Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-04-02

v ,lued by him. and if the assessor be not
satisfied, he may demand further inforna-
tiOn and make schedule of the property
himself, or have Ii male by the owner of the
property. Tire object of the law is TO
GIT AT THE FAIR CASH VALUE
OF the property To be taxed on the LIST day of
April can well see how that the taxi payer
viii assist an assessor. and protect himself
against AN over tax, il he will himself value
the property, and submit f. to the assessor
whether he Will accept that, or not, as the
valuation OF The property
voice.-At the same time, would you re-
qulre him To take an oath?
Gov. UenHiSon.-The law requires him To
take an oath that il is n fair schedule of his
pf"p' riy. That is To say, Mr.. Mitchell will
make return that the has on hand merchau--
disc on the lst day of April of the value of
$1,000. II the assessor choose to take that
as the valuation. very well. Then that is the
valuation constituting tife basis for the tax
Ing of that particular property. Ii the as
SCISSOR be not satisfied that II is "A fair vaiua-
Ton, he may make further examination. IL
Den < his duty to make the final appraiSe-
met l. So in regard To notes, bonds. values
OF all sorts. The tax payer is not required TO
make return of the face value OF the note
lhat he holds, or a bond that he holds, or of
any other evidence of value that he holds
What he is required to do, or the assessor
will do is to appraise the value of that par
t!cular T. OperJy on the lSt lay of \ pril not
on any other day. "A. b holds the notes of
&C. d. running for one. two. three. four
years. He has two classes of notes, one
craving q per cent. and one drawing 10 per
cent. Now. neither the owner Of the notes.
"A. B." rOr the assessor if the duty de-
Volred urOn him. would appTaisc the two
classes OF notes aS of the sam. value. for the
reason that the 10 per cent. bearing interest
note woul' command a larger sum on fhc Is:
day of April than the6 per cent. note. There
fore. when the appraiser would make his
applaiSemont of their value. he would LIST
the per cent, ID might be. at > cents or 80
cents; the 10 per cent at 80 cents or a
dollar. as he. iii his Judgment. may deem the
true value of that property. the test of the
value being the ability of the holder To CON
vert II into cash on the 1st day of April. |
make these remarks, first, because am sat
iSicd a miSapprehcnSiOn prevails through
out the community, to a greater or less eX-
tent. on this subject. | desire, through this
coniercnce-and in that desire my colleagues
Join me-to have these explanations go to the
citizens of the District. All that You are re-
CURED To DO in making your returns is to re-
port the fair cash value of the property on
The LIST of April; and all the assessor is aU-
thorized by law to do, if he make the assess
Inenf, is 10 fix the value of that property at
that time according to its fair cash rate
addressing Mr.. CIagett, who sat by the side
OF him:) Do you understand me, Mr.. Cla-
gett?
Mr.. CIagett.-I am listening to you very
atteniively.
Governor Dennison.NOw. these remarks
apply 10 all returns. 10 has been said by Mr.
Mitchell that the fixing of the LIST day of April
as the time for returning the merchandise
works a hardship in this: That the stocks i'm
trade are larger on that day than the ave
rage throughout the year. Therefore, the
9 T. H..
true, go to the law, but not to the power Of the
Commissioners. UUqucStionably the law is
severe in having fixed that day for the waltz
alton of merchandise. That difficulty is OBJ
waited in some states, where the average is
taken of the time of the merchants doing
business. If he have been in business for
twelve months he takes the month"; ave
rage OF his merchandise and divides IL by Y.
and the amount that ne returns is according
Ia that division. IT he have been in six
mon ths, he divides il by 6, and I have little
cont ag,s4 of
To this subject that it will cheerfulIy correct
II in that regard. But that is the law now.
lie commissioners have no control over il.
The commissioners have 10 power nor fac
ulty of fixing any other date as the day for
making the return. If the Commissioners
had the power, under the information COM
muniCated by Mr.. Mitchell and others. they
would most cheerfully adopt more favor
able rule for the valuation of merchandise,
for the benefit of the merchants OF the Dis
trict, than this law permits.
Another fact seems 10 have escaped the at
tentiOn Of our friends in the discussion of this
subject, that you pay but half your tax he
fore the meeting of Congress; you pay but %
cents on S10O of your return, whether il be on
personality or realty. That is not an onerous
tax in itself When Congress shall convene
u II be the pleasure of the citizens of the Dis
1IlCt, either through the Commissioners or
otherwise, TO communicate to Congress what
are regarded as oppressive features of this
law. am sure speak but the sentiments of
the commissioners when | say, III they are in
Office, they VIII mos: cheerfully present such
facts as may be communicated to them
There Will then be relief. and that is
THE ONLY tribunal
To furnish il. IL has been said that n much
larger sum will result from this personal tax
Than was contemplated by the Commission
ers. L noted in your proceedings the other
evening, as well as in the remarks made to-
day. that IL is assumed that the Commission
erS were under a grave miSapprehcnSion as
TO the amount that would be returned under
this tax law. Quoting from Mr.. Randall'S
a /.
commissioners made a careful estimate OF
The product of this personal tax law. as we
now find II, and that the estimated PRO uct
would DE about Sl0O,cO0. Now, as a matter
OF fact, Mr. Randall stated what was said to
him, but Mr.. Randall had not the time, nor
did there seem To be any especial OCCASION for
him To explain the circumst stances under
" Inch the estimate was made to him. AMI
MAT leads me TO make this explanation.
= oW, gentlemen, as matter of fact, the
commissioners
DID NOT FAVOR 4 PERSONAL TAX LAW.
They aid not expect during the early part OF
The session To make any suggestions or
re recommendations to Congress on the subject
of taxation, or the financial affairs of the
District. They found, on the converting of
Congress, committee appointed by It's Two
To prepare bill for the permanent |
government Of the District, AMI il was only !
AFTER the lapse of some weeks, when the Com ]
mission began TO doubt whether Congress
would pass what was called "the Morrill, !
bill Oh any other bill for the establishment |
OF the permanent government of the District, |
mat 10 avoid the condition Of an empty |
treasury on the lSt day of July, the Commits |
Sloners felt IL TO be their duty TO prepare a |
biil tor the levying and collection of taxes.
ON the 18th day of January the Commits |
Slohers submitted q draft of the bill, con- |
ming the tax TO the realty of the District. |
leaving the rate of taxation in blank. to be |
inserted by Congress. That bill was referred |
10 the Committee on Appropriations. Ac- |
this bill we submitted state |
ment OF the estimated expenditures for the |
current year ending June 30th. 1876. The |
so estimated was 3, 100 900. All we |
wanted Congress TO do was To give the Dis |
trict such a tax bill as would furnish an |
amount which, with appropriations TO be |
lnade ny Congress, would equal S3I3O 900. |
We sent letter of explanation with that !
dIait, saying that the present valuation Of |
real estate in the District was S9s COS, 900 in 1
round numbers. suggesting a doubt whether |
on the reValuation the amount would exceed |
$4,000, coo. But we made an estimate |
Of per cent. and II on these TWO |
amounts. We male the amount of two per |
cent. on S9S, 600 Goo after allowing deductions,
licenses. and water rents so as % |
bring sum of LOCO OO0 leaving in round 1
numbers about 81 100000 10 be Appropriated |
by Congress To make up the sum OF the es-
tlmated expenditures. The bill here drafted |
was referred TO the Committee on Appro- |
lrlations. because that committee had |
charge OF appropriations, and the bill con-
lemplated an appropriation as havs already !