The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1871-03-11

priety Of observing Il as an orderly and
decpr9us day, upon Which, while every
F.. Ty % MS own wy, ya ny way
ways Of others .g-lutss.r4.. 81
SIDEWALKS AND STREETS.
During the year, your attention, gentle
man, will frequently be called to, the con-
dition Of the streets and ,6dewalka tepe-
cially Che latter. Most Of Ma sAfeSsks
have been bull. several years, and have,
for two or three years past, been mas4-
tained and kept up by repairs. Whle - q
not probable that there will - demand
for the making Of many, Il sey new SIDE
Wake yet there Is no douh1 that Se1pSn-
sive repairs will have, insmAny go
TO DO made.
The ground timbers, and tho timber1
supporting the plsnking As well as the
| planks or boards themselves, arc In many
places greatly decayed and are giving
way. Tho interests Of the city demand
that the sidewalks should BIO kept and
maintalhSd ina Safe Ana occurs coad itioe,
as well as The interests OF the persons who
use them. The funds required 70 make
these repairs will purchase the exemption
Of the city from liability upon the easiest
| Of terms. Our city 10 not without Its les
son Of experience In this rsgard.
And here the remark msy bSmaAe Chat
these repairs cannot, II Is believed, bs
naAa 0cspt ous Of some fund faissA D.
| general taxation. 1t Is not believed to be
% al !compctsntl or practicable 70 mako
| such repairs By means Of special Assess-
ments. The eourts sospn 70 have soSettlsd
this question.
The city having accepted It's charter
with the ample powers IL contains in res
pect to IL sidewalks and streets gsacrslly,
has thereby imposed upon itself CORES
ponding duties and obligations.
n sAs,J6 the p,atttf Of street Allint, you
VIZ y gesesse IGf sOp a.. ~ As de.
the command of tho city and the powers
and rcssrictions eonts,nsd in the City char
ter, and IN tbs law. and constitution q tie
State. ..,.......
TnE. cfrY iSDEBTEpSEss, 49,,
The re-, ,crts or the city comptroller here
toforc made, and which may be here.
sitsr called for Ashay tiinc, ell show you,
it is supposed, tho amount. character and
nature Of tho clty ina ebtedness.
Its generally believed, though ] have
no exact knowledge upon the point atprss-
ent. that this indebtedness already equals
or exceeds the amount, allo wed BY The 18th
sscttpu q S<ucle9 OF thshSa eeJtkution
eftf'sNte yhsid this b ~ ease. tho
d o. t,cn smay ofs<naf$se - to'tbc sedthor.
lily Of the city tomaks this orthat contract,
as to whether this or that improvement
should be undertaken or entered upon,
&c. U With reference 10 this section of tho
gecnstitutlon, my own opinion has been that
whatever 'o,her application II may have
tat least does not apply to the ordinary
and usual current and n scssasyl expenses
Ilkeiy tn isVf,I,so the making OF i'm.
proyemenss.sy special assessments.
You will have no more important duty
to perform than that of devising ways and
means for the psYPsnt Of ths intefss. on
its current expenses are provided
S tSs inc and 's%sSs G Ged.S 1pts d oS
pSrbaps athc fisdhf q o. ousssA nding
city ca ~G -waaN ieAll yout Astsation
TO this last matter as one deserving Q care
full consideration. att.-.f.
--s,ttr gCIIS LiIJ0ATIok. -
twill be remem bored that theeiey failed
70 coliesta large number Of special sssess-
mants for street filling, madein 1867 that
owing to this failure Judgment was recov-
cred for large sum against the city and
the same finally settled of by the issuance
TO Fox, Howard * Co., Of the bonds of tbc
city. q Certain psries WHO he'd paid their
special assessment, and who, OF course, are
required 20 pay interest OF, these bonds in
the way Of taxes. Instituted suit against the
city FOR the recovery back OF the assess
ments paid by them. Two cases of this
kind were tried In our circuit court last
April, and were In September following
dsoidsd IN favor Of the oily. One Of these
CASES, Waller 1slls VI. The City Of Cairo,
was taken by appeal TO the Supreme
Court last January, and the case submitted
upon tho briefs of the attorneys of the
partiss to tho suit. Although that ps-ticu-
lac suit involves only about 81 600, yet it
may be considered us representing quite a
large class OF other cases In the same coh-
dition; and should It BE- decided against
the city In that court, not only will the
settlement OF that case, but the settlement
Of many others also, at once 10 called
for. . 81 ra7. 81. m. .... o..
have thought proper to cell your atten-
ton to this matter, a. You may DO called
upon, at an early day, 70 take some action
In the premises. The decision In question
will quite probably b made knows in the
cOuTb0 " ~ 0v0tss W S0oslsF ~
the ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION or
TAXES.
- L dssire 10 call your, attention "a tho
matter iof the collection 0f Tho balance
of the unsolicited taxes for the year of
1870. Matters which need not detail
here have, to somo extent, interfered with
the speedy collection OF the taxes for the
year past; and IL 10 quito probable that you
will DO required to take some action
In the matter facilitating the accomplish
ment Of the desired object. ..
Taxes are said to DO, and are generally
felt to be, burthcns-burthcns imposed
upon persons and, properly for the public
good; and while as Judge Sharswood
Of Pennsylvania, has remarked, mo sys-
tenn Of taxation which tho wit of ,pes eyer
devised has been found perfectly 'eqpsb
yet all concede that fair, just and equal rs
sess,nent of ssch mans property according
toll srpSsItI sctuai value sp dthgHosnp,,
fsithfM hid imparisi csllecaoHS IL the
taxes Imposed according TO such an assess