Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1872-07-16

swear: out OF that 50, 100 1t Is fair to presume
tbat6O per Ct is exhaustedin storage in> urance,
handling, &c, yet the State taxed the entire
s. ZOO making the tax on the $1,000 actually
received more than double the like tax on land
He thought that the Finance Committee had
based the bill upon principle radically wrong:
They were entitled to great credit for the labor !
expended in perfecting the. bill, but. as it now
stood. as soon as the desire Of Council had been
aseertained By amendments, he would move to
recommit the bill. @.. Il.
Mr. Hughes called the attention OF the board
TO the discrepancy IN the tax on ordlnarles.
The tax Was DOW $50 and 5-perct on the rental
value Of the house occupied. II this tax was
Imposed because the business was detrimental,
then the rental value had nothing to do with It.
for while the tax upon the gentleman opposite
to him would be $3.50 when a smaller house
paving perhaps not over $40, sold perhaps frye
times as much liquor. % his motion the tax
Of Eve per Ct on the rental value Of ordinares
was stricken out.
When the clause adding ten per ct. addition
al 10 taxes not paid by the lst Of August
came up,
Mr.. Pnn moved to make this clause inope-
| rative uutl after six months, and to make
| discount of 70 per cent. for payment within ~
days.
| TO be levied ~ meet the needs of the city Any
deduction would be that much taken from the
| revenue To be met by loans or additional taxa
| ton
Mr.. Green thought that ten per ct. Was not
an Improper penalty In the. present state of
| the money market the city had To pay ten per
ct for mouey, aud there secuted to be no reason
| why partic, who compeed the city To borrow
should not nav the ike Interest
Mr.. Evans doubted the right Of the Council
to Impose penalty for the want Of prOuIptu"s=
| in It's payment The tax being once land Coun-
ell could not make it different tax III Npvetn-
Der from that which it had been III July:
Mr.. Rock said the State set the example.
Mr.. Greeu-Thc United States government
does the same for have paid it,
Mr.: ShmB said that. as the amendments
which had been agreed to would materially alter
| the financial estimate on which the bII was
based, he moved that the bill be rccommltted
70 the Committee on Finance to be re-arranged.
Mr. Pinu moved to allow SIX months Tor the
payment Of taxes before enforcing the penalty
of ten per ct. Ia push this tax to payment with
ia few days after the Law Is passed was like
grinding down the lab"ring class Of people who
| had to work for fr0m ~ cts to 5 per day.
This was discrimination between the rich and
|
to have six months to pay their taxes ih The
tailoring man with little house had tn save up
a long time to get the nnIley tp pay his taxes.
Mr- Shiun hoped that while the six non:n>
Was going ~ the gentleman would devise SOME
plau for carrying the city government 10 the
| Interim What would become Of the city
bonds ? who would pay the police? who would
| keep the streets clean, or carry on the schools
| IN the meantime. .se-
Mr. Evans wished to know if the people
should be punished because the City Council
had neglected to attend to its business This
bill ought to have been passed weeks ago. It
Council was late and the bond holders wanted
their money the people ought nor to be made
to bear all the weight and be pushed at once to
| the wall.
MIR. Shnn said that the fault, if any, was not
with Council, but with the Assessor.w was
Mr.. Pinn said that was : an additional reason
why the bill should not be pressed.
The bill was then recomniltted.
The salary bill was then taken up.
Mr.. Hopkins moved to fix the salary OF the
Mayor at 500 He was sensible that this
amendment could not 60 into operation until
nextyear.
Mr.. Pinn desired to know if the salary was
not fixed every year by an annual salary bill.
What then was the use of fixing the salary Of
the Mayor for 1878 Besides this, if the city
could not pay 81 900 TO the Mayor, it ought to
90 out and ask some citizen to serve gratis. The
Mayor had - reports to make to the Auditor,
more than ever before and yet it was proposed
to decrease the salary.
When the salary of the market master was
reached, .9.
MIR. Evans inquired how much the percentage
was
The President-About 5000: making 5000 10
all.
Mr.. Evans moved to make the per centage
,! instead of per cent.
Mr.. Beach opposed the amendment, contend
ing that the salary was small enough now.
When the salary of the Superintendent of
Police ($SW'i was called
Mr.. Pinn moved to make it 5000. Several
gentlemdu expressed the opinion that he was
the worst paid officer of the Corporation. The
amendment was not agreed to. &...
When the salary of the clerk OF the Common
Council was reached,
| Mr.. Pinn moved to reduce it to 5000.
Mr.. Shinn asked if the member was aware
that beside his business attendance upon Coun-
ell, the whole work of making out the tax bills,
delivering them to collectors, &C., was lncum
bent upon the clerk.
Mr. Pinn said he was not aware OF that. lie
would withdraw his notion He thought that
the Auditor made out the bills.
The President-No that is done by the clerk
Of the Council.
Mr. Pinn-Then what does the Auditor do
When the bill had been read,
Mr.. Hopkins moved an additional SETON for
the election OF a clerk of the gas works at $500
per year.
Mr.. Hughes said that 5000 was enough.
| There were many clerks wh" got not more than
SIS per month who did FIVE tunes As much
work as he did
Mr. Hopkins moved to make the clerk of the
gas works give security iu the sum Of $1,000.
He received great deal of money, and lt Was
doubtful if the bond of the superintendent
| covered the case.
Mr.. Shinn explained the status of the clerk
| Mr.. Rock favored 5000 as the salary because
he knew competent men who would serve for
that sum.
. / Il i L IL l.