The morning news., 1892-03-31

Editor Morning Nel0s: An article on
city assessments by Mr.. Gugie Bourquin de-
mands q reply.
As one OF the asssss,rs, hs names me
having afforded him the information that q
piece OF property was valued at $4,000
which was worth 100000. and that gave
as reason that we did not want to put
values too high.
| Mr.. Bourquin thus places the other asses
sors in false position.
II there is anyone to blame hold myself
| individually responsible II / made such a
statement, and they should not Be incul
pated through my foolish indiscretion.
1 have hazy sort OF en- indissinct recol.
lection OF something Of the kind occurring
| during desultory conversation upon thI
many local grievances under which Mr.
Bourquin's rather sensitive and worried
| anatomy suffers.
| Mr.. Bourquin is highly honorable gentle
man, .however, Tar as his many vagaries
may carry him.
He is peculiar In his ways, as are al
| great men, from George Francis Train 70 ex.
| Speaker Reed. Brimful of Utopian pro-
jscts Tor the amelioration of county roads
and equalization OF taxes, he posss-and
justly so-as pbilanthropist Of ths Hrst
water.
/ w A1a has VI 0cOTktn at dis
back and the Code OF Georgia ss his fngsr
ends he will tackle anything from a com
mon alderman 10 Tom Watson with the
| hereditary blue blood Of the Hugusnot and
the pugnacity at a bull dog.
II, therefore. he states so decidedly that
made such statement, l must have made
| IL, for MIR. Bourquin Ia a highly honorable
gentleman, and gifted with NEST capacious
and retentive memory.
liz ia not eharafnra INV fnfauffo,, 60 Aaox,
anything have said II il will in any way
| convey cocaine to his nervous tempera-
ment, or will procure for him an assessment
or reassessment so that the bloated owners of
| those palatial residences and fancy lots may
have their taxation doubled and No. Is
| Elliot ward and lots Of this class reduced
| accordingly.
We will now take up seriatim the ex-
| amples he has SO glaringly shown.
No. Is Elliot ward-the cause of ell this
| trouble-is appraised at l,S00. 1t has a
frontage OF 60 feet on Waldburg street aud
| is the second lot from Montgomery; the
first lot l sold for 81 200 about two years
| ago.
Lot 20 Forsyth ward, owned by Gen.
Lawton, Is appraised at 81, 200-au inside
| lot, with frontsge of 43 feet 8 inches on
Barnard street-a difference of l6 feet 8
| inches between the two, besides facing west,
which is an objection; in other words, Gen.
Lawton pays $50. per foot frontage and Mr..
Gugie Bourquin 800
II. therefore, lot 25 Forsyth ward. should,
at Mr.. Bourquin's decision, be put at S. 900,
by parity of reasoning. measurment and
| position, We would be Obliged to raise IL
Elliot ward to $1,000.
| Lot % Warren ward, owned by Mr..
Harty, faces the square, fronts on three
streets, St. Julian, Congress and Haber-
| sham, is appraised at So 900; 80 feet frontage
this lot is pitted against 50 Forsyth ward,
an inside lot on Drayton street facing the
park and is appraised at $3,500-with q
frontage of 43 feet. difference of II feet,
| which would bring this lot to S4.S76.
Lots l and 2 Derby ward-the Screven
house is appraised at $32, 900; was In the
market for upwards of two years without
an offer. but finally purchased by Meiu-
hard & Dub. This is for lots without the
buildings.
Mr.. Bourquin states that ss5, 900 was of
fered for 1t, but this does not or should not
determine its value.
Lot Jasper ward-two and a half lots
sars for $4,000.
Lot 43 Monterey ward, owners Harmon
and Myers, corner Bull and CASTOR, ap-
praised at $1,000. Harmon gave IS, 500 for
his and Myers $500.
II we were to assess these two half lots al
S25,OOO, as the price said to be offered, we
| should have TO go almost to Tatnall street
| and advance every lot several thousand
dollars more than they are now paying.
Eastern half Of No. Percival ward,
Gen. Lawton owner, Is an inside lot on
State street. It is assessed at $500. The
price paid for it was S3,6 One would in
| fer from Mr.. Bourq uin's statement that this
portion OF lot is on the corner of Bull and
State. Its proportionate value, compared
with adjoining ones, is exactly what il
| should be; $4,000 may have been offered
for it and refused. Altmayer's necessity is
| Gen. Lawton's advantage.
We come now to the MORNING NEWS
building in Decker ward, two-thirds of lot.
which we appraised at $S7, 900, and this Is
where Mr. Bourquin gets a slap at me.
What said was "There is the MORNING
News valued at $35OOO or $4,000, when
! Col Estill wouldn't take $1O0, 900 for it.
dow are we to be guided In valuing such
propertyp
1t is exemplifled In Gen. Lawton's case,
where it is said he asks s15. 900 for what he
paid 50, 800.
To attempt TO place fictitious value on
the Screyen house, for instance, would affect
every lot on Bull street even UP to the park.
Ii Mr.. bourquin lraagines that merely to
satisfy his idiosyncracles. the city must
| be reassessed at the rates some idiots have
offered, or may offer-devoid Of any inten
tion 10 ratify-he is mistaken. Ii he i'm
agines tina. by increasing the taxes Of others
he may escape but small payment himself,
| he is mistaken.
Suppose, by such action. conceiving that
he has the supreme court, legislature and
the Code Of Georgia to back him, that the
taxes were reduced to / per cent. how
much would lot Is, Elliot ward gain9 Just
a loss Of two miserable dollars.
| What on earth does he want9 IL
he the third man aspiring to the
mayoralty. Is IL pure cussedness? He has
a fine plantation for which current report
states that be was offered IS, 900 per annum
by the Self-exterminating Game Company.
and / don't see that the county officials ha ye
tried to torture him by insisting upon a
taxation on this basis. He can ride into
town when he wants to, where he eau cut
off his coupons Gd I'D. without auy
| office rent. He can return to
his rural domicile, enj Joy his dolce for niente
and take his o'clock tea sNb-teuYnine fd0,
to his hearts content. What more does be
want1 What can he want2
Mr.. Bourquin's ideas. In my opinion, de-
rive degree of adventurous importance
from the SUBJECTS with which they are CON
nected. 1t has. therefore, appeared to me
to be Of consequence to point out the faIlacy
| OF those vain and inconclusive comparisons
which. under the semblance of philan-
thropic ideas, tend to misead our taxpayers
| with respect to the nature and mode of as
sessments. JOHN MCLAUGHLIN.
Savannah, March 30. 1892.