Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1870-03-03

WAN 0bC0t SNAtc
1t is betting that something pcrtiucn,
and timely should b. said about this ian
portant nattcr--morc significant than la,
been dreamed Of in our careless philo>o-
ply Of years gone by--and IL may be par
dpnablc II IL l. deemed best % say some
good naturrd things to the powers that
be; and pray "al those that are In AL.
thority." a. good churchmeu say, To con
slider the following things
Tue law under which the present Com
mission act~ contemplated appointment.
Ion. before the day specified for mectin I:
II which was itself month too late. AT
lea-t-) Instead ofappointmeni~ made ear
IN. that a conference mi gin determine some
method of notification Ia hurry up returns
they were delayed - that owing TO non
confirmation. &C., this Board was not al
work until long after the prescribed day.
and then they found only about onc-fflh
M the book, Ia, and these In the most un-
satisfactory shape. As an Indication OF
the way they henceforth struggled along,
N i remarked that the last returns secured
were only sent here since the Legislature,
met, while sixty plantations aru hopelcs>ly
given over To hardness Of heart And such
returns Not even the Oriental dreamer
who related his experiences in the Chance
World, >aw stranger whmS or more in
congruou~ methods The blanks Will.
they were excellent In some regaulS were
found too elaborate for many lpcalitic,
and the result wl~ they were not follow ed
out, and thus were got u taste OF the quail
Is OF vast number of assessors who seem
"a "a have ONLY one purpose In common 10
seem 10 comply with the requirement..
without making very near approach 10 it.
And. therefore. the returns, many OF which
came only after prolonged cpistolary war
fare. very often proved Of little help, tow
ards getting At facts in a direct and natural
way. More than $500 in clerk hire might
have been saved ifthere had been a uniform
system OF making returns. 10 say nothing
about common basis ofyaluing proper
". Every item of property OF every class
and kind. had 10 bepicked out of a confis-
ed mass. scarcely one town having given
account OF the number ofany kind OF prop
erty. and IL was only by the most patient
and exhaustive process that tables OF av-
erages were prepared at all.
And still another troublesome and I'M
pardonable default. Except in very few
Instances was il found that exemptions Ell
Their by polls or estates were noted. and
70 get at the former required more than
two weeks work OF one clerk. Had these
exemptions been disregarded. the result
would have shown "A falling of in polls the
last ten years throughout the State. IL
was not uncommon TO find from fifty to
ninety exemptions in country towns. and
yet they could only be got at by the closest
scrutiny, involving an examination OF all
the names. IL seems to have escaped the
notice everybody that exemptions .'for
town purposes" were not exemptions for
al purposes. And when, In addition to
these poll exemptions, it is RENE mbered
how fashionable it has become not To tax
new manufacturing establishme nts, and to
say AS little about 1t as possible can readi-
ly be guessed how difficult il is to assess a
state tax that knows no such privileges
Another lack Of proper appliances il very
apparent where the wild lands come TO be
considered. Legislation is sadly needed in
regard 10 this important matter of making
decadal valuation, and not in one particu-
lar, bnt in almost all. Let me suggest
some things:
All returns should be upon the market
value, and no other. This Is notorious and
no other can be known or cared about !:
and II Is fact that in every case where any
other basis has been attempted, 1t has been
found sadly out of gear, and led to the sad
dest confusion. Why not enact that prop
erty should be returned, for all purposes. at
Its market value, at the time. And these
returns should be made according to COM
mon plan, and If it cannot be done other
wise let the State provide blanks to start
the system While we are talking about
uniformity" let US not forget this appli.
cation Of it. live could have articles of
property counted and footed up In proper
classification, and the values put upon a
common basis, it would require less than
half the time and kyn uho
now.
From beginning to end 1t il hard and
thankless task to do such a work as this
with the means at hand. Not even the ex-
perience Of one commission seems ever to
have been saved and made available for
the next The Legislature has re-enacted
. very imperfect law, and taken little pains
to learn its defects, SO very small attention
having been paid to it, that, but for an
accidental discovery 1t the last moment,
and timely resolve, the comnission would