The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-08-11
AN ANSWER.
The City Replies to the Commu'
nication of the Property Hold
erS' Union.

nicatiOn of the Property Hold
ers' Union.
In reply to the petition of the Contra
Committee of the Property Holders Union,
for action on the part of the city to relieve
them from unjust taxation, the following has
been sent:
New ORLEANS, August 2, 1875.
To the CITY Council:
The object of the address is to secure relief
to tax payers; first, by suits to be instituted
by the City Council to attack the police, the
school and the park taxes, as unconstitutional
enactments; and second, by suspending the
collection of taxes, and depending on the pub
lie spirit and liberality of the taxpayers to
pay when called, the fluids necessary for the
ample supply of the government in its run
ming expenses We are compelled to believe
that neither of these desires of the Property
Holders Union can be granted by you, for
you possess no power to do as requested, and
the taxes complained of have been already
absolutely and uniformly contested, and uni
formly and frequently decided to be both con-
stituuonal and legal
AS to the first of the above wishes of the
memorialists, we confess to some surprise at
finding its expires ion in the address, since
four of the gentlemen whose names are signed
to the paper have themselves contested the
park, school and police taxes in most serious
and extended manner They were amongst
those who, some two years ago, appeared
themselves, or employed number of the
first lawyers at our bar to dispute these enact
ments. Many OF these cases went to the Su-
preme Court, and were there decided. the
suit of the city of New Orleans vs.. Ethen
Kline, 26 A. 493, seems to have been made
the leading case. In the decision in May,
1874, the Supreme Court, without dissent
ing voice, used the following language:
"This suit is for the tax of 1871, payable
in 1872. the defense is, among others, that
the park tax, school tax and police tax en-
braced in the bill are for the purposes Of
State institutions, and unconstitutional be-
cause the tax is not uniform throughout the
State" etc. Gas to the nature of the public
park, the public schools and the metropolitan
police, We are unable to perceive the appro-
priateness or force of the objection. The
Constitution does not require that every tax
shall be assessed throughout the State; but
that taxation by the State shall be uniform
throughout the State. The taxes now in
question are local taxes levied by the city in
accordance}with statutes of the State, for the
object specified, as applicable to the terrific
rial limits of the city"
These questions and others arose, and
we're decided at the same time by that court
in the case of the city of New Orleans VS..
Samuel Rawlings, Mary A. May, J. 81. Ken
nard, P. Mari, w. B. Kountz, Archibald
Mitchell, E. Lawrence and others. The full
scope and absolute frivolity Of the judgment
of the Supreme Court in the above cases can
not be fully understood without an inspection
h. - c,,st ~ kln
elaborate and numerous briefs prepared by
the eminent counsel on behalf of the tax
payers, and in which every possible sugges-
ton of learned and ingenious minds was set
forth and urged with all the power OF elo-
quence and authority to no purpose.
We conceive it vain task to seek for new
excuses or unseen flaws in the law COM
planned Of and we can not readily imagine
the reasoning which leads your memorialsts
to expect the City Council might accomplish
what had already been strenously attempted,
and which you are absolutely prevented from
now doing by the decision provoked by some
of those who now address you. We are una
BILE to appreciate the wisdom of further oppo-
sition before the courts to the particular taxes
above; unless, indeed, some new
and strong grounds OF illegality and unconsti-
nationality have been discovered; but no such
oASSSVOASp AO"OsSAt oPRSAAo w ho'O cSSA
made.
The simple statement that particular leg
islative enactment is unconstitutional and IL
legal, is an expression of familiar use indica-
tive of dissatisfaction but it is in itself mean
ingless. To make it otherwise it is necessary
to point out the article of the Constitution, or
the section of the law which it is believed has
been disregardsd, and wherein they have been
visited by the obnoxious enactment. In the
absence of all practical suggestions We have
found no objection to the tax laws in ques-
ton which has not previously been raised,
urged and decided.
Your memoralists have fallen into an extra
ordinary error, in stating that "the courts
have uniformly held that city administra-
ton have the right to contest and epjoin the
operation of tax claimed to be illegal, and
have as uniformly maintained that the citizen,
either in the individual or in their collected
capacity, can not maintain nor even make
such issue;" an error the more extraordinary
since both collectively and individually scores
Of the citizens of New Orleans, and notably
many of the members of the Property-Hold-
srs' Union have within the last few years uni
'ormly contested before the courts the very
enactment complained Of. We know of no
nstrace where taxpayer has been debarred
rom so plain right as that possessed by him
20 dispute any tax. Many cases are pending
,ven now in the courts, wherein the Taxpayer
1as Individually contested the legality of
'ome of the tax enactments or restrained the
collection as against him.
We have believed it our duty to permit
avery taxpayer, upon the slightest showing,
o have opened to him every facility for set
ing up and urging in court any right he
night believe he possessed II is unnecessa-
y to refer to the decisions and proceedings adj |
hitting and enforcing the taxpayer s right to
contest any tax Illegally imposed upon him.
such opinions are found in numbers in the
eports of the judgments of the highest
ourts in every State.
Judge Dillon, in his work on Municipal
Corporations, lays down the rule at length in
n paragraph 73l.
g. In regard to the suggestion that collec-
ion of taxes be suspended, we deem it I'M
necessary to write at length. The corporation |
ives many debts which, under onerous PEN