Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1869-11-24

nanclal demands of the government
whose laws protect them in the pos
session and enjoyment-of their proper,
ty. The fact is too often lost sight Of
that our form of government involve:
mutual Obligations between the citi.
zen and the Law making and ruling
powers. Tax money is not unfre,
quently regarded IS so much legally
picked from the individuals pocket
Hence it is, that no matter how
light the tax levy may be, there viii
be those who will complain of the on.
erousness of every public burden call
ing FOR financial aid. We are not
ready to say this class Of persons may
not be of advantage. They may serve
to check, in some degree, those oil
their more liberal and public spirited
fe~lIow-citizens who are disposed to be
lavish Of the public revenues and are
ambitious to keep pace with the age
n the march of improvement, but
who, if given an entirely loose rein.
would perhaps run headlong into wild
extravagances. Public servants should
aim to arrive at a judicious medium
between parsimOny and extravaganza
in collecting and discussing the PEG.
pies money. To do this properly they
must have an appreciation of the fit.
DaSc of fbipno- tho -anrirapaorfa ~
public convenience, the demands in
cident to the general welfare, the de-
gree Of liberality consistent with edu-
Gated, intelligent, christian senti-
ments, and worthy of communities
favored with a growing opulenee and
universal prosperity. Anything short
of this measure of public ~beneicenee
has a tendency to dwarf the moral al
titude of a people, and incline them
to a sordid, narrow, unhealthy condi-
ton of head and heart. But few men
will care to deny that a liberality COM
mensurate with ability is desirable,
honorable and commendable on the
part of individuals and communities,
in matters of church and State, in
private and public ~benefactiOns, for
any purpose that tends to ameliOrate
misfortune and increase the sun of
human happiness. This seems to be
the shape things Ire notedly taking
under the inspiration of philanthropy
ic thought and benevolent action.
Great charitable institutions erected
and fostered by States, counties and
cities, are rapidly multiplying in the
land, noble monuments to the human
ity and sympathetic kindness of the
American people. Asylums for the
afflicted of our race, the deaf and
dumb, the blind, the insane, the
tempted inebriate, and the friendless
and homeless children of poverty, tes-
tiTy that the vast sums drawn from
the resources of the people, are in
TaTt, at least, commercially apprOpri-
lted, and doubtless doing more good
for suffering humanity than If per-
mitted to remain in the pockets of the
individual Taxpayers, and dribbled
out, at chance occasions, Is eleemos-
ynary aid. These remarks apply to tax
Is raised for the State at large, which
by the way, as a general rule, is the
least OF the items in the sum total Of
u tax liabilities. 1t is not what you
pay for the use of the State, that bears
so heavily on your pOcket-book, but
the weight of the burden, if you ana
lyze its components, will be found to
consist mainly of your local taxes,
county. town and township. OF the
twenty-nine townships and villages
in Trumbull county, twenty pay more
local than State taxes, and ranging in
amounts fIom two to eight fold great
er. Any one can take the tax notice
published for several weeks in the
CHRONICLE, and readily ascertain
where the taxes are levied, and for
what purposes they are raised. And
we think that about every candid
maj will concede that it is not easy
o tell how local taxation can be ma
.erially reduced without involving
sacrifices which nine-tenths of the
people in the several localities would
be lOath to make. For instance, it
would jeOpardize the public convent
ence, and, probably, welfare, to cut
down the county leavy of four mills,
of which but one and a half mills
90 to the general fund, while the re-
manning two and a half mills ere used
FOR such purposes as providing for the
poor, building and repairing bridges
md special road work. These things
no well organized community would
think of dispensing with.
Township taxes are not, as a rule,
allowed to much exceed the current
demand for local use. The township
school tax, is in nearly every instance,
the largest item in the list, and We
presume to say there are few, if any
townships in Trumbull county, where
The people would consent to a reduc-
ton of the school privileges enjoyed
by their children. If not, they must
consent to be taxed 20 erect school
houses where needed and to pay
leachers wages that are not, in every
instance, regarded as munifcent. In
the a of municipal corporations,
taxes seem, like sparks, "prone to fly
upward" This is always the case
where there is a fair amount of wealth,
N enterprising population, utilitarian
and progressive, who regard nicely
paved and well lighted streets, hand
some parks, fine public edifices, and
elegant residences, commodious and
modern styled business houses, &e.,
Indispensable to their convenience,
comfort and happiness. For ali such
communities there is no release from
taxation, any more than there is hope
for the individual to avoid increased
expenses when jeans, c~alicoes, and
linsey- woolseys are cast aside for the
more expensive apparel of broad
cloths, silks and satins.
1t is apparent that taxes are i~nsepa-