Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-08-12
THE RUTLAND HERALD
THURSDAY AUGUST 5, 1869.
Council of CcnsOrs.
SECOND SESSION.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON TAXES
AND EXPENDITURES.
To tie H0nOrabk C0RacH Of CeRSoTs.'
The committee to enquire whether the
public taxes has been justly laid and col
lected. and in what manner the public
money has been expended respectfully
report. that in prosecuting the inquiry
"whether the public taxes have been just
ly laid" they have endeavored to he guld-
ed by that provision of the Constitution
which declares that every member OF
society hath right to be protected in the
endowment of life, liberty and property,
an 4 therefore Is bound to contribute his
portior towards the expense OF that pro-
t..ation " when the public taxes are laid
j., acrnrdan &c with the spirit OF this i,.'o-
,;.ion of the Constitution, the committee
inj,e thev are Justly laid out" From
cha ;nform,,tiou which has come To the
.,u,,nittae a. well as from their own OBJ
..rvation. they are forced to the conciu-
.inn that the public taxes have not oeen,
and are not Justly laid Ia different parts
of the State the same class of property IL
assessed at different valuations, ana rarely
il ever at its true value IN money, as re-
,uired to be assessed by the statute. Real
estate is assessed usually Rt from une-hali
to two-thirds of its true value III money
unless it happens to consist OF wi'd lanas
owned by non-residents. which are ire
uuently assessed for more than ihty VIII
bring in market. Personal property Is
generally assessed at nearer its Faiue IN
money, but rarely above two-thlrai@ that
value unless it consists OF stocks returned
60 the town clerk, which generally are
assessed at their full par value. lhl5 IN
equality in valuation, has arisen not so
much from an honest difference uf judy
ment AZ to thu value of property enter
tained by different listers from
their establishing a rule for valuinl, pro
prrty different from that required by
:, ,tute law. Public opinion seems to oe
,,,nr, ry depraved i'll regard to this mat
tnr il is hardly considered stain
nnap ona,s character to make any state
b,,,a,, Nr false, IN regard TO the
nmnn,,t of his roperty. Citizens who
would revolt at the thought OF withhold
ing inght from IA fello -e'ti%e"' u'''h -
no dlShunor to secrtte aud " eF'. iin'-aS
withhold their property fl "i -, y;
Listers, though sworn to set ''" 20.
real and personal property at
cent of its true value III money, KIN
that they will be sustained by those Il M
whom they receive their election al tn,
property of their respective towns aS low
or lower than the valuation of the same
property in other towns, constantly and
deslguedly assess the property In their
towns AT less than It's full value in money.
aud have continued this practice 10 such
cNtcnt that the assessed value OF the
property i'll the State il but little ii
I.lt trtt 4lt1n IN m
This under valuation, if uniform, rem
drrs the apparent taxation in the State
higher than the real. and this tends To
keep capital out of the State. But II Is
not uniform. Rather the under valua-
tron grows out of the attempt OF some.and
we might say every portion of the State,
10 shlrk it, fatl proportion of the expense
OF protecting life, liberty, and property.
Whether this evil can be better corrected
10y penalties imposed upon listers, or 10y
adopting some other method for nScer-
tanning the valuation OF property, we leave
Tor the Legislature to decide.
That provision of the statute which al
lows the owner To deduct from it, vtlu-
alton the amount OF his debts, bat does
not allow the owner of real estate the
like privilege, appears To the committee To
impose AN undue proportion oi the ex-
pense IT protecting property upon the
owners of the latter class of property.
While the personal property is assessed at
from half to two-thlrds its true value in
money, deductions for debts are for the
full amount, and sometimes double the
amount. In fact, it Is believed that tictl-
tious debts are frequently contracted for
the express purpose of obtaining these de-
ductIous. :.
1t Is claimed that real estate forms the
great bulk of property of the State, Is
stable and imperishable, and furnishes the
only sure basis for taxation, and therefore
no deductions should be allowed to the
owners of this class of property for their
Indebtedness. The stability and imper-
ishable character of real property make
the expense of its protection less then
than that of movable, perishable, personal
property. Ii the constitution requires
every class of property to be taxed to pay
its proportion of the expense of protec.
ton, it wolld seem that equal if not
weightier reasons exist for allowing de-
ductions for debts to the owners of real
than for such allowance to the owners Of
personal property.
The constitution seems to contemplate
a tax upon the person together with the
obligations Of personal service in the time
of war; To defray the tx pence of protecting
life and liberty, and TAX upon propert,
to defray the cxpence of protecting prop
erty. If this be so. why should not al
property, without deduction for debts, b
taxed upon the basis of its "true value il
money! But if deduction for debts ar
to be allowed, are there any good reasol
why this allowance should be conceded t
the owners of one class of property au
denied to the owners Of another class O
property ? and can it be said that take
levied npon this basis are laid
Within the last twenty-five years ther
have been created within the State val
rious railroad, telegraph and express com
panies, corporated todies extending thei
franchises and property through severs
towns, which have received their existenc
their rights and privileges from the han
of the State; the granting Of whose char
ters, the settling of whose rights and pri,
iiiges, and the protection Of whose proper
ty, have occupied no inconsiderable poi
tion OF the time and attention of the Les
islature and Of the courts, and laroei
Increased the expenses and taxes Of tb
State. These it would seem, under tn
provision of the Constitution. shoul
contribnte their proportion te
wards the expenses and taxes of the Stat,
Such has not been the case except to
very limited extent. This result ha
been due TO various causes In their in
ception the moneyed value of the frar
chises and property of these CORPORATION
was supposed to be represented BY thei