Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-01-17

q tho State against her quota Of the
s-o,o9o.o0o direct tax"............... 2i0,y42 Of
FROM this apparent balance Of .......... $5oei9 81
Should be deducted items har4e ed upon
copies Of vouchers, which being re-
jected at the U. 5. treasury the orr.
ginals were sent, and again charged
by nlistas si7 ,40g IS ....
Items conceded to be properly
state expenses. .................. 5S42 co . ~ IL
- 1920 O.
Leaving an unsettled balance of...... sl3a.loo s
Another special settlement il ia
be made upon calculations recently
sent to the Third AUDITORS office
which il ia confidently expected will
result IN a further allowance Of at
least see, 600, though probably $780,
600.
am confident that the State au-
thorities will be able TO convince the
auditing officers that nearly the
whole Of these claims should be paid.
Every effort viii be made to do so.
The explanations and further proofs
have been prepared and furnished by
Gen. w. w. predway, who was APP
pointed State agent for that purpose.
He has discharged the arduous du-
ties dcvolved upon him with great
efficiency, and TO the entire satisfac-
ton of tho State authorities.
ASSESSMENT or PROPERTY FOR TAXA
TIoN.
Your attention is called TO the re-
marks Of the Secretary Of State, in
his report, regarding the unequal
assessment OF property for taxation
in different portions OF the State.
The disparity in the values Of the
| same kind of property ii 50 glaring
as to call for some stringent legisla-
ton. As an example, the Secretary
pertinently enquiries, "Why should
horses be valued al S9l - in Bay
field and only IS 50 10 Kowauuee !?
or $40 26 in Clark, s7558 ia Dunn,
500 II ia Rock, and sos % in Wal
worth, and only S16.75 in Manito-
woo, and S27.86 in Brown r. He
states that there is the same dispar-
ity in the values of other classes Of
taxable property.
The value ofthe taxable property.
as fixed by the State Board of AS
sessmont, is S455 900 500. The State
tax levied last year amounted to
1920 1924, being 1.58-100 cents on
the dollar. One hundred and seven
ty-five thousand dollars Of this sum
il to be expended in erecting build
ings for State institutions From
the census statistics | learn that the
total tax levied in 1869, by counties,
cities and towns in this State, was
S4,753, SIS This sum is very much
less than was actually levied and
collected.
BoUNTIEs OK WILD ANIMALS.
Il is strongly suspected that much
fraud is practiced, W obtaining our
State bounty for killing wolves.
lynxes and wild cats which were not
killed In the State. The Secretary
of State estimates that st least Sl5,-
600 will be expended this year tor
such bounties, hence it is worth your
while 10 enquire how it happened
that 50 large q proportion OF the
claims Of this character come from
counties bordering on other States.
LIBRARIES.
large and valuable additions have
been made to the library 81 the State
Historical Society, 1000 volumes Of
books and 300 pamphlets and doc
uments having been received during
the past year, making an aggregate
Of $500 books and pamphlets in its
possession. The society is constan-
lily increasing its facilities for useful
ness, and is resorted to for reference
purposes by people from all portions
Of The State. It's sphere Of useful
moss would be greatly enlarged if a
catalogue Of its valuable collection
were published.
The State Library contains 1895
volumes, 528 having been added dur
ing the past year.
There are in the State 2 857 librar-
les, which contain $50, SOB volumes.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.
The people having, at the last
election, adopted the amendment to
the State constitution authorizing
the abrogation Of the grand jury
system, appropriate legislation is
necessary to give effect to the will Of
the people.
The last Legislature adopted
joint resolution, proposing an amend
ment TO the constitution prohibiting
special legislation on certain subjects.
| recommend that you agree to the
same Ii submitted TO the people it
will, | doubt not, be adopted by an
| almost unanimous vote, and when it
shall have pecome a part Of our fun
damental law, one Of the greatest
evils OF our system of legislation will
be removed, and future Legislators
will be relieved from vast amount
OF labor which is not only of no ben
eft, but positive injury to the State.
The adoption Of this amendment will
diminish the legislation Of the State
more than 0ne-half.
REVISED STATUTES.
Your attention is called TO the fact
that but 145 copies Of the revised
statutes arc now in the hands Of the
Secretary Of State. Heretofore at
least 200 copies have been required
yearly to meet the demands of the
legislature and public officers. 4
revision q ut least a compilation Of
the statutes cannot il justice to the
wants IF the people, DO longer de-
layed. Many Of the most important
q. our statutes relaGeg to internal
administration, which always should
DC eompactly codiied are scattered
through The volumes IT session laws
published since The iast revision
Such . multiplicity oil facts has been
passed, at The same aud different
sessions Of The legislature, npon the
same subject, some o which are in
dexed and others MOI, as to compel
/ the Chief Justice OF the Snnra,,,'o