, 1874-07-24

compelled to take in order to justify thom in do
Ing business at all. 49,.
THE TAX ON LAND.
Tho Aurora Herald closos an article upon the
| Inequalities Of asaossmonts for State taxea Ii
various counties by tho following timely remark
Tho farmer cannot hdo his farm tho racchsnt,
cannot hide his little home, in caHe ho has one, from
tho ARsesaor but thcao must pay tlcr tAxes in full
mud It Is not surprising that thoy demand that those
who have money should bo asaoAscd ut ita full value
w,en this DO ascertsiued, in the csso Of th,
National Banks. 80 - -''- "''.'.'':
Our whole tax system Is inefficient and incon.
tho aggregate assessment returned by tho As.
SCISSORS the standard OF. taxable values for the
whole State, which aggregate tho Board ol
Equalization cannot increase moro thnn poi
cont. The assessment for 1873 was on tho basis
of 10 por cent Of the total ya1uo Of tho property
In tho State. The State Board Of Equalization
doctorad the raturnB by tho countioa, adding IL
one place and taAing or in another, until they
mado a most lnnontablo and disgracofnl failure,
Thus they added 68 por cont to the value Of tue
returned personal property Of Cook County, on
tho ground that thas proportion Of that class ot
property Ind not been asao6aod at all. Thus
one-half tho population wero assessed by tho
local Board at 10 per cent Of tho actual
value Of their property; tho State Board
added C8 per cont to the asseaa,uent Of tho samo
property, which was therefore taxed on D yalua-
ton Of s1.ss on each dollar OF actual yaluo,
while tho owners Of the property which was not
assessod paid nothing. Thus the honest prop
erty-holdars who mado returns Of their property
had to pay taxes on s1.a8 for every dollar worth
thoy had. But even this injustice was exceeded
in tho cases Of tho bankers aud othoza who ro-
turned tho full amount Of money in their handa.
Tho State Board Of Equalization added G8 per
cont to tho par valuation Of tho currency, and
tho ownors had to pay taxes On 91.G8 for every
dollar they hold. The Supreme Court has de-
cided tint there is no legal remedy for this in
Justice and inequality, 80 TINT the citizen who
wishes to escapo being taxed On s1.G8, or $500,
or any othcr oxtrayagant sum, for oaoh one dol
lar's worth Of property hold by him, must 10
careful and cautious In his rotu1ns. Whom
omission to mako any return is tho only escape
from robbery. tho omission becomes popular
Tho Herald is right when it says that the farm
or and tho landowner cannot escape taxation.
Tho property is visible to tho eyo, and Its d.
monsions gro matter Of public record. Tho re-
suit is that every foot Of land within tho bouu-
darlcs Of Illinois, whether devoted to farms or
cut up into town and city lota Ia within tho roach
aud knowledge Of the AsBoHBors all they have
to do respecting the land is to take tho town
plat aud copy it's subdivihions. They can, with
like facility, discover all improvements on tho
land and each Town Assessor In tho rural dis
trlcts knows exactly how many horses, mnlos,
catslo, Rheep, hogs, plows, wagons. carts, reap-
ers, mowers cultivators. and even ohiokons.
thoro are on each farm Or pioco Of land ho
knows what tho farm cost, what tho buildings
aud tho fences cost he knows ovory man wAo
has q clock or watoh, piano, nolodo.
OH, and sowing machine; and, Louce, tho
enumeration of property on tho land
belonging to Its occupants la full and
complete. Nothing cacapes, and got, In tho
Of 1878, theso was found in all ILL.,
noia ouly s2s7, 100000 Of personal property, In.
Guiding tho merchandise Of the merchants and
tbo productions OF tho manufacturers. OF tho
s267, 700 worth Of personal property found
Ind returned by the Assessors, one-half was
found Oh the farms, and thus tho owners OF the |
land wero taxed Oh every Hquare foot, and on all |
'ho poraonal property found thereon, while tho |
owners Of tho many hundrcda Of ,nillions OF
'ther personal property escaped taxation alto
,other. Wo hayc given, in previous articles tho
'xact aguros Of tho aasosFmenr of 1879, aud
hown that. of the property actually asaogsol for
axation in 1873, over 80 por cont was In tho form
Il land aud the property on aud incidental to
ho land. OF tho ta1eB on the othor 20 per cent
t property, one-lalf waa mover collected, be-
ause Of the inability Of the Collectors to collect
lo Bamo.
Practically. therefore. tho land and its ap-
urposes and, Us tho assessment for State pur-
osos Ia also tue assessment for county aud town
urpoBoB, nine-tonths Of tho whole burden Of
axat,on falls upon tho land aud property bo-
,nging to It. Tho whole tax assessed tor all
urpoHcs IN 1873, In Illinois, amounted to not
'sa thau $2a, ,oo0.000 Of which tho land. md tho
orsonal property incidental thcrsto, paid over
23, 100000, aud all other property tho small
froronco.
Tho royonuo law Of 1872 Ia compendium Of
aths. having for thetr purpose tho enforcement
IN honest return Of personal property, but,
ke similar laws ia eYorg Rtate Of tho Union, II