The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1875-01-12

iost REGULAR session, passed an Act aba,
t;no III taxes on lands forfeited ana SOFA
prior 10 1866 This, in my judgment
was wise and proper as Tar as Il "eii' ;
but | am now Of opinion that lhe pro,
visions of this Act should be so eXtehded
AZ 10 embrace all taxes and costs iIi al!
lands forfeited and sold PRIOR to 1919
The titles are SO imperfect, IN many III
stances. and records So confused, as 70
deter any one from purchasing these
lands, and especially Is this true o. ,ne
lands held in the counties eihpf"ce'' III
the Levee Districts. All taxes, state
County and Levee, should be released,
and the original owners allowed to re-
deem such lands by paying the taxes
now due for the fiscal year 1914. Coupled
with this, should be a change IN the law
in reference to sales by and to the several
Levee Boards, that may hereafter De
made of lands delinquent. As the ia"
now stands, the sales are made by ana 10
the Levee Boards for taxes due them,
and the State and county taxes are held
suspended, until such time as the lands
may be purchased or redeemed from sad
Boards, when the State gets her taxes II
at all, through the Levee officials. Ii
the rule should be reversed, and ell sales
be required to be made to the State, am
convinced it would inure greatly to her
advantage, and work no injury to the
Levee Boards, as the State would become
responsible for the collection OF the
Levee Tax on sale or redemption of the
lands. The estimated value of the lands
now forfeited to the State and Levee
Boards, is about $50, 900, 600.
JUDICIARY FUND.
The wisdom of the policy requiring
the counties to pay much of the expenses
OF this department. is, by experience, fully
sustained. | would urge still further
changes in this direction, by requiring the
payment of all witness certificates-lssued
in cases where the State fails or succeeds
in the prosecution of criminal cases, and
where executions are returned natltd bono
to be made by the several counties.
These claims are now paid by the State
upon the certificate of the Circuit Clerk.
As there are no means by which, il aud
iting such accounts, they can be verified
by the court records, the State is often
liable to be imposed upon, and pay claims
that should never be paid A strong IL
lustration of this may be given in the
case OF Warren county, where [ have every
reason to believe gross Irregularities have
been practiced, and many fraudulent
claims presented and paid. If these claims
are made payable by the counties, they
can be verified by the Court records be-
fore payment is made, and the possibility
of fraud avoided, or if attempted, it can
be readily detected.
For similar reasons, | would recon-
mend that inquest claims be also paid by
the counties in which they originate. II
is seldom, when an inquest is held, that a
physician is not called in to hold a post
morten examination to determine the
cause of death, at an expense of from fifty
to one hundred dollars in each case,
whether the same be necessary or not, to
ascertain the cause of death. If such
claims were paid by the county, it is
probable it would not be found necessary
to incur this additional and unnecessary
expense in many cases.
REVENUE LAWS
Under this head much could be said
and recommended, but | shall point only
TO some changes which | deem imperative
The laws regulating the time fol
making assessment, and returning as
SesSment rolls, are very conflicting.
Section 1854, Code 1871, requires AS
SCISSORS to complete and return their rolls
on or before the first Monday of July o
each year, to remain in the office of the
Clerk Of the Board of Supervisors unit
the first Monday of August following, fo1
examination and filing of objection there
to.
Section 1885, Code 1871, requires thu
Board of Supervisors to meet on the frs
Monday OF August, to equalize assessment
and the Clerk is required TO furnish COP,
OF the corrected roll, on or before the frs
Monday of October, to the Auditor anc
Tax Collector
Section 1872, Code1871 requires Board.
OF Supervisors to meet on the first Monday
OF July, OF each year, to levy county taxes
which shall be per centum on the State
tax as shown by the assessment roll.
Section l Of an Act in relation te
state Board Of Equalization, approved
April ?, 1874, requires said Board t,
meet on the first Monday of September
to equalize property among the severa
counties.
These conflicts are so apparent as onl,
to be pointed out to secure correction
Boards Of Supervisors should not max,
ire county legies until after the equal;za
ton has been completed by the count,
ana State Boards, and tAe rolls should b,