Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-01-29

a SWbiect That Hmtere&ta Every
K4mmd-O wmer.

llOn 10 the Sdu ueIcclS IN the present
law for the assessment and c0llec-
ton of taxes. No subject could be
Of more importance to the legislator
or citizen than this, and among the
many knOtty problems which law
makers have to solve in this con-
nection, none IS perhaps more diff
cult than that of collecting tax from
real estate, when the cwner is
nonresident or has no personal
property upon which the collector
can levy. Every lawyer knows
that a tax-title is no title at all, and
that Il would be much easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for purchaser at a tax
sale to hold his property against the
original owner. Public sentiment
is against the purchaser, to start
with, and If he should flee into the
courts for justice, he will find
prejudice even stronger than that in
the public mind. As a consequence
lands are sold, year after year, for
taxes, at considerable expense to
the state or county. Everybody un-
derstands that no title passes to the
purchaser generally the state), no
money is received, and the commu-
nifty is actually in a worse condition
than if the lands did not exist at all,
and the owners of the property hav-
ing the public and the courts ON
their side, laugh at all efforts to
make them bear their just proper
ton of the burdens of government.
The evil is no small one, but il
seems to us that, with proper care,
il might be remedied by the legisla-
ture. As the law now is, and in
deed always has been in this state,
when taxes remain unpaid upon
any tract of land, the collector sells
the entire tract to pay the taxes and
costs. 1t Is true any individual
might bid the taxes for part of the
land, but as a matter of fact no such
individual ever appears, and conse-
quently the whole tract, however
valuable, is knocked off for the
small amount due the state. 1t is
thus no uncommon thing for farm
worth a thousand dollars to be sold
at tax sale for fifteen or twenty
dollars.
The manifest injustice of taking
all that man has in order to pay a
trivial debt, which could be easily
paid by selling off a very small pOr-
ton of his land, arouses public SYM
pathy in his behalf, and cOmpels
even the courts to annul the whole
transaction for what is called in law
''gross inadequacy reconsideration"
and the delinquent taxpayer goes
on his way rejoicing.
Now, suppose the law to be so
amended as to require the collector,
in case the tax is not paid, by GER
tain time, and there is no personal
property upon which to levy, to
begin at a designated corner of the
tract of land upon which the tax is
due and sell, not the entire tract,
but so much as will amount at its
assessed value to not more than
double the amount of taxes and
costs, and let the title to this be
vested in the school fund of the dis
trict, for the purpose of improve
ments, first giving the delinquent
taxpayer, of course, few months
to redeem his property by paying
the taxes and costs. To illustrate :
Suppose a certain tract of land be
assessed at $40 per acre, and there
be due upon it $40; let the collector
sell not more than four acres, and
report to the circuit court at its next
term. If six months expire and
the land is not redeemed, let the
court make title to the school COM
missiOners of the district, and let
them take possession at once. There
would be no hardship in this. 1t
would be difficult to set aside a sale
so made, and hardly worth while to
file bill in chapcery for the pur-
pose. The school commissioners /
would be certain to claim the land I
as soon us they could, and, ADORE oil,
the delinquent taxpayer, seeing a |
piece sliced off his land every year,
would he apt to exert himself and !
pay his taxes.
Whatever the above suggestion :
may be worth, as the law now is the |
sale of land for taxes is a farce, and /
the present legislature ought to take /
the matter in hand. A change for /
the worse could hardly be possible, /
and a change for the better is sadly |
tlno1aH