, 1879-05-20
ANOMALIES OF TAXATION.

Only 05Oo,00U.
HsM lnrt E,,arhte.
Mr.. William II. Vanderbilt has been troubled
bY n 1uiekGned c0naelcner. fie las kin.t'y con
scntrt To pay tax on all assessment OF 500, ,0N.
AZ all cvcuts, 1t WAS not utltI thr Draph ca
exposc of Mr. Vnulcrlt'* sclf-.worn poverty
tint he allowed any inclination tn nay my tax
on his enormous personal cstnte, although, on
TINT aanc ctsatc tie old Commodore lad nj.
lowed hImsclf 10 bs assessed IN the sum Of
s30 co., HI l,ad paid The tax under protest,
to be sntc, hut when tie son of hIa father camo
Into Inc estato ha protested In q sumrwhnt
different way. The assessment was fixed at
the sana rato as in the CoInmotlore's tinc,
and William II. Vanderbilt sefu.rd point
blank 10 paw IT, The Tax Commissioners,
determining to test the matter, began st,lt to
recover the atnount Of The Tux. Tie suit Ia st[ll
undecided, AMI Kecms likely to rutla!n sa. In
tlIe following year the assessment WAS repeated,
the amount Unchanged ns then Mr. Vanderbilt
made 0atlI that In owned MI per*nnaty That was
M. tntrc than ct,yeretl By 1Iisdcts. icnu It the
Ink Commissioners rflild not 20, AMI i,e man
eN.Hltct times 1niilfurlalrc went srot free and
mid Mo Tux. The ilanle WAS not Mr.. fapicr-
but Of tic law made l,y 'c rich mc1,'s T,cgtsa.
tt.re to tax the poor nil iRnornnt aud be evad-
Ell by lie wealthy and poworfut. f}ut public
opinion otlcc aFo'iscd iad It's influence, mil tic
President Of the Now York Central did not ap-
ing lie rccclsrd from one end Of sl. latul so the
oti"r. Ilis friends, too do not all SYM
pathize with him.. One of them enid rery
pontelly: III told nltn he was Il fool when
l,a did It. a tnan ought 10 nay so,ne
pcnnlty for hc|,1g 50 confm,n.!rdly rich. lie
Is paving # now IN 11l,l[e oninion instead uf
muncy, ss lIc ourhr ~ la.c done" When the
affidavit wns made. ar, Vanderbilt had no rca:-
SUI to supposc the lnlhtic would ever kuaw auy-
thing OF IT, Glhcc 1Ia,tcrs. in the tax oi1cc had
never been public recHyd III any except II tech
,ltcut sci,kc. Tic teft-hatMlci puf,llt however,
found out wllat his right ha,ul haA l,scn t'Ding.
The discovery WIS antoy'ng. ait. Vanderbilt
would not admit t'lnt he felt annoyed, but hts
family nllu friends felt the humiliation Iscenly
a,iu snitl so Eleven days after The GrHutir hat!
matle its exposure. therefore, he wcnt vnlunta.
rilv beforn the INK Board antl said he WAS will
INT to nay tux on tfv nalf Of onc Of his hundred
millions, hut Tax Commissioners are studi-
o,lsy rctfceBt. and the details ot that Interview
have been kept accEct until ycsterdaE. when an
outline of tho faets wero furnished br gcn-
tietlan who wn present during pnrtis, OF
the time. Tile Commissioners do not usualsy
send tax-b1lls to any one on the ycar I'M
tn"liatply succeeding ,!lt one In which hn has
sworn lint hv was worth go" bnt this case
Inns BECOME So Notorious tlnt they made out tie
Mt s3,Nl0.Ooo. They Ind hardly expected 10 sec
the millionaire, but on AloNtny, Jan. 30, Mr.
saucfnnt wens % 10 ny on,ise, ncco;pa",eu ny
nm 1tses ~. no 81 1 taai;,. W,
lin clients rIrbss unler tls law rs aur man mai,
could he.
"The Commissioners" Rail the gentleman
already allWJed tu, "proYasea to place MI.
Va!hlcrbllt nnuer oath aud cxatnino hin IN Ic.
Tail Us 10 the value Ot Ills prrRprn property ntlu
the extent ninl character Of his indebtedness:
Mr. DcpewH9ubted Fety il'1el' whether lucy had
an; r1Ght 20 Insist upon Tue oatI but iney dit!
Insist, NH began the examination. sone VI
thc questions vent very clusely Into
the nrlSntu nitnrH nl the estate,
and Mr. Vanderbilt de1nnn1ed intltg-
nnntlv: 'Aai ohl1Ecl to n''awer all these
questions concerning my .priyate nf!air5t' lio
was assured tint lie must !lh so aud for ~. hour
n,us lIalf tile examination went on. Al the
Commissioners were presellt,-slessrs, Wheeler,
Hayward, mud Fansefpos! ami NV sxaMina-
tion was for tho must pArt conducted by prest.
dent Wheeler. It was searching examination.
ind Mt tho conclusion there wns little connected
with Mr. Fnnlcsbitt's eflsr1nuna personal estate
whict, gns not known. ThH result may surprise
tue punc. You eau put 1t III italics thnt he
1teyc he cunyinecd tlm Commissioners that with
MI Ills millions lie lsad not ot,u penny of taxable
personal cstutc over his lrhts ~ order to
keep III tho stocks OF the roads left him by his
hat L.