Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1877-03-24
THE REVENUE BILL.

OF the state. and for the reason that lis
proper consideration would require a
we'll digested and studied essay, rather
than what NAV be said in the brief
space which wa can devote 10 it in The
editorial columns OF this paper. The
senate bill. presented by the ways and
means committee. to the present general
assembly, ard which is now being coll
siuered. and must soon be acted on. is
intended 10 effect several reforms in the
mauner Of assessing and collecting the
revenues Of the state. Our people are
familiar with the objections which have
been urged TO the old law, the principal
among which were its great length, its
ambiguity. its failure TO insure prompt
collections. It's excessive penalties. and
the awkwsrduess and Siowuess OF the col
isctions under it. which caused great in
convenience and expense to taxpayers.
Oh these objections we may say thai the
proposed law Is somewhat less prolix
than the old one, il j. much palmer
in its wording. and Iess liable to miscon-
struction, though in several places,
which we shall point out. the language
needs amendment. 1t will insure prompt
payment OF taxes without excessive PEN
a~lties, winch is saying worlds OF praise
for il in = sentence, and under it the
collector will be enabled to collect at
least five times as many tax bills in II
day as he could under the Old law
With these few words OF preface we
shall proceed to review those parts OF
the proposed law which we think should
be particularly noticed, passing over
those sections winch are similar to the
existing law, aud which needed no
amendment. The act begins with the
usual declaration that Tor the support
OF the government OF the state. the pay
mrnt OF the public debt. and the adj
Na9cement OF public interest. taNes shall
o. .evied on all property. real and per
'saal, except rs stated in the law ii
tIrn sets cut the character OF property
eAempt from taxation according To the
provisions OF the constitution, defines
the meaning OF the terms. ''real estate
personal property money" notes
and bonds credit" &c, provides tor l
STATE board of equalization. to consist of
the governor. auditor. treasurer secretary
OF state and Encouragement, instead of
tile state senate. as it has been in the
past. anu then tor 4 county board OF
equalization, and here We find the first
thing that We desire To- criticise. Sec
tons thirteen and fourteen provide that
this BOARD shall raise the valuation of all
personal or real property when assessed
III less than their cash value. and lower
it when assessed too high, but it does
rot say that the board may add property
not found by the assessor 10 the tax
payer, list. This power is granted to
tho board in section i"rtv-tive. 50 lar IL
regards real estate. but We fan to find
any definite provision covering the pu!nt
as 10 personal property. 1t should be
granted IN plain -Anglo-SaNnu. that mon
ey, bond, and notes NAV not De allowed
to escape taxation by comptaisaut cuuu-
" courts.
>ection nineteen provide, that an as
ses s"r shall be elected in each county at
evorl general election. This we think
should be changed. and the term made /
four years. There i, no Office winch
requires so much experience to ill we'll
a. that OF assessor. No previous. bust
ness training avails. 1t il Il position
"hich requires actual experience. in the
particular locality to be assessed. An
assessor elected tor two wears is u nov
ice as long as he is in Office, and no
sooner learns his duties than he has to
give place to some one else. taken up
to satisfy the popular demand for rOta-
;Ion IN office. So far as this place IS
"oncerned this idea Is an erroneous and
ieariulIy expensive one, and our advice.
parenthetically given. 20 the people OF
the county. would be that whenever
they get u first class assessor they had
better keep him a. long as he Will act,
even if it is ior life.
Section twenty-five provides that the
assessor shall assess all property at
,ch0t he be{iercS 10 be its actual cash
untue. This has been the law in the
past, but it has been Il dead letter. We
hope. however. that the seyerer penal
ties imposed on this officer Tor neglect
to comply with the law, will make the
valuation OF other property at as nearly
Its cash value as possible. that money.
bonds and notes may not have the ex-
cuse Tor evasion that they are taxed
higher.
The list of personal property in the
bill, contained in section ,werty-six. is
much more exhaustive thar is that I'M
der the old law, and will do much to
secure more correct assessments; the
section concludes. however, with a false
idea. 1t says:
Every person OWING or having under his or
her contro' any notes, mortgage, or bonds a.
denI gnated in this section, who shall wiliuIly
rsiu c or neglect to list the sam. Tor taxation
'h"H forJ' il tbs interest on TIE same. ana the
PEI IRON or persons, state. county, or corporation
"w'ng such notes, mortgages or bonds NAV
pie II IN bar Of til" payment OF tie intsrest on
the -Dms. that such notes. mortgages or bonds
were not listed for taxation pur-uant TO this sec
t!on-'
We are as strenuOuSlv in favor OF
compelling this species OF property to pay
taxes as the gentlemen on the committee
that framed this section. hat we saw that
the clause quoted is wrong. radically
wrong. and will materially impede and
interfere with business transactions, by
trainmeling the assignment and trans
Ter OF such evidences of indebtedness:and
causing unfair and unjust delays in the
collecting Of such debts. from the inter
position OF diiatUry pleas to suits OIL such
instruments; and requiring. frequently.
the production OF tax lists from distant
counties IN evidence. to prove in every
case, where the plea is intcrposcd. that
such notes. mortgages or bonds have
been duly listed tor taxation by the per-
son who owned the same at the time
hat They were required by law to be
listed. y commensurate penalty
should be imposed. but il should not be
mixed up with private business. to
breed %veNatious litigation. :
A change from the old law. which We
think = good one, is proposed in section
swenty-eight, which provides that the
county courts in all counties containing :
more than twelve thousand inhabitants,
shall lay of the counties into at least
our assessing and collecting districts,
tor a complete and thorough assessment .
tnd collection of the revenue therein. .
In ngph al ti,.L. ,I:~,:,, n...- IL