Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1868-04-07
The New Assessment Law.
Nj MHFR II.

every town in the County, for the
purpose of examining into the
thoroughness of their several assess
ment and make report TO the Coun.
ty Board on completion of the work
Upon such report just equalization
might be made. and on no other, so
long as our bungling township as
SCISSOR system is adhered to- Be-
fore closing this discussion, we shall
suggest q plan Of assessment which.
efficiently executed, must obviate
such necessity, and remove many
other difficulties from the field of as.
sessment operations. 4a.u.i.s4-i
9Th TIE neso lac does awau scith
sWora personal statements, and com.
peis the assessor or assessors to ascer
tain, as be or they best can, all the
various articles Of personal property
which the individual or firm assessed
possessed Cn the preceding first day
Of May, with the single exception of
banking corporations in which ase
there must be a sworn return by the
proper officer, covering the stool, OF
the bank and its value, &c. In all
other cases the assessor is thrown
upon his own resources. He may be
sharp, or be may be dull, and il dull,
he will be likely la discount the fig
ures of his predecessor at every step.
In those times Of unconscionable
taxation it can hardly be supposed
that many persons will be found so
tender Of conscience as TO put them>
selves 10 great personal inconve-
nience, when not under spur OF the
oath, TO show every single article of
personal property they possess to
The assessor for the infliction of 5
per cent tax thereon. The assessor,
like Death on the pale horse, is never
welcome guest, AMI when be calls
upon US, not to demand our sworn
statement, but to badger and chate-
chise lis we fear that he will gener-
ally be voted an intruder, and be
left to the use of his own optics.
The public mind has become so de-
moralized in the matter of assess
ment that conscience proves the
dearest commodity which one of
means can possess. If one. afflicted
with a conscience chooses to put in
all, he does so knowing full we'll that
the majority of his neighbors will
withhold and conceal TO the utmost,
and perhaps laugh at his weakness.
Experience proves that, with few
exceptions, the more wealthy the
party assessed the greater the dispo.
sition, and the more easy IT is to
effect concealment from the assessor.
The poor devil of a day laborer who
has only his ak, or, hand barrow, or
the cobbler having only his kit of
tools. GALL assessible under the new
law, cannot, if be would, conceal
his little all but the man possessed
Of much loose property, must natur-
ally and without an effort have ten
or hundred times the value of those
articles omitted from the rolls.--
Therefore, to relive tie poor from
this necessity Of taxation, we favor
the exen1 ption OF 500 of personal
property, az under the old law.
And then, how is the balance of
credits over Indebtedness, required
20 be assessed, TO be ascertained
Shall the assessor be permitted to
overhaul our books and accounts,
and groupe oil through ones private
papers, for no other purpose than to
Cypress one? Hardly, we think. A
very large per centage of accessible
credits failed 10 be returned under
the old law but under the new one
that percentage must be increased,
and this result will therefore follow,
viz: That while the law is more e>--
acting and oppressive towards the
poor, it will prove more lenient to-
ward the iich, just reverse of what
it should be. But, it will be replied,
the assessor may require any party
to take oath and answer sinterroga-
tories under oath, and in case of con-
tumacy, he may assess him to any
amount, subject to reduction on oath
of the party touching the real value
of the property assessed. This plan
looks we'll on paper, but we shall find
ii rcsorted to in practice only where
there is some personal animosity ex~
isting between the parties. The Sc
rious defect Of it is, that it relies too
much on the consultative resolution
of an officer TO make war upon his
neighbors and upon those who not
only clothed him with his present
"little briet authority" but from
whom he hopes TO receive other
honors and emoluments by acceding
to their wishes. The thing, then, is
q ne eceat-a no go.
Again, under the new law, there
can be no thorough equalization of
personal property, either local or
general Merchants and manufactu
rers, whose business conditions are
well known in their several localities,
may have their stocks of goods or
wares equalized by the local boards,
but beyond this there can be no data
on which to act. The personal prop
erty valuations of each Individual
are TO be carried out on thezrolls in
a single aggregate and no word is to
be made Of the items composing it.
The County Board can therefore
know nothing as to the local differ
ences of assessment upon any species
Of personal property common to the
several towns OF the County, and it
cannot therefore act intelligently in
the premises. The same will be the
case with the State Board. 1t APP
pears, then, that by abandoning the
old plan, we become involved in
many difficulties, some of which are
insurmountable, and if we are to con
time our local assessor system, we
had better return to the use OF sworn
personal statements without delay.
Sd. The abolition Of distinctions IN
credit. AZ we never could see any
propriety in denying to that class oil
credits which are secured by lien up |
on real estate, the right OF offset as