The Portland daily press., 1878-01-08

| OF values viii have no legal and binding force
and its whole weight and effect will depend up
on the experience, Judgment and integrity O.
the appointees Hence the care and caution t
be exercised ia their selection, if appointed
In all the towns of the State, this duty is per
| formed by the assessors, and the same is true
as learn from correspondence, as respects the
| principal cities of the State except our own
Twice in its history has our city appointed spe
cal commissioners to do this work. Once il
| 1850, and again in 1860.
Whatever may have been the occasion Of
their appointment in those years, it is unfortu
| nate that the necessity, or supposed necessity
arose. The result has been three-fold evil
Q) The City Council who appointed the asses
| sors, under the supposed idea that their work
1 was chiefly that of computation based on estl-
mates of others, and not OF skill and judgment
| OF their own, have not perhaps been so partlcu-
| lar, as otherWiae they might have been, IN Sc
| Iecling these officers and have allowed, L fear,
| partizanshp to creep in to influence their
| choice. On The assessors themselves very nat
| urally have come TO consider that they are in
| great measure freed from responsibility, and
| are not called upon to perform duties which
have been taken odt of their hands and as
signed to Others to discharge, and (3) valua-
tous takeo by special commissioners at unfre
quent intervals, have remained unchanged for
a long series of years, without essential revision
or adjustment notwithstanding the constant
fuetuation Of values meantime, and the defects
aud inequalities In the valuation of real estate
1 uUW COmplallSu Oh are abGIiUuldU6 III d great
degree to this cause.
In view, however, of the evident misunder-
| standing, which has existed on this subject, and
the lapse of so loog time, seventeen years it
| 10 said, since general valuation of real estate
has been taken, if the City CounCl-FespOnsi-
Bile as they are for the selection of the assessors,
/ and therefore ultimately for the character of
the valuation, with an approach to unanimity,
| judge that the present CONDITION of things re-
quire the appointment of special valuation COM
1 m m OH md lot cd ic mr. ha10
| the assessors in equalizing the valuation of
| that class of properly, L do not object, aud am
ready to Cooperate with the city council in
/ the choice of the best men who will consent to
serve. But it ought to understand, think,
| that this action is not to be made precedent
| for the future; and that hereafter the Tespen-
sibility and duty of determining and equalizing
the values of property, real as we'll as PERSONAL
both by general valuation at stated periods and
annual revision, rests upon the assessors who
should be chosen with view to to that end.
But l do object seriously to the order under
consideration. In the first place it gives the
sole and absolute power to the Committee on
Finance to say whether speci al valuation COM
missioners, outside of the Board of Assessors,
shall be appointed or not and secondly, if to
be appointed, the order is so broad in its terms
as to authorize said committee not only to de-
termine the number of com missioners, and ap-
point them, but also to fix their compensation
and iucur additional expense in the matter
without limit powers and duties especially
where expenditures are involved, which can
alone be performed and exercised under the
city charter, by the whole city council, subject
to Executive approval Indeed all the powers
of Mayor Board of Aldermen, and Common
Council are transferred to and concentrated in
this Committee. With all due respect to the
members thereof and their ability, must say
this is too much power to entrust to any COM
mittee This would be legisl tiOn-not COM
mittee work. Il would establish bad prece-
dent and lead to abuses. LII such course can
be taken in respect to one important measure,
it can be with another; and the result might be
that all important business coming before the
city government might be transacted and de-
termlned in the private sessions Of committees,
rather than ia the open meetings of the City
Council where all members are entitled to be
heard. The committee on Finance consists of
six members. Whole wards are not repre-
sented upon it; four members constitute a ma
iority. 1t is true the Mayor, e1 o6icio is a
member, but he has but one vote, and his pow
ers and responsibilities as Committeeman are
essentially different from those as chief mapis-
trate with the right of veto. So that it might
chance under this order that the almost un-
limited powers granted thereby might be exer-
cised by four persons, who, however well quail
fed, would not represent a twentieth portion of
the city territorially and still smaller fraction
of tbs property interests therein.
L therefore regard it unWiSe and violative of
the charter of the city, for the City Council to
surrender into the hands of standing com
LuitbS6 tu6 6ubiI6 COutEOl Ol ILLS luDOFLaHb MdG-
ter for final determination, involving as it does
the decision of the question whether valuation
commissioners, other than the assessors, shall
be appointed at all, aud if appointed who they
shall be; what compensation they shall receive,
and what other expenditures shalt be incurred
And as Mayor, am not prepared to approve
10 advance, as | should do by approving this
order, the acts and doings of a committee with
out knowing what they are going to be, and
whether they will commend themselves to my
TnGun nnt nfl ill
warned not TO do this by the troubles and diff
culies which have arisen daring the year in
the arrangement for making the "Plans and
Descriptions" of zeal estate preparatory to q
valuation which has been under the chargs Of
the Finance Committee.
The whole subject OF taxation Is a difficult
and delicate one, affecting as it does the inter-
ests of every property holder in the city, aud
the city at large. No wonder that the tax
payers who bear the burdens are sensitive
upon it. 1t is domain iato which favoritsm
partisanship and jobbery ought not to be al
lowed to enter in any form. feel justified in
using all care and watchfulness that such
should not be the case, and that all that per-
talns to the exercise of the taxing power should
be done fairly and above board.
| respectfully ask REORGANIZATION of the
whole matter. Any well-consideTed measure
on the subject free from the foregoing objec-
II. M. BUTLER, Mayor.
Jan. Z, 1873.
Alderman Small was sorry that the Mayor
felt called upon to veto the order as he thought
there was an easier and more courteous way to
arrange the matter. Now that the veto had
been given he was 10 favor of supporting it.
Alderman Cushman spoke at some length in
favor of re-valuation and at the close of his
remarks the convention dissolved.
IN COMMON COUNCIL.
The order passed at the last meeting which
the Mayor vetoed, was refused passage by
vote of l to II.
| An order for the Street Commissioner to en-
| ploy laboring men owing the city for taxes was
| indefinitely postponed.
| Councilman SWEET offered an order for the
| election of thea commissioners on the 10th
| inst. This was amended by inserting 7th in
stead of 10Th, and the order was referred to the
| Committee on Finance with instructions to re-
| port in thirty minutes, and SO went to the up
| per Board.
The council took recess and when they re-
assembled at IL. 40 p. M, tried in vain to adj
| journ.
/ The order which was now coucurred in by the
| upper Board was returned and the vote where
| by it was passed was reconsidered.
| Councilman Chapman then offered the fol-
lowing order as prepared by the Mayer which
was passed by vote of IS to 8:
The following was passed in both boards:
Ordered, That the Committee on Finance be
| and they are hereby directed TO take into con-
sideration the subjecs of the appointment of
i commissioners 10 make new valuation of real
| estate within the limits of the city and to re-
| port to the City Council the names of suitable
/ citizens Of Portland to constitute that commits.
/ sion, and the City Council thereupon in con-
| venton assembled, shall proceed to the cleo
ton of commissioners. Said commissioners
shall have power to appoint some competent
citizen to perform the clerical labor incident to
the making such valuation, and the same shall
/ be made available as soon as possible for the
purpose Of taxation; the compensation of said
commissioners and clerk shall be considered
and reported by said committee to the City
Council to be fixed by that body, and the ex-
penses of the valuation shall be paid out of the
Contingent fund.
KIT CARSON, JR.-The lecture by this Noted
~