Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-01-07
DEAD MEMS DUES.
The Tax Assessors Figuring on Moss
Grown Gravestones,
In Order 20 SWindIe the Comfy
Ont of q Nickle.

In view of the fact that another assess
ment OF taxes on polls and real estate will
soon be made it would be wise to call at
tention TO the in~excusable recklessness OF
fixing up the last assessment. Besides the
annoyance caused to the persons assessed,
it occasioned a vast amount of unnecessa-
ry clerical labor, all Of which had to be
paid for.
A representative of this journal spent
several hours yesterday with Mr.. n. +.
Lancaster, examining the books in the
Trustees Office, and some
STARTLING DISCOVERIES
were made. Nearly two hundred citizens
had been assessed for poll tax, who were
over age and had been for score Of years.
Among the most prominent names in this
list were Messrs, Ed Neiderer, M. ?. Jar
nagin, Frank Arnold, Charles Bonner,
w. Z. Boyd, f. J. Atwood, Thos. Boyle,
S. Mansfield, A. Vaccaro, ID. Hastings, j.
II. Coffin, II. Clash, H. A. Montgomery,
]. NJ. james, A. +. Hewell, T. @. Park,
j. L. Bigelow, j. +. Dowdy, B. NJ. Estes,
j. j. Rely and William Denies. Several
in this list
WERE ASSESSED TWICE,
Al. P. Jarnagin and B. NJ. Estes among
the number. A long array of names APP
peared listed in two wards and quite a
number we're listed in three. Among
these the name of S. j. Mcdowell was
listed in the Second, Third and Seventh
and Jacob VOORHEES, in the Third, Seventh
and Eighth wards. Inthe Eighth ward
alone ffty-seven persons were assessed
with a poll tax on their regular tax bills
and again on seuarate poll bills. In the
Tenth ward, which is credited with 1886
polls, all the bills were made separate, the
real estate on one, polls on the other.
In the Second ward Tom Ellis and VIM.
Everett were assessed twice on the same
page. One man, John Mclaughlin, who
does not reside here at all, but
LIVES IN ARKANsAw,
was assessed with a poll. Another dis
covery was made, which lookes more like
crookedness than carelessness. The agile
assessor was not content with assessing
patriarchs and sucking babies, but got
him q dark lantern and hied him to
the graveyard and read the names of moss
grown tombstones and transferred them
to the poll books, Among the names of
once we'll known, but now dead and buried
citizens, the following were noted: Patrick
Kearns, who was so years old when he
died in 1879; d. u. Rossi, Il. Montedonico,
P. Edwards, who was 60 years old when
he died, James Lynch, and w. r. Chand-
Ter, who
DIED BEFORE THE WAR.
One OF two of these were actually as
sessed twice. The natural inquiry of the
uninitiated would be-, What does all this
mean, and how could the assessors be
benehted2 The answer is easy. In the
first place, a great many persons who are
indebted to the county for poll tax have
no real estate, and consequently pay moth
ing but poll tax-if that. The law pro-
Vides that the assessor shall be paid five
cents for each poll and ten cents for each
description, or account, of a mans prop
erty. When the polls are included in
this description, no extra compensation is
allowed. The intention of the law fixing
the remuneration of ass essors was OBJ
viously to pay for assessing polls only
when this was the only tax levied; but the
assessors have taken advantage of its
faulty construction to make the extra
nickel, accordingly separate bills are
made out, one for real estate, the other for
polls. In this way they manage to make
fifty per cent. more than they are lawfully
entitled to. Ten cents on each "descrip-
ton and five cents for polls, where no
taxable property is to be found, is a fair
compensation, and those who have the
county's interests to look after should be
careful that no flching of this kind is
allowed.