The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-12-26
TROUBLES OF THE CITY.

We have been specially requested to call
the attention Ct the readers of the BULLETIN
to the meeting which is to be held in the
spacious and magnificent assembly room OF
st. Patrick's Hall tomorrow evening, to con"
slider matters referred to in the recent mes
sage OF his honor, the Mayor, relating to the
city debt the public schools, the Metropoil-
tan Police, and the onerous taxation to which
they have given rise.
The meeting is called principally under
the auspices Of the members of the Proper
tv-Hoders' Union, and the call is particularly
addressed to those who own taxable property,
both real and personal But, we apprehend,
the subjects to be discussed, and the ques-
tons at issue interest all permanent citizens
engaged in any lawful vocation, since it l.
easy to demonstrate that the burden OF
public tax is dfused generally and that the
evils of excessive taxes are o grievance to
every member of our municipal community
When houses are taxed heavily the tenants
and their patrons feel the tax and help to
pay it. All our citizens are contributors to-
wards the payment of all State, city and par
ish expenses Not even license tax can be
imposed upon professions, vocations and
trades without affecting the universal mass Of
citizens.
If all who are interested in taxation were
to assemble at one time and place to give ex-
preston to their opinions, score OF build
ings like ST. Patricks Hall would be INSULT
Gent to hold them. The subject il one which
intimately concerns every inhebitant, whether
hs is the holder of taxed property paying
dues directly or whether he only feels the
inevitable pressure as transmitted from those
who pay directly.
The meeting is called for the purpose of
indorsing the advice of Mayor Leeds. We
would suggest in this connection that there
are multitudes of citizens who ardently desire
economical governmen emit and reduced taxes. yet
who are not prepared to indorse any specified
recommendations, however respectable may
be the source from which they emanate The
more interested our citizens are IN public
matters the more inclined are they to form
their own opinions, to propose their own plans
of action and to concur with the ideas and
plans of others only as these coincide with
their own. Hence, out Of the large assembly
which this occasion will gather, there may be
comparatively few of the more intelligent who
will be willing to endorse Mayor Leeds or
any other individual or officer, although agree
ing with him as to the results desired They
believe, as he Does that it is not possible to col
lect tax sufficient to support an extravagant
police, costly system of schools, ruinously
expensive system of drainage, to pay the III
terest on debt of S23, 900, 0C0, and at the
same time to provide for the necessary cur
rent expenses of the city government They
believe as he does that the property OF the
city is enormously overtaxed, under the COM
pound pressure of a greedy State government
and city government, acting under the COM
pulsion of State laws, having to pay double
tax and double system Of licenses. They
believe as he does, that the authorities elected
by the people of the city, ought to control
the finances the drainage, the schools and
the police Of the city, They feel and have
long felt ike Dim tnat tue cOuioA VI
the city by an alien and hostile Legislature, is
damaging and pestilent nuisance Yet, be-
lieving all this and feeling it all intensely,
it does not follow that they are prepared to &C.
cept the modus operandi advised by the Mayor.
They will attend this meeting, probably,
and will listen with deep interest to all that
may be said by the distinguished speakers
from whom addresses are promised; but it
will be an error to assume that their presence
is an assent to the plan and recommendation
of the Mayor.
Whatever else may grow out OF this assem-
blage, we hope it may help to impress the
members of the Legislature with full sense
of the deplorable condition to which our city
finances are reduced, of the absolute inability
of the property of the city to sustain the
loads of tax heaped upon it in pursuance Of
the charter and other statutes, and of the I'M
possibility of obtaining relief otherwise than
by appropriate legislation The affairs OF this
city should be the first to receive the attention
of the General Assembly.
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