The daily gazette., 1882-05-01
AsSESSAEENT0F VOTERS
HOW THE TAX LAWS HAVE BEEN
MisREPaESENTED.nrJD
STATEMENT OF THEIR OBJECTS,
Made Necessary by Republican Unfairnes'
and Passed 70 Prevent This and 20 Insure
the Payment OF Taxes.

The Republican /, keynote Of the local
campaign this fall will be the constahtly-re-
peated and intemperate denunciation of the
assessment and collection of taxes. The re-
cent attitude of the Republican press ,indi-
Gates that they will be made the subject of q
large part Of Republican campaign thunder,
So reckless and untruthful have been the
persistent charges against the laws within
the past few months, that q full statement Of
their provisions viii not be out OF place and
will tend TO correct wildly erroneous impress
si0us which have been formed through these
Misrepresentation, sAs-,s 7
II 1Hn oRIstx og sHF IAws. I
In the hrst place a few words as to the
origination of the laws. They were passed
In April 1878, were directed by necessity
and founded upon inherent Justice. Readers
will remember how, under the United States
election laws, the Levy Court commissioners
were indicted and Archibald Given, the coll
lectOFs for the northern district OF Whining
ton hundred, was convicted upon claim
that the right of cOlOred citizens to vote had
| been obstructed on account OF race, hostility
and color prejudice, through a neglect to
assess aud collect taxes. This brought on q
conflict between the United States and the
State officers who, have authority and dis
| efetiQnary action! The old Jlaw, for the coll
/ lection OF taxes, &c, did not define the
duties of the Levy Court and the tax coll
lectors nor the offense charged as stated
above, 1t left It broad and general and
yaGne and uncertain as TO what would be Q
violation of their duty. Formed long before
| the Congressional laws 1t was intended TO
collect revenue and did not contemplate a
registration law or one under which men
could perform prerequisites to voting. 1t is
principal Of law that a man cannot be
charged with an oifense unless 1t is clearly
\ defined. Unless q man knows his exact
duty he does not know what he is to do.
The law merely said the collector
was app6ihted 70 collect taxes aud
did not say when or how; II pro-
provided that the e0ilsctor could return AZ
deIingueats TO the Levy Court thbse who
did notipay their taxes and the Levy Court,
being satisfied, could allow him for this and
discharge him from liability for the amount
he could not collect, but names could not
be dropped from the assessment lists npless
| the owners cOuld not be found and werc
| presumed to be dead or no longer in the
| State. 50 the flaw as II stood and the col
lector's duty be 1t understood were In a
great degree discretionary and required
merely that the collector should use reason
able diligence. What reasonable diligence
kwAs became an open question: WhenEpoiit-
Zeal zeal or malice caused member of the
1 Levy COuFb OF cOlitcbOF Jo DC llulCbcu AIN
tried byVa. Republican 7partisRn District
Attorney by grand and petit jury selectel
| by q partisan United States marshal, the Re
4 publican politicians had the absolute and
dangerous power to convict at will when.
ever they chose to say In their biased opih
ion that such officers had not fairly and
with reasonable diligence, according TO theil
measure of such fairness or diligence exc
cuted the laws Of the State Of Delawaf'
In regard TO the assessment and collection b
taxes. No matter how innocent the accused
might be, no matter how faithfully he had
sought to execute the old law Republican
was able to secure his conviction. Fo
instance, the old law did not state when D
how often a collector should call upon 1
taxable for his taxes. 1t became question
whether he should call once or a hundret
times in order to discharge his duty in th
eye Of the United States Election law ant
30 save himself from liability TO indictmen
or punishment. This gross injustice an
great wrong 10 the members of the Lev.
Il Court and the tax collectors, who rwer
liable to Punishment for violation Of dut
when they could not know what the dut
| was nor when they had performed 1t
needed remedy. To allow such q state q
circumstances to continue was q monstrou
wrong 1t was TO put an end to- this stat
of affairs, made possible by the partisa
election laws of a Republican Congress
. that the Delaware Legislature passed th
present laws for the assessment and colle6
! ton of taxes in 1873. i'