, 1879-07-08

to submit to wllnt ahonld be- advertised ~ n
"voluntary ro.lnclion Of 5 per cent, and
that 1t wns lliH rofusal to thus abuso l,iB posi-
tion and his influence ever tho Department
for IIAaa1soN'a glory that loa to hlslsmissal.
II, as tho Mayor Is understood now to nllcgo.
tho details had been left to DENNEn, 1t
tn mol likolJ TINT lie would hayo choacn tho
plan Of whsadling his men into protcnso
Of voluntarily consonting to n reduction Of
their wages. 1Io would have chosen the
moro manly md direct way Of reducing tho
force, and Of locating The whole responsible
ity for such reduction whoro It belonged
upon the Mayor. Tint would hayo been his
way Of reducing tho expenses OF tho Depart
ment, but it waa The certainty TINT rednc-
ton in the working forco would not bs
Improved by tho property owners TINT lod
the Mayor to attempt the Il per cen. "volun-
tary." Depend upon it, MATT NESSsn's ver-
sion Is the one most worthy Of loliof, for lo
llas ncted Tho part Of q man throughout, aud
Inns done nothing 10 10 ashamed of,-whicl
is rathcr more than cau bo said Of tho Mnyor.
---.-.
THE "BACK TAXES" DECLARED LEGAL,
This Supreme Court Of this State has ron-
tlored judgment in fnvor OF the City Of
Chicago in thu caso Of tic "back taxes" It
will bo remembered TINT the Gonoral nove-
,,uo law OF 1872, which went into operation
July !, 1872, provided for tho levy Of oil
taxes OH tho valuation OF assessment Of
property ~ ma{lo for State tnxntion. For
various roasons-tl,o city jnst then recover.
Ing from tho consequences. Of ths fire, liz
cluling among those consequences tho
remission of 80 per cent Of one years. taxes
utter tho expenditures for TINT year had
bcen ,nade, and tho loss Of revenue from
thu destruction Of proporty-it was Mt
tempted by tho Legislature to provide for
levying city taxcs on Rpecial or city
valuation. Under this law md several
n,nenlatory acts, tho taxes for 1872, 1879, and
1874 were lovied, disrsgartiing tho assessment
Revenue law. Subsequently tie Supreme
Oonrt tlcclnrod nil these tax levics Oh city
valuations were illegal, aud, 80 far rs the
taxeH wore unfair, woro voil. That portion
of tlleso taxes unpaid at that time anil which
woro tins legally spongcl out Of cxistonca
amounted to about two millions and n, half
of tlc'lare, and unfortunately wcre represent
ri by outstanding city scrip bearing interest.
Tho city Ind trented theso unpaid taxos as
nsscts, but the decision Of The Court Ind de-
stroyed them. This decision l,nl tho eiroot,
however, Of bringing about that reform in
tho ciiy expenditures mud excited that public
intorost which resulted In tho reform of tho
City Government in 1876, undor which
Mayor HEATH was elected.
Tho Legislature Of 1877 passed Inv au-
thorizing tha City Government to e1tentl the
tax lovios for 1879 and otl,er years, on tho
stato valuation. md proceed to collect these
back taxes. Judgment was obtnined on this
new levy in 1873. III tho Gonntimo large
portion Of tho tax Ind been voluntarily paid,
and n year ago there remained, perhaps,
$l.6o0, ,000 duo unler tho now levy for tho
old taxea. Of this sum about 81, ,oo0, 600
was forfeited. md MI appeal was taken on
about S5o0,00U. The present decision Of
tho Supreme Court ai1ir,ns tho constitution
ality Of tho net of 1877, mud declares tl!a
Judgment for tho unpaid balance Of tho back
taxes valid.
Tho PARTON Of tho tnx not paid last year
but forfeited to tho Slate untler penalty of
10 por cent Inns bcon o1tentlod OH tho tax
warrant for this year with tho ponalsy the
portion appealed ia also in thu same condi-
tion. Judgment will be given for these
taxes ut tho present term, and tho property
will bo sold for these back taxes unless the
Same be paid in duo time.
Though tho decision does not place diroct-
ly or Immediately Mt tho disposal Of the City
Government the million mud l.n!f Of dollars
in caall revenue, it does declare TINT tho city
has lion on all tho property in defnu1t for
Tint SUM of moloy with 10 per cent iuterest
since 1873. This lien IS perpetual until
paid tho penalty, however, aftor this year
will bo increased from 10 to 25 por cent.
Tho cheaper way, therefore, IL to pay tho
tax. No portion Of this roal property eau
woll bo sold, or transferred, ,,or 1nortgaged
without arst paying these aud Nil other
taxos. mud under tho Increased penalties
which tako offoct next year neglect to pay
will render tho ultimate and inevitable pay
nlent largo one.
The outstanding scrip lssnod against these
back taxes is not much IN excess at this time
Of 33oo,ooo This will bo rapidly tal;on up,
md 1t may be expected confidently that ont
Of these unpaid back taxes tho, city will
oyontually have q million Of dollars surplus
with which 10 begin the pay.as-you. !"
policy, to which tho city for many obvious
rcnsons must come in order to do business
honestly mud In business 1nnu,cr. Tho
scrip policy Is q moro makcsllift which