The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1877-10-10

1houIl not be included therelhs DuI con- :
limo 70 be levied and kept separate and
lfsfircr- and the fifth section of an act ''to
nroyfde for the payment OF the Bonded
Debt of Hlnd- county" approved ftruAfy
1877. and 10 be found on pages ~ and
Us of the acts of 1877, required the boaru
of IuuervisOrs of the county 10 levy each
a special tax TO pay the interest on SAID
Bonded debr, etc.
This helm 2 the state Of the law, when the
Board met on the first Monday OF AUGUST
MI. they found they had to levy, not one
ray buf three taxes, As follows, to-Wlt: the
General county tax, the Bonded and Inter
ttax and the school tax, ana these they
levied before their adj0urnmeht' as VIII
hereafter be seen .....,.1s-c
I remark that section 9, of an act approved
April 10. 1876, and TO be found on page u
OF the acts Of 1876 reads "a iolio"s Iha'
the state Tax for General purposes Is mere
Inv fixed AT three and one hall mills tor the
ysar 1876 and the Boards of Supervisors OF
lie several counties in this State are hereby /
prohibited from icvying taxes winch Win /
the entire state Taxes viii exceed sixteen /
dollars and fifty cents (SlG so on the thous-
and dollars in valuation etc. ana inns / |
rFapOsp 10 contrast with section ., on pages /
III and l2S of the acts OF 1877, ana Whlch /
lin mart reads as follows, tO-"lt: mat IL /
shall be the duty Of the Board OF SuperVS- /
ors OF Kinds county 70 levy each year /
.naciaI tax Of at least twenty five thousand /
dollars $50 0OO) on The taxable property IN !
The county: Provided, that amount VIII De
necessary 10 pay the interest, ana ten thous
itg lnnf tyyenrv-livc thousand as quoted in |
Mr.. Jones communication dollars ($lOOOO) /
ON the principal of the Bonded Debt anhu-
ally. and provided further, that II ahaIl not |
increase the county leVies for all purposes
beyond sixteen and Oue-hait mllla on the
dollar for any one year, etc.
4 mere com parisOu of these two laws Is
utterly destructive of the argument made
nv Mr. Jones, that the BOari OF supervisors
! had exceeded its power, ana ltNleG 700 iaI e
comfy taxes The law of 1876 limits the
! Board to such per cent, as would not "heh
/ added to all the State taxes, make larger
state and county tax rate than 80 % on
/ the : 900. The same section fiHed the state
/ TAX for general purposes, at three ana one
/ hair mills and "a there was another state
! Tax OF three mills, the Board OF SuperVis-
/ or. in 1876, were limited 10 ten mtllS on the
dollar. in levyng all the county taxes, ana
lbrir records show that they contoTmed TO
/ This limitation.
| When the Board undertook to levy the
/ three county taxes General county, BONDED
/ Debt and Interest and SchOol) for the cur
/ rent year they knRW, rs IL was their duty
/ RI know. that the law had been changed,and
/ rurnlper TO section D, of the Acts OF 1877,
! already noted, it was found that the llmlta-
tion upon their power to levy taxes read as
I follows: that it shall not increase the
/ county levies for all purposes beyond SIX
teen and one half mills on the dollar lot
any one YEAR" no reference being made to
state taxes. as was the case in the Acts of
/ 1876.
To any reasonable person, as 1T would
seem to me, a near comparison of these laws
ShouId nave been conclusive, that the pow
er of the Board, in levying county taxes,
had been enlarged from ten mills, as 1t stood
under the Acts of 1876, to sixteen and one
half mills, as ! respectfully insist lt now Is
under the Act of 1877.
Bat. saws Mr.. Jones, the use OF the word
LEvIEs, in the plural Is conclusive OF the
view he takes. as com plete NON sE@CIFUR
As was ever presented, when 1t IS remem-
bered that the Board, under existing laws
that have been referred 10. had three sever
al taxes to levy, or three distinct levIes TO
, make, for as many different county pur-
; Whatever Mr.. Jones may think or write
! as TO the State tax being county levy, IN
no proper sense can it be 50 held, As make
bold to say, and | suppose that the gentle
? man will agree with me, that Jhe boaru
have nothing to DO with the State tax, ana
that they have no power to make it larger
p or smaller, or 70 enforce or restrain Its col
lection.
