Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-04-22
LETTERa ERoM TlaE PEopLE.

New Yorkss UBiust Tax Laws. lR l Toshis Excellency, Governor Flower Of | New York. ~ s- l =Sirs-I respectfully request the privi- | lego ofsaddressing you in your official capacity as chief magistrate of the state of New York. Hand believe you will be actuated by that true, patriotic zeal which is always looked for and expected to guide the actions of the chief magis- trate of the great state of New York. sse@ q take this means of informing you of some ofs the abuses and hardships .sus- tained by innocent people in consequence of your tax laws. refer to your mode of selling tax titles, which seems to have disastrous effect on some prop erty owners, and therefore appeal to your excellency in hope that the prestige of the exalted position you hold may be
 used in mitigating the evil, and in hopes
 that the working of the system may be
 investigated.
 I will relate a few circumstances
 which came to my notice on the occa-
 sion of recent visit to the twenty
 sixth ward, Brooklyn, N. Y. there
 learned that there are a set of men
 now operating in your state and in
 order that you may understand even in
 a small degree the enormity of the dis.
 tress brought on the people by their per
 nicious practice, I will try to point out a
 few of it's evil effects.
 A few months ago an old French lady
 called at.my office in Waterbury, Conn,
 with paper which she said was given
 to her at the office of real estate agent
 in Brooklyn, N. Y.S She also had a
 check for $50 which she believed to be
 $500. informed her of the amount of
 the check and the nature of the paper,
 which was 8 contract that she would give warranty deed of a certain lot
 situated in che twenty-sixth ward,
 Brooklyn, within a certain number of
 days. At her request, I wrote inform
 ing the real estate agent whJ transacted
 the business, that in consequence of the old lady being French and understand
 ing but very little English, she did not
 know the nature of the business done,
 but his reply was that he wanted his
 commission and if not sent he would
 make bill of expense which she would have to pay. I then ascertained that this agent wrote and requested the old
 lady to go and see him, as he could sell
 the lot and get good price for it. She called and he and another man, she says, told her the lot was worth $500 ? and not any more. She believed they knew it's value and as they agreed to
 give $500, she signed the Epapers as re- , quested and took their check for $500 as , she supposed; but when she arrived
 home and showed it to her friends they
 told her it was only $50, which sur
 prised her very much and was the cause Of her advising with me.
 Their next move was a letter from a New York lawyer, who claimed his client had engaged him to look up the
 title of the lot in question and he found
 cloud upon 1t in the shape of a tax sale which was held Ey one Jane Quick, and his client wished him to inform her that quit claim deed must be got from the person who holds the tax deed, and he also said his client wanted the property and must insist upon the title being cleared up or he would be com. pelled to commence suit if not attended to. All this was so very unaccountable
 and strange to the old lady, she did not
 understand how it was possible for the . comptroller of the state to sell any right } to the property, as she had in her pos. } session tax receipts thereof for twenty
 years past, viz: from 1870 to 1890, and she therefore requested me to go to , Brooklyn and inquire into the whole matter, which did, with the following 1, results:
 I found that one of those title wreckers was pulling all the strings and
 rumor claimed he had been in this sort
 of business for many years and that he was fearless operator. I suppose we | may AAAOA Oy LuaO that the walls and cries of the widows and orphans who
 are suffering at his hands are regarded
 Tn the same light a pack of wolves would fold of sheep and lambs in care of derelict shepherd. By the way, IS there not a similarity in the case of , the before mentioned shepherd and r flock to your state and it's people? The
 former neglected his duty and his flocks ! were destroyed. While the latter al- uyc fn s-N , should be repealed) which not only f cause hardships and distress to it's peo. } pie and by its means the wolves, 'sthe title wreckers" are nourished and fatted as it were, by it.
 The real estate agent acknowledged tc ] me that he did not know the value oi the property. It is to be regretted he , did not inform himself before he ad. vised the signing of the contract, The } works of the wrecker by close inspection were to be seen in every direction, Ii was he who engaged the lawyer to write f the threatening letters. It was he who
 hlred degenerated Sabbath school
 teacher to represent the boy whose
 name is on the contract and IS a clerk
 Tn the wrecker's office, and the creature with departed Sunday school tendencies
 has proved himself worthy of his latter . master, for he succeeded in getting the old lady to sign a contract to sell Drop. 3 erty worth $7OO in gold, for $500 with certain clauses, which could not be com. = piled with by her without great loss one of the etipulations being that a
 warranty deed "whlch sets forth that the property is free and clear of all en. } cumbrance," must be delivered within thirty-three days.
 It can now be seen that the wrecker } through his tools, has made a strong } move. He has now got the victim in his net, as it were, for be it known, his own wife is that person holds the tax sale, he having paid less than $a
 therefor, in 1885, and his clerk holds the contract on the same property. If the victim refuses to pay his price for } the tax sale he will then sue on breach of contract, the object being to get 5 Judgment and levy on the property, } And by that means harrass and worry
 his victim to such degree that she wifi