National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-06-16
THE COUNCIL.

BON WHICH NO TAXES ARE PAID.
THE COUNCIL
The Council met yesterday Mt 9 o'clock: Mr.
VIM. Stickney tpresidentl in the chair.
Prayer by Rev. G. A. Hall.
Tho following House bills we're read q secon
time and referred:
H. d. No. 81, for the relief of ]. T. jenkins
Committee on Finance
H. d. No. 70, to cause notice to be served o.
owners Of real property in certain cases Com
mittee on washington, Georgetown and Count.
b. D. No. Sc, to repeal an act imposing licsns
on commercial agents. Committee on Finance.
d. ID. NO. "A, to condemn and open alley Il
square No. 100. COMMITTEES on Public Works an,
H. .. No. II for the relief Of the Potomac In
s,e Company Of Georgetown, was read frs
Mr.. Buker, from the Committee on Nationa
Relations, reported back Council bill No. g. 10
the equalization Cf general and special taxes II
the District Of Columbia, and the House amend
ments thereto, with Recommendation that tn
amendments be non-concurred in, and commit
tee OF conference asked for. In connection will
the report, Mr., Buker said:
MR. PRESIDENT: The original bill for the equal
Ration Of general and special taxes in the Dis
o estate, except properly belonging to the Unitet
= States, should bear equally the burdens Of taxa
ton, passed the Council with the unanimous sup
port Of every member then voting.
The proposition does not appear to have mel
with equal favor In the other House. The amend
mentS Of the House Of Delegates now before the
Council would seem to indicate that gentlemen
have consented to tax colleges and other literary
and scientthc Institutions, while they have fell
compelled to withhold their sanction from the
Proposition TO tax church property. While this
view Of the matter appears as plausible as any
paeee Of sophistry under the sun, closer exam
wisdom Of this kind Of political philosophy.
The logic which reaches the conclusion to tax
colleges, many Of which are endowed BY Govern
while q exempts the property Of the church, be
tween which and the Government there can be
no connection under the Constitution Of this
country, may be interesting as evidence OF an
awakening interest religious subjects, but will
hardly be accepted as new argument in favor Of
suffrage extension.
existence to public munihcence, and are, often
supported by direct appropriations from Govern
ment. They acknowledge the supremacy Of the
State, are subordinate to its laws, while their
Affairs are properly subject to its investiga alton
and control The point being settled that Gov
eminent cannot tax itself, there is, at least, a
The Ghufeh Is established upon a different
basis. 1t recognizes no authority outside its own
ference with its affairs on the part of the State.
1t possesses the right to accumulate and hold
property without limit, IpI which i demands and
1desIre to examine tho subject briefly, and to
present q few additional reasons why the bill as
originally passed the Council should become
law without amendment. / propose to discuss
the question chiefly in its bearing upon the COM
muntty, and only incidentally IN Its relation to
the Church.
rests mainly upon the argument that churches
are promoters Of the public good. 1t will, there
fore be proper to raise the question as to the ex
tent to which this assumption holds true.
The policy of our Government admits Of the
largest freedom in religious matters. All ma
tionalties, all sects, all creeds all religions COM
hnra ft1l1 nKri nd
Hgious liberty. The United States. essentially q
Protestant nation, can have little sympathy with
the dogmas Of Rome, the religion Of the Jews,
the doctrines Of polygamy, or the rites OF those
Oriental brethren, thousands OF whom are an
nually landed on our shores. Yet the Roman
cathedral the Jewish synsgogne' me Mormon On
conscious security under the protection of Ameri-
can law; and in view Of the past achievements of
our diplomacy it would only be anticipating a
probable eventuality to say that the Mohamme-
dan mosque and pagan shrine may yet share
equally and impartially with Protestant houses
Of worship in the favorable discrimination Of our
various forms Of worship are equally beneficial to
society, and there few who do not believe most
of them to be positively detrimental to public
morals. Yet each consents. for the sake Of the
pitful saving to ITSELF to permit all the others to
enjoy the fruits Of Legislation by which they are
fOstered and made powerful 1.-THE public expense,
The exemption Of church property leads to q
multitude Of abuses. Chief among these it en-
courages large sccumulEtions Of wealth in the
all history proves to be dangerous to government,
and especially dangerous to 4 government like
ours Take for example the Roman Catholic
and select this sect not to draw invidious COM
Parisons but because It affords the most conspic-
uouE illustration Of the subject. The possessions
Of this organization in this country are simply
enormous, and growing with an exceptional rap
idity which leaves reasonable grounds for appre-
hension. This vast properly Is controlled by the
temporal head Of the CAurch, sitting on foreign
throne hostile to our Institutions sad essentially
intolerant of the exercise OF religious freedom,
capable If need be Of welding this vast ard in
creasing concentration Of power for any purpose
not inconsistent with the agrrandiZement of the
Church OF Rome. DO you require an example?
