, 1880-08-29

Ohio St. Clark st........SI. @ ZINE "
North Nv. ....... Chicago River: Wells st,
Division ST.. Clark st. ...... Lake s. drive.
Hush hst.-........1llino1s st.'....'.o0o a@'
Action on the
LAKE STREET
horse railway question was postponed ut tho
last meeting OF the Common Council Conn1t'eo
on Railroads. ..--
the real-estate authorities look for wholesale
building up Of tho West Side next spring. Cinrk,
Higgins, Morgan, and Asor are aa represcnted tse
ON that side, between Sixtfeth and One fiundreu
and Tenth street7, and do not believe III vacant
lots If they ace any chance for improvement BY
The Fennsylvanfa Railroad is building
AN ELEVATED RAILROAD THROUGH PHLADELr
PlIIA,
II is almost completed on the east bank Of the
Scbuylktl1, and the construction oF the new iron
bridge across the river is now being rapidly
pushed: forward. The roadbed rests on solid
stone and brick arches and 'zlas quite different
There is talk OF running local rnptd transit
trains. and tho demand for building lots and
houses fl tho western part Of the city Il thero-
fore on tho Increase
UNJUST NOT TO SAT- yILLAINOuS, TAXATION.
TO tho Editor Of The Chicago Tribune.
CHICAGO, Aug, 33.-Nearly every real estate
agent in Chlcago has recently received printed
circular from tho Department Of tho Interior
Census Onlco, ut Washington, asking him to IN.
swer great many very hard conundruns,
sone 6 them Ike the an,,do oa4 F1s es
sesssd sae Of tSw lots o ena f@r%,ps f. xss5 anas
amount ar m Of tax?' The circular also states that
"owing to the different constructions placed by
Term Ter t fair cash value - it viii DO ncoes-
sary in the successful prosecution OF this branch
oable The ditrerence M | bctween tho assessed value
and true value Of the real estate In your ltn'sl
locality" don't suppose one In Il hundred OF
a;Z1 hhH
trouble to investigate the matter enough to an
swcr the questions; and inasmuch as L havo
@ 1ap haqo qd an9
me, and thinking 1t might be Of interest TO
some of the many readers ct your W. paper t,. 4.
Assessors get ut what they consider the true
value, and then they usscss tho Tux from to III
per cent {and IN some cases pnrflcilasIy IN tne
Of one-third Of Its true or rcni value, and then
divide It up upon tho property. In TACT, it viz
lien or mortgage and put It on record asainst
tho property, and VIC are helpless. We we're no.
titled that the Assessors books were to DC open
for our investigation and protest if wo were as
scssed wrong. but that, find. gives US no relief,
because If we protested we were always met
raise m.ta Just m 50 much money ind MI tho ad]oining
lots assessed the same as ours, and It would
be necessary to reduce tho tax on all the lots
I,o0U different owners OF said lots, and it being
intonyenicnt and expensive to get them all to
f the b Sae We eS %efe re- o onxed af
all may understand me perfectly. will explain
that h!lve had occasion to examining the Assess
a1a and viii viii give the following examples illus
trativc Of tho point. I wish to show:
ns5 of 0s Was m the TeTs taxed e
f.on1 80 to S. each every year for tho next tive
years Including 1850, when the true real value
| 10 lncrensc much in value for tho next ten or
twenty years. and as it was virtually Impossible
to yet all tho lot owners to protest 1t tae same
time was obliged to submit In Sec 10, Town3a
hcr Of lots assessed for s3.dI. each which think
is fair tpartcula!ry as they Md assessed my lots
price; there is where your e equaltzatton comes
nbout two-thirtls, because I convinced tho AS
| SCISSOR that IN enterpristng North Side real
shore, about aD feet out into the lake, and after
looking ut it f,robahfy for tho first time| and
1in.ng the lots in the lake. @ be reduced the "
knew1edged they were worth nothing, They
tor tor 50 n''1 many 2's Years that % It would mot not
d. 10 drop them TOO suddenly:
! case, wherein 1t says, ITO him that hath not
| shall be taken away even that which he
/ until now that apparent contradiction. am
more and more convinced every day live OF the
truth Of the Bible, as no human mind could
have imagined such thing. But to comcnearcr
home, and get, SO to speak. down to business,
and show you how fearfully and wonderfully
this thing is done, will give you one more ex-
| ample. found store. and lot on Wabash uv-
enue, north Of Twelfth street. taxed SlG0 which
was nbout4 per cent on one-t third Of fair vAlu-
ntion; q store and lot on Suite street, north Of
Adams, taxed about 500, which was about 3 per
GENT on one-third of fair valuation; but here
Tho nlse acone from tie wabssh avenue eg7 property
| is only SJD per year. nuking the tax n little
more than one-folrth the income, and the in
cunae from the Stotc street property is 5000,
making the tax only onc-tenth tho incnnc.
| AND SO might continue to relate example after
example, but the above is sufficient Tue truth
| is, the whole system Of assessing and col
lcc:ng our taxes ia unjust, foolish, and vorj OK
pensivc. How they originated, and why tho peo-
0ne great reform and reduction In expenses has
been accomplished by making only one ASSESS
snIidatfon Of ioilecior cnartmenti: md now
If our Stnto Legislature will adopt some cquitn-
bic system for assessing, one Of the u,ost out
to 10 tho history of the world viii be done away
with This language may seem very strong to you.
| to investigate tho matter MS have in tho lust
Why, VII just tnE Of I'll can n SHOW % 70" ots hat @
real utiac and improved property which is taxed
for from oae-1ourth to one-half its total iu-
furnish a parallel. The Old feudl! dues which
monarchs had the power to exact to support cor
rtpt anu cXtrAynEnnt Courts never reached the
extent Of exactiug one-half Of what the people
possessed.
Some writer says t' tho exaction Of money
from the Individual for the service of tho Static
Is a step above barbarisn." We have goue back
to barbarsm. for the leaders OF tho ancient
tribes OF Gnuls Celts. or Greeks never dealt SO
unjustly with their subjects III their division OF
spoils and in the exac;ina OF tribute. Turgot,
ono Of tho .wisest tinancters, called 'ttnxatlon
tho art Of plucktng the goose without making it
cry Some Of us Eayc been pucEcd to such an
extent that VIC have no tail feathers left. Our
Representatives cannot do their constituents
any greater ser,ice than to pass some law or
laws, OF. by adopting some system uftassesstng
and collecting taxes which will be Just and
equitable. Our Assessors are not so much to
binme; they follow in great measure the cx-
ample OF their predecessor, and copy very large
II from the old books, ignoring the fact that the
business contre and desirable residence conrres
and values are constantly changing.
- J0HS Z. LONG, No. 6S Washington street.
NOTE-Mr.Long has stated it mildly in regard
TO the taxes and assessments In the Town uf
Lake. The town officers there seem to be
owned by the great corporations, and therefore,
they tax the farming lands outragcously for the
benefit Of their rem0rscless masters In de-
nance OF MI Justice, and with no regard what
ever FOR their oaths to all property equal
II, the corporations worth millions arc let on
tha