But saws Mr.. Jones, there was no cause
. / for neutrality-suspicious. OF the law, as he, an
august member of the last Legislature had
. told one of the members of the Board OF
20 Supervisors of Kinds County the OBJECTS
e. of The law OF 1877, and another member OF
: The LEGISLATURE was in Jackson when the
@ levy was made, who could have satisfied
; any doubts on the subject, TO which reply
that no doubt was entertained by the Board,
:. and that utterly deny that mem Der OF
, the Legislature has any more right than
- any other intelligent person, to place con
. struction upon clear or even doubtful
- statute. and | refer him, for au thority as &C
# the proper rules for the construction o.
e statutes to all the horn books of the law
= from Dwarris on Statutes PAssIM, to page
J. 63S. OF the Code of 1871.
IS Believing that | have said quite enough
It to show the fallacy of the views OF Mr.
: . Rs,yN of Z ~
4 Board, to levy the county taxes they dc
-e levy, | leave the point, and shall proceed Il
e consider the question, as 10 the necessity o
rs 80 large a levy, as was made.
,. IU will be remem bered, as L nave al
. ready stated, that last year and the year be
lie fore the county taxes were levied as Bondet
II debt, and interest, judiciary, bridge, poo
re county and school-and for this year a
1t bonded debt, and interest, general count.
IN covering judiciary, bridge, poor and coun
,e ty,) and school.
Y. When the county taxes of 1876 wer
< levied in September, there was baianc
r, OF about $4,000 fthe general county ia,
re levied in 1873, but even with this baianc
A in favor of the county, the Board prompt,
C. went up 70 the limit OF the law of lS7t
&c levving ten mills on the dollar tor In
o. other county purposes. but levylng II
+ county tax, so-called, whatever, believin
le il not necessary to do 50, and the result ha
m shown that this belief was correct. 1t ma
ct be said that Pearl River Bridge took abOl
w half of this sum, but if So, there was still
H. LETT about five thousand dollars of tn
: county tax of 1875, and the sheriff has pal
ht into the county treasury the sum of SAP
ey 0S4.02 as the proceeds of the county tax
a OF 1876, at the rate of ten mills to the DO
IN lar, making in all near $4,000.
ey desire 10 state here in regard to II
amount of county taxes paid into IL
county treasury, that while the real an
personal property of the county is assesst
at over six millions of dollars, that a Lara
81, v.,ftI taf hAiI nv no taf
under sales and forfeitures for non-pa
ment OF taxes, and pays no taxes, till
has been redeemed or purchased from d
re- State, ana that the insolvencies have also
ed be deducted.
he The above sum of near $4,000 has a
Nv most, If not quite, entirely been paid o
he for the various county purposes, there
he little or nothing in the county treasury, 1
in county bonds have been paid or bong
ar. up, more than fifteen hundred dollars
CHI interest due last January on the bond
eS debt still remains unpaid, and we proce
rd now without any such balance in our
lat vor, as there was at this time last year.
ur This state of things was presented to {
Or Board of Supervisors, when they we
IN about to make their levy of taxes in a
XXI gust last, and believing 1t to be their dut
and in their power, to levy taxes enough
les run the county. they levied county tax
he | amounting to sixteen mills on the dolls
a ! aud distributed as follows, to-wit: Bond
debt and interest five mills, General cOun
to eight mills, and School Outside of JacGsC
which is separate school district a
'ge levies its own school taxes three mills.
The assessed value of the property of Il
IN county is about what it was last year, a
of il ten mills on the dollar for all coun
TT; taxes produced last year $40 ,0S4,02, a r.
red of sixteen mills on the dollar ought to pl
snG due this year about SCI, 10000.
to The county bonded debt is now abe
ori- $l40,O00.00 and bears eight per cent. int
and est, amounting to over $ll 100000 per s
its | mum. Add to this SI0OOO.0O of the Dor
hat to be bought, and we have $2l 10000,
about as much as the tax for this purp