, 1876-08-18
MORE TRANSFERS OF TAXES,


Judgment for taxes lprie,l for Lincoln rssk.
The assessment wns .uate by tho Assessor
Of Eurth Chicago aud tho other towu
authorities, and tho Court hollis tlnt tileao
officers could not have been legally outhor-
lied to do any such net, which allould havo
been lonc by soule other officer.
Tho people Of North Chicago havc been
exceedingly fortunate. Tho greater part Of
Tho land III lincoln lark wns tho gift Of tho
city. It cost North Chicago nothing, Tho
additional 1ands llave rendered tho park
doubly valuable, mil the expenditure ou tho
shore drive, and tho improvement Of tho
park itsolf, llnvo been Of immense va1uo to all
North Chicago. fthas given tic people of
that district one Of tile most hcnlthful and
delightful resorts that Gan DO found in the
country. It ltas drawn to tho North Side u
largo and wealthy population, and lod to
permanent improvements Of style md of
cost not surpassed III any other city in The
United 5tatcs. The vnluo Of tho park and
Of its surroundings In exhibited in the large
addition to Tho value Of every foot Of ta1nblo
land In TINT division Of tho city.
"'oI"4tAASEN4A'Als AutisP eAtaD HAiI.a-t0Zcn
owuors Of property in TINT division hayo OBJ
iocted to paying my ta1 10 pay fortheso ben
ctita, mud thu Court has decided that as tho
assessment YVES nlatlo by tls wrong officer,
therefore these lialf-dozen persons shnll pay
I'm tux, and the Court, in substance or iu
effect, gives judgment that the $500 claimed
Of these PERSONS shall 10 lovicl upon mud be
paid by tic other persons owning property
in thut division of tie city. And this is tho
effect Of n1l these anti-tax judiciat dce;nions.
It is not tho mcro exemption Of tho faa from
taxation; it is Tho Judicial imposition Of one
Mans taxes upon another. These $500 Of
the payment Of which these 1nen hayo o.
capad are, by tho forca Of this lccision, to be
levied upon tho other residents of North
Chicago, and eztortod from them. Tie
$1,300,000 of taxeH which tho Court sot
aside not long .fnco waa not merely
tho releaao Of few hundred pcrsonH from
tho payment Of that SUN, hut 1t
YVES tho levy of $1,3o0,NO of thoso
porsonH' taxoa upon tho other taxpayers.
As VIC said yesterday, tue SUCCESS Of t4eso
technlcal escapes of ono man from, taxntion
is iii outrage upon all othcrs, bcca,,so it dooB
not destroy tho liability; it merely transfers
the payment thereof from tile mcn who
actually owo IL to others who havo already
paid their Tux. Tn1-aghting, therefore, is Il
measure whoreby one set OF man appeal to
tho Courts for M order to hayo thoir taxes
paid by otAe.a. As a nattcr Of justice, tho
Courts might as well, when A md 3 aro
sued for their grocery bills, mako an order
that tho hills shall he paid by G md D.
That is whnt this tax-!ighting business comes
to in tho oud, and that " whore tho judicial
decisions excmptiug persons from ta1a-
ton end Tho action of the Courts
Of this saso during tho last fonr
years havo resulted in deficiency In tho
royenso Of this city cguM to $3,O00,0 600
and this deficiency, with nll ita interest, Inns
to 10 paia by a tax, not on those who have
not pait1, but upou thoso who 1lave already
paid their full allare Of taxes. We arc not
crisicising tho legal corrcctnosa Of .ulgo
"ALLAcE's dccislona; wo nro commenting
on tho policy Of the Courts Of this State,
which policy for nearly forty years laa boen
to trent tax ns IN attempted outrage upon
tho citizen, md one to 10 prevented md de-
fcatcd by ovosy possible means and on auy
possible pretext by thu Courts Of JuHtico.
Tho result Of this policy llas been 10 build
up code Of judicial interpretations and re.
qulrements whicl. render it ilnproctlcablo
for tho Legislature to framo any law nndor
which tho necessary revenue Of Government
can bs collected. Either tho Courts iu,1st
yioll, or Government in Illinois must tsil for
want Of means to support it.