The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1891-03-29
Mr.. Black Says the New Tax
Board Will Try Hard
to Abolish Unequal
Taxation.
THAT MYSTERIOUS POOL BILL.
No cne Can Find 1t, Nor Did Any
one Hear of 1t Ex-sheriif
Thompson's New Position.

uAQef the new Tux law, which was enact
ed by the last Legislature, are just
now attracting considerable attention
throughout the State. What they pro-
pose to do and whether they will do any
thing at all that viii reach any
Of the many evils which exist
ed under the old system Of taxa
ton are questions which have been
asked time and again since they were
named. " hat ever two OF the Board
may propose to do, there liz one Of the
Commissioners who is firmly resolved
that so far as he can bring it about. the
Commission shall be OF benefit to the
State and that Is Charles c. Black, the
young lawyer of Hudson County, who
has been declared to be the ablesr man on
the Board. Mr.. Black has gone into the
matter With the same enthusiasm and
industry which has carried him success
fully through several complicated law
suits He has been engaged 10 several
important cases where the question of
taxation has figured consDienously, and
he has given the subject much study. He
has carefully and exclusively examined
the tax laws Of every State In the Union,
and might with safety be said TO be an ex-
pert upon that question.
WHAT THE BOARD WILL DO.
At the close of the meeting of the
Board here on Wednesday l met Mr..
Black and in the course of q conversation
upon the work OF the commission he
said:--
The whole thing is expressed in the
power Of the Board to equalize, revise
and enforce the entire system of taxa
ton throughout New Jersey except rail-
road and canal property. AS everybody
knows there is o great cutlery against
the equalitieg between townships
In the various counties and
between the counties themselves. that
many kinds Of property. more particular
II the personal property. eyade taxation
altogether; and that there Is an unfair
and unjust valuation placed upon that
taxed by many local taxing officers.
The Board will direct its attention
first to adjusting valuations and unjust
Determinations and the member will
take up first agricultural interests, and
to that end they have fxed
a series Of meetings as follows
Sussex county. April 8: Morris, April 16;
Warren county, April 30; Somerset, May
z; Hunterdon. May IL; Burlington, May
%: Gloucester, June 4; Salem. June Ill;
Cum bertrand, June Is: Cape May, July
10; Atlantic, July 30; Ocean, Au-
gust 6; Monmouth, August 20.
On the first Monday in
II ~ Ill+l l-o HUGH tltEt NlttL do o&t4lAI NC
necessary they will meet at Trenton TO
hear complaints Of any tax paying or
taxing district or county respecting the
action of any county board of equal
ization, and the complaint of any tax
payer who shall feel aggrieved.
Meanwhile, while conducting these
Investigations we will take up an inves-
tigation of the various species OF pro-
perty by classes; as for instance banks.
insurance companies and other corpora
tions. with a view OF ascertain
ing true method of taxing
such property and TO determine what
species and kind of property and persons
now evade the taxation, who should be
taxed under the present laws.
THE STATE TO BE DIVIDED INTO TAX Dis
TRIcTs.
We will endeavor TO formulate uni
form and just method of taxation applied
alike throughout the State, and to that
end the State will be divided into taxing
districts. We further propose, so far as
taxation TO those adopted BY the Board
which taxes railroads ard canals.
''Will the Board have a counselF' |
asked.
mo, sir" replied Mr.. Black with en-
phasis. there viii be no sinecure in this
Board while / am in it, There are two
lawyers among the Commissioners, and
VIC nave III nScU III AA0 btCoSA1
time for outside assistance. | see 1t
announced that Assemblyman Hardin Of
Newark would be the counsel of the
Board. But that is not so. Neither Mr..
Hardin or any one else will be the coun-
sci. The only officer we have is our clerk,
Assemblyman Usher, who will receive
yearly salary Of 81 800. His office viii be
here in Trenton and he will have enough
to do. His position is no sinecure"
The other lawyer on the Board is Albert
II. Shape of Salan, who was at one time
prosecutor of his county. He is now
about sixty years Of age. The other
Commissioner, Theodore p. Hapler of
Warren county. Is farmer. and was at
one time Surrogate OF the county
Elk SHERIFF. THOMPSoN's NEW PLACE
1t Is said that ex-Sherih Thompson OF
Elizabeth, who so ably assists Barney
Ford at the Capital. will be made stew
ard of the Morris Plains Asylum under
ex-senator Everitt, the new warden.
THAT POOL SELLING BILL
It has been repeatedly reported since
the adjournment of the Legislature that
during the rush and excitement of the
closing hours, when measures were being
railroaded through the two houses at light
ming speed, a bill was passed which viii
make bookmaking on race-tracks in the
State safer than It has been
heretofore According to the story, an
apparently innocent measure. which, in
reality, amends the crimes act or some
other law on the statute books so that
bookmakers cannot be punished very
severely when they are convicted and
cannot be sent to jail at all, has been
passed by the two houses.
liz is impossible TO verify or disprove the
report. Many OF the bills passed during
the last week of the session were never
printed There was not time to put them
In type. Other bills that had been
printed were amended, and the amend
menfs have not been printed. TO
still more confuse matters some
of the bills that passed both Houses
have not been delivered TO the Govern or,
and they are therefore inaccessible.
Clerk Noonan, Of the House. has quite a
bundles ia his possession. Genial
Thomas denies this, however, and says
the only instance in which he held back
bills was when he was requested to do SO
by the Governor. 1t is also said that
Secretary Carpenter, OF the Senate, has
two or three.
THE MYSTERIOUS BILL NOT FOUND.
II was supposed yesterday lhst the mys-
FERROUS measure had been found in House
for Senate bill No. IS. This is
one of the bills which passed vt the last
moment and the substitute Was never n
type. Clerk Noonan kept il in his pocket
for four days and only delivered i when
the Governor sent word TO
turn it over instantly. The
substitute provides that in all countie s
having a law Judge, such law judge aud
one or bo:h Of the judges OF the Interior