The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1875-09-05
Fraudulent Assessments.

In the early part of the week jast closed
some real estate in the First District of '
this city was sold at SHERIFF. sale-not at
tax sale-but for foreclosure of mortgage
The title was uninpeachable, the offering :,
perfectly fair, and the price obtained as
great, NO doubt, ss could have been realized
at private sale. That price was 81 500.
We enquired Of the gentleman whose prop
erty had been sold, what its assessment was.
cover S2e, 900" WAS the answer. $4,000
assessment of property worth % 500. tits
useless to argue that the property may
have been worth more than it sold for.
There are numbers of people here with
plenty Of money to invest and good invest
ments very hard to find. If the property |
had been worth more, there is NO reason |
why it should not have brought more. A
fair and open sale, on market we'll stock
ed with money, is fair test of reel present
value, that is of the actual value by which
the owner profits. It is upon that value
and not upon some fancy speculation as to
what price the thing will reach some of
these days that he ought to be taxed.
| Another land owner-a lady-informed
us that her tax was about $500, and her
revenues from the property about the same.
And we doubt not that q scrutiny Of all
sheriff's and auctioneers' sales and of nearly
all private sales will show immense dis
proportions of this kind between prices
and assessments.
Everybody knows that no escape from
this villainy is granted by the Court which
the Legislature has vested with exclusive
Jurisdiction of such matters. The Superior
District Court has decided that there is no
appeal, and no judicial relief, from the
arbitrary dictum Of Board of Assessors.
In other words, the people, who are sup
posed to be the source of power in their
public servants, are entirely at the mercy
of those servantp, and government which is
established to protect the citizen, may, by a
( little stroke of legislative legerdemain, be
t perverted into an engine of confiscatioD
= and ruin.
n Nothing more clearly shows the enslaved
i. condition of our people than the manner in
~ which this same Superior District Court
n was foisted upon them. The people elected
a their judges, but among them could be
II found no man who was to be relied on al
q an ertermiHator. There must then be an
" other Judge. This was an easy job in the
" hands Of men who laugh at both the spiri
p and the letter of all constitutions, Stat'
q. aud national. They passed law abOlishing
IA one of the Courtssand then re-establshini
Of it. They resorted to the pitiful little dOdg'
IN of changing it's name from " Seventh Dis
~ trict Court" to Superior District Court,
DO but they might just as we'll have retaine'
a. the same title for it. By this hocus pocus
of however, they got rid of Judge ColenR,
10 reliable friend of justice and popular rights
substituting in his place a man who, the.
No thought, could be relied on to sustain Ia
ed assessors aud collectors in any and ever
M excess. To the Court thus organized the
he gave exclusive jurisdiction of all question
Mt affecting the public rights and relations c
es citizens. The election by the people we
he thus really annulled and man for whOr
at they had not voted was foisted upon ther
he by the appointment of . governor and tb
les manipulation Of q Legislature. If one elect
If ed Judge could thus be set aside and hi
de place reRlled by appointment, the sam
,rt policy could have boon applied to all th
judgeships, and if this were done after on
m election 1t could be done after every on,
I'D The result of this would be the total abrC
ty cation of that portion of the cOnstitutiO
as which gives to the people the election I
10, their judges. Can such action be calle
s. CONSTITUTIONAL
AK Such an outrage would, beyond dOub
he justify immediate revolution. But
aid what avail would revolution BET A fe
ole judges and tax assessors hung, as peOpl
ost say very freely they ought to be, wOul
lto only make room for more hungry ones, VII
The would march into their nests under tf
lg- escort of as many regiments as might /
let necessary. All through our troubles ii