Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-02-16
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
HIS ANNUAL REPORT PRESENTED TO THE
LEGIsLATURE--EXTRAoTs FROM
AN INTERESTING DOCUMENT
THE REVISION on THE
TAX LAWS DISCUSSED
AND DAREMEDY
PROPOSED.

II eral Palmer has been presented 10 Il
6 Legislature in pamphlet form. I'll
IS report embraces seven pages OF printe
10 matter. The following interesting G,
e tracts are made from it. The ropoI
d opens -
GENTLEMEN-ln compliance wit
the act OF April 2l, 1857, relating |
the office and duties Of Attorney Ger
eral, have the honor to submit tn
following report of the official busine.
transacted by me during the two yeal
y ending December 81, 1880.
The number Of claims placed in m
hands for collection during the year
I 1879 and 1880, was two hundred an
twenty.six, thirteen OF which were sui
a sequently withdrawn by the Audito
, General. The claims amounted /
s26l, ,63l.74, and of that sum l hay,
, collected and paid into the State Treas
ury 33,7S9.0l, leavinga balance still
, due upon the same of sl27, ,s51.73, +
enforce the payment of which the nee
essary legal proceedings have been in
stituted.
, In addition to the amount collected
upon claims certified to me in 1879 ant
1880, payments were made upon claim
OF former years. the total collections
amounting to s470,705.64.
A brief accountof the actions brough
by the State against the bogus Medca
Colleges OF Philadelphia is then given
In concluding this subject the Attorney
General says:
4 Proceedings have also been com,
menced against persons claiming &c
exercise the franchises of corpora
tion known as "The Philadelphia Tn
versty Of Medicine and Surgery
Their names are William ]. P. lngra
ham, William Darmon, Il. Metzgar
William Major, John Kaye, William
b. 0rvis, T. Emerson Bennett. William
Hargraves and Thomas b. Miller.
They also claim TO own the charters
Of several other Colleges chartered by
the State, which, | believe, either con.
tain full power Of revocation, or
were granted after the constitutional
Amendment of 1857, and may, there.
fore, be revoked by the Legislature,
if found injurious to the public,
and to which your attention is
expressly invited. By methods of
delay, known to the law, this case has
been unavoidably prolonged, and no
final judgment has been reached.
have no reason to doubt that the ulti.
mate conclusion will be in harmony
with the interests of the State, and If
so, the fruitful, long g.continued, but dis
graceful business Of selling academic
degrees and turning loose hordes of
ignorant villains with licenses to prae.
tce medicine, apparently regularly
granted by Incorporated institutions Of
learning of this Commonwealth, will
have been destroyed, to the great gain
of our good name, both at home and
abroad,
The report states further that as
there had been no provision made by
tho Legislature for the expenses of
these prosecutions, Mr.. W. NJ. Singerly,
of, Philadelphia, voluntarily advanced
the necessary funds, An appropria
tion is recommended for Mr. Singerly's
reimbursement. The services in the
cases Of S. II. Gwendell, esq, of the
Philadelphia bar, and Mr. John Norris,
city editor Of the Philadelphia Record,
are also acknowledged.
In speaking of the tax laws the At.
torney General says
Just and truthful complaint is made
against the laws imposing taxes on the
people Of the Commonwealth. A casual
perusal of the tax laws will sufficiently
indicate the truth of the first com.
plant Let the skeptic grapplc with
the revenue bill of 1879 which battles
lawyers, Courts and officials, and, il
unconvinced, then endeavor TO ascer.
tain exactly what property is separate.
ly taxableior State, County and School
purposes.
That taxes are grossly unequal has
been q standing complaint for a gen.
GRAFTON. As, for instance, tho land of
the State owned by individuals is OK.
empt from taxation for State purposes,
together with the product or profit
thereof, whether coal, oil, iron, timber,
or farm produce. If owned by an as,
sociation Of individuals, combining
their capital to promote an enterprise
too great for singlc.banded endoavor,
the money that buys the land, viz
the capital, must, first, pay a bonus
tax for a charter. Secondly, tax on
capital stock, measured by the amount
of dividend paid, il equal to six per
cent, aud, if less then by the actual
value of the stock at a given time in
the year. Third, If coal land, until
lately, to a tax OF three cents per ton
on coal mined, though every ton rep.
resents portion of the capital stock
already twice taxed. Fourth, the land
itself, with all the buildings, machinery,
improvements, bought and paid for by
the thrice taxed capital is again liable
to the onerous and excessive demands
Of local authorities for County, School,
Road, and Special tax. The adjoining
tract, equally valuable, equally pro.
ductlve, owned by an individual, es.
capes with the payment of the local
tax only, or one of the fourpaid by an
association of citizens engaged in the
laudable and necessary enterprise of
developing the resources OF the State.
The owner OF personal property, in
a majority of cases, escapes assessment
entirely, or, II his personal property be
assessed, II is at one.fourth its actual
value, The owner of money at inter.
est, II he makes an honest return, or
if returned by the Assessor, pays on
the entire value thereof
Theownerofa mortgageG farm pays
taxes thereon equally with his unin-
numbered neighbor, and, in addition,
the tax on mortgages, or ifnot so stpu-
lated in the bond, then the mortgagee
pays for him and adds to the rate per
cent.
These instances will suffice to indi. |
cate, in some degree, the inequality
and injustice Of these laws.
As to their administration, the As.
SCISSORS are required to make oath to
return the real and personal property !
at its actual value IN cash. They de.
liberately and openly return the pro.
perty at one-third or onefourth its
cash value. Mortgages and money at
interest are neither returned by the
owner or Assessor or by sort Of tacit
general understanding, and all, except
a small fraction, escape taxation alto.
gether. Such evasions of the law are
tho rule and not the exception. As
SCISSORS who attempted to perform their
plain sworn dntv wonld he vieited with