, 1870-04-12
MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL.



There seems to ho prospect Of ; legal con-
test between the banks of this city on tho ono
part, and the Collector Of State and county
taxes on tho other, In segard to the mode Of
assessing taxes on shares Of bank capital. The
property i. e.40 per cent This the banks ssy
they are willing to pay, provided it Is assessed
upon the same proportion Of tho value Of the
bank capital as il is upon other personal and
real property. They claim that IN lev3ing this
rsts nSsf Of s.1 for sssse md county upon
instanee,--thc cssh value is DIST ascartsined,
he he 1te 9n Of D' two "a md 's,sr foar.tsnths s
per cent upon one-thinl Of tho amount, Wills
upon the capital OF banks the whole value Of
tenthz PCT cent. The banks have refused to
pay the tax as it has been assessed, and the
Collector for the Town OF South Chicago has
given them notice that II not paid forthwith.
10 will proceed to collect the saino by process
of law. The banks, however, have assumed
nat i i the practice to collect taxes upon only
one-thirl Of tho value OF other pe1sonal prpp.
ezty, and refuse to pay moro than one-thirl Of
the amount assessed, and, rs We understand,
have combined, and selected some Of Their
number upon which to make test cases,
der 10 tho collector Of one-third Of the amount
Assessed This will. Of course, not be accepted,
and legal proceedings will be the result The
total hank capital exclusive Of surplus funds)
in the town Of South Chicago is about $780,
600: On this the State and county h1, 1t
4-10 per cent, would be sls2 600 The
amount OF money Immediately involved il,
therefore, about aloa4 4OO0 As the Law requires
tie taxes 10 be assessed, in Ill cAsee, npon the
full value Of the property, whether personal or
real, and makes no provision for any deduction
from such ostimste Of value. decisions in these
cases VIII probably turn upon what is tho
real value Of money capital" md stocks
representing such money capital, al COM
parcel to other personal property, such
as merchandise and household goods. There il
difference in tho facility with which these
two classes Of personal property mav Be
cashed, and. il pressed 70 Immediate sale,
the latter would, OF course, 1e21ize 4 much
smaller proportion Of lie whole yalus than the
other, and the text of some OF tue statutes in
regard to the valuation Of property for t41s-
ton seems, In some instances, to recognize
three general classes Of property, VIZ, "reel
Our State laws for the asscasmcnt and eollec-
ton OF taxes Are, 1t best, very vague, but the
Present cases promise 10 settle some important
points in connection with them
Commissioner Delano recently Issued cir-
cular prohibiting the publication of the income
returns, On the ground that II ia not for the
host interest OF the government. It is under
stood that this il dono With view to rcconcil-
ing people to renewal Of the income tar
law. bill for which passed the Senate Last
week. authorizing the collection OF per cent
waz.ls until repealed. but with an exemption Of
$4,000 of income, instead Of 81, 900, a. under
the Law which expired with 1869. Tho ex-
trene unpopulanty Of the income tAx, we b.
laEe, is due nainly to the authority which it
Ea,e g,ses ,.3sr, .s ths r.. cg11ecso.s 70 psy
come to consider :. ..nobody's business but
their own, md to ask, what may TO some, seem
Like insolent questions, that make the tx
payer feel IS houeh he WAS being badgered'
and c1oes questioned This Will lwAys be the
fau s Of sd bs Of A. s,s s nRos shds me-
become reconeiled to il. II Aoywhsrel thesn has
grown up, of late, an inrense feeling Of detest2
ton Of its mode OF collection, md tie next elcc
tons there arc likely to be governed largely br
the question OF the repeal Of the Law. In this
country, the collection Of IN income ta1 under
such forms IS the present is not neoests-
r. 10 make up the revenue OF tho ge vernment,
Hhlch can bc snsdc sufficient bJ less objection
able tA1ee,
At the beginning Of the year We save As !
gold which wAs afterwards experienced, that
on account Of tho accumulation Of guA N the
country, thers Was \ large amount Of cspital
IN gold that WIS practically useless, because 10
tous Of trade, it must frs. be turned into The
exclusive paper currency Of the country. NJ.
g1ccnhacEs. The Possession Of the incTesse1
amount OF gold BY the peopls, however, did
not save the government any greater ability TO
redeem its uo.es, and tho .ppseciation of green-
backs waa, therefore, TO- great extent, ticti-
uous. The btagnation Of trade 1t present
mikes less demand for currency, md couse-
9uenuy less necessity for such conversion, and
this, together with tho possibility OF : seyival
Of exports OF gold, to son1e extent, has, con.
sequently, made N advanoe in tts p1ice Of q
Ter cent during the list three dAys- lis priee
Tor tho next few months viii depend largely
upon these two Causes. There is still I larce
amount Of cotton that will be exported, and
ss FIR IL that pays Oh our foreign balance,
will prevent the shipment of sold. There IL
also large erpostable surplus ot brezdssuns
yet, but there is only 4 Light foreign demand
for them But, aside from any influence that
Congressional discna6iona may haEe On il il
scans fsir to presume thst, ewing to the psob-
able falling on Of other a9poFts April win
show = higher average prioe for gold than
Ma,cb, and TINT tho average VIII be higher il
May than IN April. -