The Hartford herald., 1880-06-23

Should deficit occur, there are only
two known remedies: To borrow
sum sufficient to meet the deficiency,
or to resort to general, or special taxa
tion, and without regard to the depart
ment in which such deficit may occur.
| am upacquainted with any rule of
logic or law which would prevent the
application of this principle 10 the
school department; for, with steadily
decreasing fund, and proportionately,
lessened income to meet the steadily
increasing wants Of the department, its
actual condition Is not dissimilar to a
deficit existing from year to year. 1t is
the duty of the statesman to take cog
nizance of such u state of affairs, and
eourageously and promptly to apply the
proper remedies.
Among the chief causes to which
may, very properly, be contributed the
continued decline of the school fund,
the following may be mentioned:
I. The lax manner in which asses
sors perform their duties.
2. The general negligence of sheriffs.
3. The failure Of many counties to
pay their State revenue.
That the assessor, generally speaking,
is, i'm fact, no assessor at all, is 80 well
understood, that little or no mention is
made of it. The property-owner is the
real assessor, and that officer by his in
capacity, becomes merely his clerk,
copying the statement given, whether
right or wrong. Not infrequently the
property listed is not seen, its value en-
tirely unknown, and consequently the
tax list is the result of a most magnifi-
cent piece of guess work. Such as this
is to be expected when responsible Of
fees become eleemosynary institutions.
This inattention to business, and espe-
cially in the Office under consideration,
is absolutely subversive of the public
good, and to such an extent that the
value of real estate within the last de
eade has declined from 80 to 40 per cent.
But this unexampled and unnecessary
decline has wrought no little injustice
to the small property-owners Of the
Commonwealth. One instance will
suffice as explanatory of the foregoing
statement:
A brown-stone edif.se, or n marble
front palace erected at a cost OF say
$50, 900, is given to the assessor as being
worth from $4,000 to slS,OOG the Of
ficer, i'm the goodness of his heart,
makes the entry without question;
while a house and lot in some rural district
costing 800 is seldom listed under $500,
or at the very least $3.50, being a de
crease Of about 25 per cent for the lat
ter, while the former shows a decrease
Of about so per cent. Even under the
equalization law there is very little
change made i'm these figures. The so
called depreciation in the value Of prop
erty can only be explained ON this basis,
as hundreds Of thousands of similar
eases to the one given really exist.
Ii is a fact well known that the laxity
in the execution of the law governing
the office of sheriff is fruitful source
Of financial disquiet. 1t seems to be
the special delight of each succeeding
legislature to enact laws for the protec-
tion of sheriffs, Notwithstanding that
the law-making arm of the State gov
ernment has IN empty exchequer star
ing ii in the face. Kentucky is COM
paratively out of debt. The State bebt
is small, the means to meet 1t when it
becomes due, ample, nevertheless the
anomilous condition presents itself Of
treasury 50 bankrupt as to be unable to
honor the drafts of the Auditor, and at
a time, too, when the highest prosperi-
ty prevails in agricultural, mercantile
and mechanical enterprises. This state
of affairs cannot be charged to an indo-
lent population, to an impoverished
state of the general community, to an
extravagant legislature, to stolid ju-
dietary, or to an incapable or corrupt
administration Of State affairs, happily
for the people these things do not exist,
whence, therefore, comes the unexam-
pied stringency In public funds? There
can be but one answer: the sheriffs do
not forward the State revenue with
sufficient promptness. They well know
that they can get an extension of time
for making settlements for the asking.
The true remedy is to make the sher-
ifs Ineligible for second term. The
grace extended the people is, more fire.
quently, an electioneering scheme, than
any inability to pay their taxes. The
revenue should be promptly collected,
and Us promptly forwarded. BY this
means the Auditor will be enabled to
make the necessary arrangement to
meet all proper demands, and not 9TH
erwise