Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1866-07-17
The Assessment Laws--Duty of the As
sessor--Duty of the Assessed No. 2.

sessor--Duty OF the Assessed No. 2.
The Assessor is not only the SER
want, but he is also the representative
Of the people. The will Of the people
expressed in the form of law, is ma
jestic-is majesty itself. The admins
traitors of the law are therefore en-
titled to the greatest respect, at the
h2nds Of every citizen.
The duties imposed upon the as
SCISSOR are duties intimately connect
cd with the very ground work ofthe
political fabric; for without taxation,
civil government cannot long be
maintained: he is therefore entitled
to the respect due to his responsible
position, Any attempt to deceive or
in 2ny way TO overreach the assessor
by any citizen or to insult him while
in the discharge Of his duty, is an
outrage upon the whole people, and
such conduct should not be passed
over lightly. The offence should be
assumed by every tax payer in the
community, as personal TO himself,
and the offender should be made to
feel the weight Of tleir united disap-
probation.
Let US look into this matter a lit
tie more closely. Under our laws
the person who takes without con-
sent Of the owner any simple thing,
say a loaf of Thread, commits larcency
which subjects him to Imprisonment,
and he QannQt set up in justification,
the extremity Of his wants, nor his
lack OF means to purchase, neither
will the cries Of starving children,
dependent upon him, avail anything.
The law is inexorable. He must 30
TO the common jail, and hold COM
partnership with vermin and felons of
all grades, for merely taking the val
ue Of a teW farthings; but he who be-
ing wealthy and influential deliber-
ately filches from the pockets of the
honest taxpayers, year after year
many dollars in money, by the fraud
ulent return Of his property, and
that too, with the superadded crime
Of perjury, is allowed to 90 wholly
unpublished. He is allowed, more
over, to pursue his business without
loss of public patronage; and in his
social and political stations be is with
out prejudice. ISthis erehhdnded jus.
tice? Will you always allow wealth
to varnish over crime and make vil~
lainy respectable? Honest taxpayers,
law-abiding citizens of this country.
| make these appeals to you. You
have the power in your hands 10 cor
rect every abgse under our laws Of
which you have a right to complain
will you decline? Let me tell you
if you do not you yourselves will tai.
to act the part Of good citizens, and
the great body polite will soon be.
come diseased. Dissolution and
death must then inevitably follow.
This question ofindividnai respons-
Utility in all affairs Of state is an all
important one. 1t is the saving
grace Of q Republic, yet it is very
specifically entertained by the
American people. The Individual
throws bis burden Of responsibility
upon the mass, without stopping to
measure his share Of the responsible
ity as n unit of the mass Should the
mass have gone wrong in any dir
ection, and he have failed 10 do his
whole duty towards giving it a right
direction, then he becomes a wrong
doer, end he cannot plead any par
t%icular act in opposition 10 the ma
Jority, TO shield himself from such re-
sponsibility. What is true Of states
political-is equally true Of commu
mites, both politically and socially.
In one sense therefore, every per
son in the community is m~easurably
responsible for the improper acts OF
every other person, IN the same com.
munity. He must either approve On
condemn, and to be silent when vii.
lainy abounds is to give to villainy Q
tacit appreciation. Some one, | think
Garrison, while speaking Of our re-
sronsibilities connected with the ex
i%stence Of Slavery in the U. S. very
forciably and sentenciously remarked
"Siience is crime" 1t may not be
criminal to remain silent, while others
are defrauding you and the public in
the return Of their property for as
sessment,-but it certainly is an in
eXcusable neglect of duty.
Our limit to this paper is reached
but we may pursue the subject fur
Their hereafter.
unu