The very amendment we are considering comes to
this chamber bearing the finger marks Of for
eign hierarchy.
In this connection It may be stated that the
church property in the District is divided among
the different sections as follows: Washington,
making total Of S2T75,23T for the District. This
amount falls far below the actual value Of this
class Of property. Ii includes little or nothing
which Is not devoted to the current use Of the
churches, and embraces no property held by them
for Investment and speculation. 1t Is thought
that this property added to the present assess
ment would increase the aggregate to more than
a, o00, 600 If returned at q fair valuation.
1t may be interesting to know that the church
property in the District as shown by the assessors
books, is distributed among the several denomI-
nations az follows: Roman Catholic, sS46, 7lp;
Methodist, S52S $50; Presbyteriau, sS42S43; Epis-
copal, t2S7 1885, Baptist. Lutheran. $50 779;
Totsi, ET6,Z7,
without pretending to entire accuracy, for
have been Obliged tofollow the necessarily incOm-
plete returns Of the assessors OF TWENTY-FIVE dis
tricts, the above stateaent Is sufficient to show
that about onet third of the church property In the
District il in the hands Of q single sect the Ro-
man Catholics; and that one half is held by two
depopinations-theC Catholics and the Methodists,
and, In addition to these facts when it lie remem-
tiOns are owned and controlled by the Catholic
Church-many Of them occupying property Of
great value-it will not be difficult to comprehend
The significant fact that the assets of this Church
embrace not less than one half of all the denomi-
national property in the District and that private
property contributes annually TO its support more
than 935 600.
Another abuse which may be mentioned is the
manifest injustice to the taxpayers which ex-
empts secular establishments sometimes used for
religious purposes. As an example Of this class,
refer to the Young Mems Christian Association
no doubt one Of the most coInmendable institu-
tiOns in the District. A joint stock company, or
gained under the auspices Of this association,
erected business block which is one Of the orna-
ments Of the capital, containing q public hall
second in capacity and in elegance of ornaments
to no other In the District Prayer meetings and
other religious services are occasionally held in
one Of the rooms Of this building and for this
reason this magnificent block, containing some of
the finest places Of busnesE in the city and as
sessed at Ss0,000 lie required to pay no taxes. AS
WELL sir, might the president Of the Metropolitan
Horse Railroad Company establish noon prayer
meeting in his stable, and insist upon the ex-
emption Of his property, rolling stock and all.
Another example, and the last 1 shall men
tion in this connection is the exemption Of eccle
siastical property used for secular purposes. For
illustration It is only necessary TO refer to some
Of the churches in this city which drive profta-
BILE business by giving concerts, lectures and va
IiOus other moral" entertainments, in which the
pulpit is discarded for the platform or the stage
1fthere exist no moral objection to thus bringing
the church into competition with the world in
business enterprises, submit that the practice is
unjHst to those who have invested their capital
in providing suitable places for public entertain
profit through these outside speculations, 1t
should be subject to the same conditions and re-
strictions which govern the conduct Of similar en-
terpriEes among business men. 1t is not easy to
understand why Lincoln Hail and come Of the
churches which are rented IS public halls should
receive immunity from their obligations 10 sup
port the government, while like establishments
purposes are taxed all other property is taxed.
1t Is proposed by the amendment to place GENE
teries on the list Of property tn be released from
the payment Of taxes. The returns of the assess
estabishthe value Of this Glars Of property at
S250, 1888. While this sum is much below the true
value the amount is not so large as to become q
subject OF serious concern The following state
ment shows the number and respective values of
the cemeteries in the District: GlenWood $50 900:
Oak Hill, s55, SIS; Graceland, ga $50; St. Maryis
1000; Rock Greek Church, els, 900; Soldiers
Home, g. 800; Mt 0liyet, $4,000; cemetery in
Georgetown, q 500; Baltic cemetery, q, 800; Lu-
theran Chapel cemetery. 1000; st. Patrick's,
g, 800; Queens Chapel. 81 900; Harmony, $1,000;
eoiored Baptist, q 150; Hebrew, $500.
The chief objection TO exempttng cemeteries Is
the too frequent liability to abuse to which It
leads Under cover Of tho law large tracts of val
liable land held, 1t is believed, for speculation
have escaped the payment Of taxes The Rock
Al fNfru