Daily Republican., 1882-10-18
WEDNESDAY,, OCTOBER 1s. Issa,
HOW the Assessment Laws Work

AS Gn6 aSS0b6m6uJ laws Wei tIamou
as is said by the prominent speakers in
the Democratic party, amongst them
Mr.. Bayard, for the purpose of protect
ing the collectors from prosecutions
under the election laws of the United
States, it must be expected that collec-
tors will not hesitate to reap the full ad' |
vantage that was intended for them. !
The gentleman who drew the first draft |
of the assessment laws is still living in
Dover, and has no hesitation in stating
that the laws we're drafted for the pur-
pose of beneftting the Democratic
party, or in other words Of preventing
and making it troublesome for colored
voters to qualify themselves to vote
Mr.. Given, a Democratic collector, had
just been successfully prosecuted in
the United States District Court of this
State, for neglecting to collect the taxes
of colored people. Whether this ne
glect was intentional or not is not for
us to say, but it is certain that jury in
which were leading and Democrats
was made to believe that it was
intent onal, and Mr.. Given's conviction
followed. Then followed the whole
sale reconstruction Of the assessment
laws, subjected afterwards to frequent
tinkering to make them still more etfec
tive and easy to disfranchise colored
Republicans by refusing, or rather by
not making any effort to collect the
taxes Of course such a Law was just
as easily made a guillotine of disfran.
chisemont for WHITE as colore1 Re-
publican voters, and hence it is not
strange that more complaints come
from Republicans than from Demo
Gratis. After the Legislature had en-
acted such an extreme partisan law, it,
could not but be expected that COllec"
tors, for whose full benefit it Was passed.
would take every advantage which the
law opened up to them. Before this
law was passed, collectors had to call
personally upon everybody who owed
taxes and solicit payment. He was
expeclt 80 dun them the same as any
other creditor dunnea debtor for what
he owed. And if he did not succeed in
collecting the taxes, the names were
then returned to the Levy Court, but
even then he was CateChised in regard
to the effort he had made to collect the
tax, and if it was deemed he had not
exercised due persuasion, the name was
Cuutiru,d upon the duplicate and the
Collector was instructed TO try again.
There can scarcely be any body who
will not admit that tvs was the honest
and correct plan Of doing business, but
how changed the practice has now be-
come 1t seems like severe and ex'
treme language to say that the present
laws for qualifying voters were encated
for no other purpose han 10 cheat Re-
publiCans out their votes, but the
way it works is really seems to be
the whole object of the laws. For in
stance, nsteai Of collector being re.
quired as he light to be to call upon
every body who owes taxes and dun
them for those taxes, he is only required
to stick up FIVE handbills somewhere in
his district, announcing that he will be
at a certain place at certain hours dur
ing three days to receive taxes from all
who may come forward and offer TO pay
them. 1t Ia noticed that these hours
for calling are generally in the busy
part Of the day, when every body is
busy and has no time to attend to pay
ing taxes and Of course it was Qlite too
heavy strain to sit during certain
hours in the evening, when working
men who only have poll tax to pay
could cal. OF course tie consequence
is that very few people if any, answer
the call of the collector to LJme and
pay their taxes, They are either TOO
buoy or too indolent to pay any regard
to such a demand, and knowing if they
think about it at all that they will not
he asked for their taxes they give the
Question no further thought. This tire.
m9ldous effort is all that tn law re.
quires of collectors, tholgh in justice
to some of them we must say that they
do cffer other additional facilities for
men to pay their taxes. 1t is seldom
that Purnal Lynch is found for a