription of the troops raised in this State for
United States service to be Sixteen Regiments
of infantry, Four Of Cavalry. Three Batteries
Of artillery, and one Independent Company of
Cavalry for frontier service. OF these the tif-
teenth and sixteenth regiments of Infantry
are not fully organized: In addition, Col.
Koch and Col. Rankin are engaged in raising
Regiments of Infantry, which if completed,
will make the Seventeenth and Eighteenth
Regiments of that arm of the service.
IL is matter Of much qualification to me
that our State has thus promptly responded
W TIC ucflIiAius uI'oi ~ tuc tuittti
States for aid in the perilous crisis of oul
country's history, and it is also matter o
great pride to me that the troops of our State
whether tried in the exhaustive srevice of the
camp, the march, or in the fiery ordeal of tho
battle field, have never been found wanting
but have by their cheerful endurance of unac
customed hardship and their indomitablc val
or, won for themselves and our State a name
which may well cause us to feel AN honsei
pride in claiming in any part of our broad
land, that our homes are in Iowa.
AT the extra session Of 1861 what WAS sup
posed ample provision was made to furnish
the necessary funds for raising, clothing ant
equippng the Volunteers that might he re
quired from this State, 10y authorizing the is
sue and sale of our State bonds. Immediatel,
after the close of that session, the necessar,
steps were taken to put our bonds in market
but before they could be offered in New York
the faith and credit of our State were mos
wantonly AMI unjustly attacked by certain pa
pers in that City, SO that when, under the law
the bonds We're offered for sale, it was foun,
entirely impossible to effect sales at the price
! fixed by the Board of Commissioners appoint
ed for that purpose, or which would not hay
been ruinous to the State. No sales wer