The sun., 1873-09-01
1HE TAX oFFIcE DEFICIENCIES.
The Altered pe.aIce,.e. IN the rnx o@ce.


A sUN reporter called on Mr.. Lemuel Bur
rows, Tax Collector Of Kings County, at his resi-
dence, lt2 Fort Greene place, and wac received
very pleasantly 10y that gentleman who, upon
seating himself, observed: Things are In q sad
state The reporter said that his mission was
to inquire about the deficiency or alleged defal-
cation Ia the Tax once, and Mr.. Burrows re-
piled: "Ot course there IL deficiency In
my department; there always has been
one since the once created, and
1t is easily explained. l am unaware
what was done during the administration
of my predecessors, Me-srs. J. T. Ilry ant, Alfred
NJ. wood, Edmund briggs. and Isaac Dadeau
but this / can say that | never heard there
was auy dtfaltatlon in the department. The
other da,. when read in a New York newspa-
per that II was thought there was a defaca-
tion IN my o0ice and learned that the story was
printed upon the authority Of Comptroller
Schroeder. waited upon that official and said.
"Mr Schroeder I would Ike 10 know what
knowledge you have Of a detalcation in the Tax
once. II YOU nave any mo alton upon that
suulec', 1t j. your duty To- let me and the public
kn, what il Is received no satisfactory an
swrr from the Iouptrollrr lie has repeatedly
spoken 10 others about there being "someth hing
wrong IN the lax Once. Now, would like To
know what II is. lie has been
COSTINUAIIY HARPING
upon this subject, and what good has come of
~ II only makes the public nervous and dis
satisfied when there Is no need of II. would
thank Mr.. Schroeder, or any one else. to show
any deialcatun in my office. alu interested IN
this matter, and II any one is To suffer must"
The Collector gave the reporter an idea of the
way In which things are managed in hts once.
II was IN substance this: Frst the taxpayer oh
tains a bill for the am cunt Of taxes due on his
property. Then he goes to the casbier, who re-
ceives his money, and sees that IL Is credited.
Then II passes Ia the entry clerk, and the total
Items entered in the several cash books.
The money received IL deposited with the City
Treasurer the same day, according To the new
charter. ON the following day the cash books
are taken by the clerks who call on the tax roll
lot and block numbers. and the total sum paid
on them ana then the footings are compared 10
see II they correspond. These are stamped
the amount in the cash book and the amount on
the tax roll, then the property, as stamped, IS
credited that day. There IL no opportunity for
defalcation Every lawyer Of the city Of Brook
lyn, every real estate dealer and searcher, Is
constituted a private detective. They are con
tinuaiiy upon the track If the Collector 10 see
whether the taxes are paid. No piece OF prop
erty changes hands without search being made
10 see whether there i ANYTHING against IL. Un-
less II is stamped paid there must be
SOMETHING WRONG.
No defalcation could 60 on without II being
discovered. The tax collector must make re-
returns are made a. the warrant expires. when
the Common Council confirms the assessment
then the warrants are drawn. The clerk makes
these returns daily, weekly, or monthly. The
board of city Works are making returns to u
now They made returns 10 us up 20 Monday Of
property sold for NJ paid taxes, which has been
redeemed from 1859 To 1871 inclusive, ana which
amounts 10 little over $as,WU. Any person who
wishes to redeem his property must come here
and get hill and pay the amount. Under the
new charter the Collector turns over to the Regis
10 Of Arrears an officer who l. to begin his work
next June, all records In reference to uncollect-
ed taxes from lNt and previous years, and all un-
collected assrssments and tile collector will
simply collect current taxes and assessments.
WHAT MIR. BURROWS DOESN'T KNOW.
The reporter asked whether II was not possible
that some OF the money reported as unpaid
might not have been collected and stolen. Mr.,
burrows answered with "A wave OF his hand,
why don't know any more about that than
you do am not supposed 70 know what was
am pretty sure everything has been straight
since came in. What's the use in Schroeder
the Comptroller harping on my daughter 81
much. something wrong IN tht TAX umce II
an Odd story. hope Mr.. SCHROEDER or some one
Will tell me whai ; wrong .....
($2,OOOOOOl reported In the deficiency was cor
rected. Mr.. Burrows said itmight be that much
tinulng, there Is much difficulty sometimes in
collecting taxes. There is the jackson and the
Leiferts estates and many others. See how they
are entangled. Why, of course there must al
WAYS be a denolency IN the Tax once, The
Comptroller added that he had force OF men
nciency, and that there had never been any in
vcstigatlon except that being conducted by
any outcry raised against his department, but
courted a thorough Investigation, He knew
lntIf WIS II res l'lHrlblllA ItrNllE uI'h HHls anu
he wanted the public To know that things are all
right in his ofice lie trusted that Comptroller
Schroeder would discontinue his talk about there
being something wrong in the Tax once"
else show that something really Is wrong there.
SORRY FoR sPRAGUE.
As the reporter turned to withdraw he asked
Mr., burrows what he thought OF Rodman's
chances. Mr.. burrows replied that he hardly
knew what 10 say. II was a sad case, and he
felt very sorry for Mr.. Spragnc, whom he had
always respected very much, lie felt that IL
was n delicate subject to touch upon but felt
certain that Others besides Mills and Rodman
were implicated, and that the world would yet
know II. lie thought that the operations could
not have been conducted 50 long unbe known
To several other gentlemen,
Nj, burrows bowed the reporter out, saying