Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1881-12-28
Exit of the State Board.
IN. o. States. !

y. q. states.
Our morning contemporaries are
quite "put ont" ut the summary
manner in which the House yester.
day sat down on the State Board of
Equalization, called. And yet
neither of those able journals, nor
any one else who has advocated
such a Board, has been able to pre-.
sent plan of one that would not
work III one direction or another the
grossest wrong and injustice.
The scheme put forward some
time since 10y the Times Democrat,
as the very perfection of Board
of Equalization, was i'll brief Il plan
to contiscate all the nnimproved
property in the State and evade the
six mills limitation on the balance,
suhjecting all the property of the
State. as completely as in the days
of WarinUth, To the most protiigate
and cNtravagant demands of the
tax eaters.
The proposition that a budget
should be- first made bN State ring
or board of the money needed, or,
rather, we should say, wanted, aud
all property assessed at n figure to
produce that sum out OF % coHstitH
tlonal tax, no doubt works well'
enough in ilch and highly improved
States where the tax is easily yield.
ed from IN assessment much below
the actual value OF the property.
But in Louisiana, with our mil.
ions-ef nnOccupied land, our sparse
population, our great deficiency in
public works, means of tranSporta.
tlon and our want of private CAPT.
tai, it requires all the assessment
property can stand TO meet the rev.
enucS of the State, even when those
revenues are restricted wiihi;, the
bounds ot the most ligid economy.
Our condition, though rapidly i'm,
proving, is essentially different,
from that of New England, and Il
plan of assessments which might
be admirable for Vermont would
operate as plain robbery here.
That many properties in the State
have been under assessed, and that
the value OF property in Louisiana
is much greater than represented
10y the rolls, we are entirely salts.
fed. But it is extremely unjust for
the press of this city to charge the
whole responsibility for this on TIE
country. Property in many rural
parishes has certainly been under
assessed, but the frauds there have
not been in excess of those which
have been exposed in New Orleans.
We do not believe that falsehoOd is
the characteristic of taxpayers, eth.
eI in the city or country. But un-
scrupulous taxpayers are found in
pretty fair proportion everywhere;
and those practicing the \arts and
wilcs OF deception impose the bur.
thrns upon honest men.
The remedy for this is n healthier
public sent meut, both here and in
the country; the appointment of
honest and intelligent men as as.
SCISSORS, and some law leaving the
final adjudication of the disputed
value of property to the police in.
ries or some other properly organ.
lied tribunal.
In time State Board Of Ednali.
cation may work as well in Louisi.
ana as it is claimed it does in New
England. But just now such
board is not adapted to this State,
and finally the people just won't
have one.
a gentleman walked into a store
in Baton Rouge, n few days ago,
and addressed a clerk in German.
"Excuse me. sir,' said the clerk,
winking at his companions, "but as
my early education was somewhat
neglected | am unable to converse
With you in German. ! am perfect
Is conversant with Latin and
Greek, though But when the gen.
tleman repeated his remarks in
Latin, bland smile spread over
the features of the clerk, and he
had important business to attend to
in another part of the establishment.
1t is useless to say that he speaks
u II