The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1878-11-30

Delinquent Tax Sales.
EDrroH RHGIsrHa-
A. matter At interest to the readers Of Tn
RxGls1ER, especially De tax paying portion
thereof, statement vitA Inference to the d<iin-
quent tax sales that took plsce last year unds,
Chap. 81, sessisa Laws Of 1871. msy not be out
Of place. especially - many di6ersnt stones with
regard to these sales have been circulated
throughout the county.
The object OF the Lagislstan In PassfnS thislaw
va to place in the haads Of persons Who would
pay subsequent taxes thereos, laEgs amount
Of real estste principally lots cities and towns.
nom which NO taxes were being received, thss
making this property eontribute to support The
burden Of taxation.
OF this kind Of property, ct the time Of tie
passage Of this set, there were nearly one thou
sand descriptions, principally town lots in lola
and Humboldt, in Allan county, which owed in
the aggregate, to the various funds. sueA -
school district, city, township, State, county
&C.. In taxes and penalty, nearly ~, 900, and
the annual loss in the aggregate to these funds
from this dead or dormant property was not less
than d, 500, which, per force Of circumstances.
had to be borne by TIN other taxable property.
The law referred to made it the duty Of the
County Attorney Of each county where property
had been held by the county for over three years
under tax sales, to Ale petitions in the court
containing one or more descriptions Of such lots
or lands Geaving it optional with the attorney
whether he would bring . separate suit for esch
description or unite . number in the same petit
toni with the amount of taxes for which II was
sold together with subsequent taxes, interest and
penalty ON each lot or tract ofsnd aud give notice
thereof by publication in some newspaper pub
lished in the county, &c.
At the April meeting, 1877, Of the Board of
County Commissioners, prior to bringing any Of
these actions, called the attention Of the Bosrd
to the law and upon consultation it wss consid-
cred best to proceed without delay to have these
ute to the payment Of taxes. 1t was not consid-
cred 1t that time that these lots would sell for
much more than enough to pay the expenses if
they would do that. To enable me to bring the
action it was necessary that should have state
ments or abstracts from the Tressurer's books Of
these lots and lands showing the amount Of
taxes interest and penalty each lot or tract Ut
land for each and every year. As the time and
labor required to furnish the requisite statements
for my use In these actions would be extensive
the Treasurer refused to furnish them without
extra compensation, over snd above his salary,
for doing So and this was but just. IS the neces-
sary labor to furnish these statements was worth
nearly $500. As the Treasurer was then busy
and could not without extra help furnish the
statements in time for me to take judgment ut the
ensuing term Of court. and knowing that by let
ting the matter remain till the fall term ofcourt,
the taxes Of the year would be taxed up to these
lots and that 1t would be loss to the various
funds Of about $3.50. Under these circumstances
concluded to obtain the statements myself
which required the constant labor Of myself and
two assistants for about eight weeks to obtain
the delinquent lands and lots from the Tressur-
er's books and make the computations necessary
for my use in fling the petitions. By this prompt
work there was actually saved to the county from
81 900 to d, $50. The costs Of the eight cases