The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1878-02-20

this, the amount realized by the state,
on account Of redemptions and pur-
chases of lands, on all accounts, IS
S38, 705 80, against S33,6l6 81, in 1876.
REVENUE LAWS.
The present laws governing the as
sessment and collection of the revenues
Of the State, are, in my judgment, as
full and complete as necessity requires
| do not know of any suggestion that
| could make for their Improvements.
They provide system of checks ana
balances in the collection and payment
of the revenues, that | believe as fully
secures the State against loss, as any
that could be devised. They should be
codified and consolidated into one Act,
if possible, for more ready reference;
but beyond this, have no suggestions
to make that would materially improve
them.
| would again call attention to the
cond ton of large amount of lands
in Tallahatchie and Sunfower counties,
referred TO in my report Of last year,
and suggest some legislation in refer
ence thereto, at your present session.
PRIVILEGE TAX AND LICENSES.
The present system of collecting
these taxes cannot, in my judgment, be
materially improved. So long as such
taxes are imposed and collected, | can
think of no better method to secure the
same, than the one now existing. Doc
ument &C" shows amounts collected
and paid in, on account of Privileges
for 1877, to be S122.2 $50 so, against
S103,55 80, for 1876, showing an in
crease of $18,733 Is. Reference to
Document 3D." will show that there
was collected and paid in, on account
Of licenses to retail, S93, 800 90, against
SI01 no 96, for last year, decrease in
amount, of S. 70 SO. This decrease
is accounted for by falling off in the
number Of licenses granted, rather than
in any defect in the law governing the
collection and payment Of same.
FINES AND FORFEITURES AND INSOLNEN
CIES.
Under this head there is room for
great Improvement. Document ID"
will show that the amount of fines and
forfeitures collected and paid into the
State Treasury, for the year 1877, was
$50, 637 90, against $50. 200 00in 1876.
showing a slight improvement, but l am
still impressed with the conviction, that
much larger amount should be real
lied if all that is collected was proper
ly accounted for. The same remarks
apply to insolvencies, with the cNcep-
ton, that in the first case, all is not
paid that is collected, and in the latter
case but little is collected. Document
"C'' shows the amount collected and
paid on account of insolvencies, for
1877, to be So, S91 Il, against s 1928 IS
for 1876 very slight improvements
but not enough to exult over A
reference to this table will show,
that while in few counties, as in
Warren, Chickasaw, Clay, and few
others, considerable amounts were. col
lected, still the fact remains that in
most counties but little is collected,
and in many nothing at all. These are
the facts, but the remedy is not so
plain. Whether the fault be in the law
or in those entrusted with its enforce
ment is a query TINT | leave to be an
swered in such manner as your honOra
bic body, on mature elaboration, may
see proper to determine.
TAX RECEIPTS.
Under this head desire to call your
attention to a subject that needs some
legislation. As the law now
stands, the Auditor of Public Accounts
is required to have prepared and fur
nish to each Tax Collector blank re
ceipts, in duplicate, for the collection
of State tax proper, to be paid for By
the State and charged to each Collec |
tor. and the amount collected from him
on final settlement. The duplicates are |
to be filed by the Tax Collector as a
public record in his county. This has
given rise to some dissatisfaction. Par
ties outside of the State have prohered |
to print these receipts at prices below
those for which the Public Printer
could afford to do it, and Tax Collec-
tors have objected to receiving and
paying for the receipts furnished
this office by the Public Printer Ny
own judgment is that this difficulty
may be easily removed by 50 amending
the law as to require the State to fur
nish these receipts to the several Tax
Collectors. The aggregate expense
would not be great, and justice would
seem to require, that as they are by law
made public records, that the State,
and not the individual, should pay for
them. That part of the law requiring
the duplicates to be fled as public
records is eminently wise and necessary.
They furnish the only accessible evil
dence and means of determining the
exact property upon which taxes are
paid, and of wrongful selling Of prop
erty on which taxes have been paid.
Besides, they should be uniform
throughout the State, and for this rea-
son should be furnished and paid for
by the State, the same as the assess
ment rolls are furnished.
| respectfully make a like recommen-
dation as 30 the blanks which the AS
SCISSORS are required to distribute to tax
payers. All the forms necessary in the
assessment and collection of the public
revenue should be prescribed by the
Auditor, and should be as near uniform
as possible.
With this Report my official labors
cease. Ny successor has been chosen,
and is ready to be indicted into, and |
am ready to be conducted out of, office
In retiring, must express for my sue
cessor the hope that he will fill the
position more worthilv, and discharge
its duties with more ability, than [ have
been able to do. The duties of the
Office arc many, varied and arduous.
Its cares and responsibilities are great,
and are annually multiplying. The
clerical force allowed by law to per
form the duties of the office is wholly
inadequate tor-the purpose. 1t is true
that during portion of my term, just
closing, the perquisites were consider
able in amount, and somewhat in excess
of what was compelled to pay for
help to perform the work. That was