, 1873-12-08


arc oqunl to tho task OF computing what ratio per
cont will produce 90, soc, 900 upon given vniua-
tfon ut loaat, no ploa Of ignorance or mintako
has boon offered In their botalt us yot. But tho
Auditor Inns certified to tho County Olorln to OK
tcnd tho ratio OF tax on a percentage of o.10 Of
mill for school purposes, and mills and ITO Of
n mill for rovonuc. Thoao rites, upon MI aggro-
cato nuHosamont OF $1,34l ,o13,o4o, produce, as
compnrcd with tho slms authorized by law, aH
follows:
Autho1sea Antounsef ETet. V
s'ssas sssss3 ;ss
Toal........s3, 10000 s4,e2Osoe.os sl,a2o,eoo.oa
Tho Auditor haa omitted to atato by what au-
thorty ho has added 81 100000 to tho gross 1ovy
authorized by law; aud bo .naintains profound
silence as to tho purpose for Witch ho has added
81, ,365, or ovor 45 per cent, to tho levy for
general reyonuo purposes. Tho Revenue Inv OF
1874 expressly limits him to rate Of tax that
will produce tho tt not amount" Of tn1 dosignat-
Cd by tho Legislature. Wc hnyo ondeaVored to
show TINT tho Auditor has loviod this additional
tux Of oyor olevon hundred Thousand dollars to
pay {out Of tho State Treasury tho interest On
tho ralrond bonds Issued by certain towns, cit
les, and countios, and TINT in SO doing ho has
exceeded his lawful authority. Thcsc bonds arc
purely 1ooal dobta, ~ much so as Tho debt Of
tho City OF Chicago, and tho ConHtitution pro-
hibits tho uso Of my money raised by State tax-
alton for any purpose whntevor, unloas specific
all . ot,r{p An1 1tvy& I'm Tn
Now hero Ia an arbitrary addition Of 45 per
cont made to tho legally authorized lcvy for tax
purposes this excessive 1evy lis ovor q, 100000,
and tho Auditor, In defiance Of law ind Of tho
public interests, has Issued his warrant for its
collection. OF cournc, no one doubts TINT this
addition to tho authorized levy ia to pay tho
intoreat on tho railroads.&c. debts owod by cor
tain townB and counties. And now comea tho
further information that tho Auditor has. in
addition to tho 81, ,820, ,800.08 levied for school
and rovcnuc purposes (vhon only $4,000, 900
was authorized BY law, certified to aomo 800
communitiep- cities. towns, and countless
special rate OF ta1 to bo loviod aud collected On
tho property Of those communities. to pay tho
interest On these rai]road-aid honda. In addi-
tion to this, there is about half o million Of
dollars. previously collected in tho State Troas-
ury applicable to tho Same fund.
As noar II We can compute from tho reported
list Of theso bonds ind their varying ratesof In
torost, tho annual intorest On thom amounts to
81, ,098, 600. To meet this interest, the Auditor
has levied spccial tax on each community
for tho amount OF interest on its debt,
the aggregate exceeding a1,oo0,0oo. aud
has lowed upon tho State at large an
other tax Of e1,122,ooo for tho same pur-
pose. This is drawing it protty heavy. II
the interest On these dobts amount, in round
numbers, to s1,ooo,0oo yenr, why docs the
Auditor levy tax Of $4,000, 900 to moot it?
We call the attention Of the towns and
counties that owe this dobt to tho fact that the
Auditor has already taxed thom III the general
levy to pay tho interest on theao bonds, and
that tho lazy OF tho special tax is a duplication
Of tho othor-the collection Of two yoars interest
at ono timo. Ii tho extra million lowed to pay
tho principal ?