The Sunday tatler and Jersey City express. (Jersey City, N.J.) 1883-1886, 1886-08-08
1EEFg1czExr As VEIL IS HARSH.


Some Points from Brooklyn About the
Martin ConfiscatIon Act.
The weakness of the Martin Tax Act
has, SO far as this city atleast is concerned,
been SO thoroughly exposed in two previ-
GUS issues of the TATTLER that there is
scarcely occasion to add anything to the
objections already urged and presented.
The arguments against its enforcement
here-for delay, at any rate, in it's accept
ance here presented by City Collector
James 81. Love in last Sunday mornings
paper, are admitted to be unanswerable;
and there is probably not an official in the
city who will care to urge its adoption here.
A representative of the TATTLER who Wis
tied Brooklyn to inquire rs to its workings
there learned that o great and expensive
bureau-with a large corps Of clerks
and assistants-is required for its en-
forcement Good results had been
achieved by the Brooklyn Act; but its
| efficiency there was ascribed to the
presence in that act of features that are
conspicuous by their absence from this OF
ours. To the so per cent. provision that is
in the Brooklyn Act and not in the Jersey
Act, attention has already been called in
these columns. The other effective feature .
of the Brooklyn Act was the severity of
| the penalty enforced by it. Delinquency
fer six months carried per cent. penalty
with it. Delinquency for twelve months
carried IL per cent. penalty with it. The
head of the Bureau of Arrears, who courte-
ously supplied the writer with all needed
| information, said that something had been
taken in under the per cent. penalty, but
| that the largest part of the collected arrears
had been frightened in by the IL per cent.
penalty. 1t was his judgment that a heavier
penalty than even - per cent. would have
| worked to better advantage.
Many owners of large estates" he said,
"fnd that they can make more than - per
cent Ia business enterprises, and they let
their taxes go unpaid and use the money
to The better advantage. A 90 per cent.
penalty would prevent this use Of their tax
moneys by the deinquents and the more
quickly and speedily enrich the city trea-
sury.
An examination of the Martin Act shows
that in this respect of penalties as in other
respects already pointed out, the Act is not
as its promoters in the Legislature pre-
| tend it was reproduction of the Brock
| Ign Act; and that it is weak in one of the
| big points that help to make the Brooklyn
Act effective and strong. The penalty of
IL per cent. is not imposed by the local
AIT. The highest penalty is 7 per cent.
If Brooklyn's demand is fer a higher
penalty even than the IL per cent. the Act
in operation there exacts, how absurdly
| inadequate in enforcing payments is the
per cert. penalty imposed by the Jersey
Tax Act? The heavier penalty would be
more onerous on the tax payer, and in that
| regard the local tax act is more humane
than its original; but the disc assion now is
| not as to the comparative humanity of the
two Acts, but to their comparative effici-
ency. If it has weaknesses that destroy
its efficiency, it is useless to take it for this
City, without regard to the humanity or on
humanity of its provisions. 1t was learned
too that the arrearages in Brooklyn are
differently related to market values from
what they are here, and that an Act that
would spur Brooklyn tax payers to a settle
ment could result in little less here than q
shameless confscetion by the city of the
| property Of her residents.
| 1t was also discovered that the Brooklyn
| Tax Act does not, as the Martin Act pro-
| poses, take the sett iement of the indebted
nesc between the taxpayers and the citi-
zens cut of the hands of the practised city
| officials who are IN charge of the city tax
| affairs. The Martin Tax Act proposes to
have men appointed by the Court, who may
be the veriest tyres in the matter of fixing
values and assessments to determine the
basis of compromise and enforce it. The
Brooklyn Act leaves that matter Just where
it rested before the Act was passed. If any
new method for the collection OF arrears is
to be adopted in this city, there is no rea-
son in the world why its enforcement
should not be entrusted to the Board of
| Finance.
On the inside pages OF to-day's paper we
print the annual tax sales. Those who are
interested in the subject and know the
values of property might find it profitable
| to examine them with view of learning
about what proportion of taxpayers would
be forced into pecuniary embarrassments
| by the summary enforcement of this con-
fscation law in this city. The areas of the
various properties upon which there are
| arrearsges are carefully given. and their
several locations. The amoi;nt of tax levied
against them this year is due for each
of the last ten years so that this
years tax multiplied by ten would repre-
sent thestax encumbrance upon it, 1t may
be taken for granted that, in many cases,
the assessment arrearage is immeasurably
larger.
Palestine Divisions New Start.
po1osfina Dsv;c;o, NJ oe