The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1876-01-04

public order, and of educst ng the children Of the
State. The OPPOSITION to suspend the poilce
and school tax, aside from its palpable violaton
OF existing laws, and the tendency that sncn
proposition, ii carried out, would have TO DrlnS
the State government into COLI ion with the CITY
government, and to arouse anew those pontlcal
anlmosities and compile atoms which, happ'iy Ior
the success Of the hoped-for Legislative reforms
are now dormant, strikes directly at the poorer
classes who need protection IN person ana pro,
perty, and are unable otherwise to supply 1t, ard
deprives them Of vital want they can not otner-
wise supply, the education OF their children while
it indirectly affects every material interest 81 me
city.
Amongst the reforms advocated are the fol-
lowing:
EQUALIZATION OF ASSESSMENTS.
The present system Of appraising and assess
ing the values o. the State Is unt quail oppressive
and very expens We. There is tendency to dis
crImlnate unfairly against the city. Assessments
in the city arbitrary, and In the country are
exceedingly lax. Contiguous lands OF equal
value, lying in adjoining parishes, vary in assess.
ment as much as seventy per cent. 1t is believed
equitable equalization OF values and the cor.
rection OF erroneous assessments would add
s40,00O00O to the assessment rolls Of the State,
ana to that extent tighten the general
burden OF taxation. l recommend that
there be board Of equalization estab-
each Congressional District, properly qualified
by experience and integrity, to whom the assess
ment rolls shall be referred for equalization.
This having been once accomplished. no new
assessment OF real estate need to be made but
once in five years, except as to permanent I'M
provsments made in New Orleans, which can pc
appraised from time to time, or the owners might
be required, as in New JERSEY and several other
States to deposit sworn statement OF the value
Of improvements made by them with the Regis
trar Of COnveyaLces or the Auditor. Inc Re
corder Of each parish and the Registrar OF Con-
veyances of the city of New Orleans should be re.
quired to furnish, from time to time, llst q all
chang es of ownership, so thai the proper correc-
tons could be made on the rolls. session OF
the board Of equalization OF sixty or ninety days
would probably suffice for the purpose, and be
sides The other practical Denents winch Woulu
result from the adoption OF this plan a direct
saving of over $4,000 year would be efected
in the cost OF assessment. The States OF New
Jersey, Michigan. Indiana and Ohio have adopted
q system OF equalzng assessments similar IN
general principles to the plan have suggested
and the method is found effective, just and eco
noluical
EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION.
In previous messages reference has been made
to the large amount Of property owned by cor
poraticns and used for ordinary commercial pur-
poses receiving all the benefits Of municipal and
State protection, yielding large revenues from
rentals, yet exempted from taxation. Article llS
of the State Constitution, which provides that
taxation shall be equal aud uniform through, ut
the State" also provides that ''t'e General AS
sembly shall have power to exempt from taxation
property actually used for church, school o.
Charitable pur poses." Neither the letter nor the
spirit of this ordinance contemplate that some
Of o. tt tue q most eligible offices and the most
r,adily rented stores in the best business
portions of New Orleans should pay no
taxes to city State; that public halls Of enter
tanmen coming IN s cNmP1'iI he w'm ,hSt
banks and pawn-broklng establishments should
BE- relieved from the licenses and taxes which
their competitors pay, and that valuable iands
and buildings, outside the city OF New Orlean',
not s'actualy used for church, school or charlta-
bic purposes" should pc released from paying
their just share of the expenses OF the general
government From tabulated statement, pre-
pared at my request, BY the Board OF state
lrles rs, with total assessed valuation OF
sl25, 100000, there is real and personal prop
erty exempted from taxation to the
amount Of as, sos, 3o5. In this statemt ut, how
ever there is included an item Of SIP 1903 l25 de-
scrbed as the va lue Of property "owLed by the
United States, by the State, or by any parish,
city or incorporated town in the State" The cap,
ital stock of the natl nal banks, which by United
States law is exempted from taxation, appears
also 10 be included but, making all proper de-
auctions, there still remains a very large amount
OF property unjustly relieved from bearing It's
proportion Of the public burdens. have placed
This de allied stat ment OF all exempt properly on
file in the office Of the S-cretiry OF State for such
examination or action as you may think proper 20
di ect.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS.
In consonance with the principle Of rigid econ
omy in the expenditures of all branches OF the
Government to which the State pledged itself
when it asked of it's creditors their assent TO the
fanding of its debt, l recommend that amend
ments to the Constitution be adopted by your
body for submission to the people, which Will
effect the following financial reforms:
l. That the salaries OF all officers whose COM
pensahon is fixed by the Constitution be so re-
duced as to approximate to the salaries paid Tor
similar sci vices in other States. The salaries OF
the exc cutive and judicial officers Of the State
have heretofore been paid, for the most part, ~
treasury warrants OF uncertain ana irregular
value. Under the provisions OF the constitutional
amendments already adopted, all salaries Will
hereafe r be paid in cash. and is only just to the
state and its itOrs that the salaries shOu be
reduced to a cash basis. very large saving
would titus be effected
D. Reducing the per diem of members Of the
General Assembly to SIS, and the mileage to tive
cents mile for actual distance travelled and
limiting the expenditures OF each session. a
saving Of about SIS, 600 per annum would result
fir m this measure.
!. The abridgment Of the annual session Of
the Legislature from sixty to tn rty days. In the
the peculiar situation OF this state with regard 70
the danger Of crevasses and other sudden emer-
gencies, 1t would probably be unsafe to conhne
the General Assembly to biennial sessions, as in
many other states. The real work OF each SEES.
sion, however, is practically done ID less than
thirty days. and constitutional restriction OF The
session to that limit, unless extended D. JOIN,
resolution as now provided, would probably work
no i:iury to the state, and would certainly resul
in oiminution of expenditure.
FURTHER REDUCTION OF EXPENDITURES.
The fees and emoluments Of all Tax Collectors
throughout the State should be reduced and
limited, SO that no country Tax Collector snail in
future receive less than $500 or more than 5000
Der annum, and no city Tax Collector more thai
$1,000 per annum 1t is a safe principle to ati n
that there is no public officer III Louisiana whose
dnties az such are SO onerous or his RESPONSE
bilities so great as to justify larger compensa
ton than $1,000 - ~
The fees Of clerks Of court and sheritfs OF the
parish of Orleans should be limited IN conform
ty with this principle. In the parishes the
sher,ffs and clerks OF court should be paid b.
SALARY, mot In any case to exceed $500 year,
as full compensation fJr all fees now charged
against the parish IN criminal cases The an
nual bills of fees presented by some OF these OH
,ars ,ipat their respectiyo parishes for services