Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1892-02-25
Does Not Interfere with Business.

' Does Not Interfere with Business.
After the reading of Chancellor Sauls-
hury's decree IN the Levy Court Thurs
day morning, President Buckingham,
Is reported by the Morning Nesos, said:
ri do not see anything in this to prevent
- going on with our work. Those in
charge of Mr.. O'Hata's assessment may
begin on the property transfers"
President Buckingham was right. He
erasped the situation at once, and with
. decisiveness and completeness that did
him credit.
The Chancellor's restraining order
does not interfere iih the slightest degree
with the business of the Levy Court. If
u were to continues in force for 20 years
no public business would suffer in the
slightest degree. Had. that order been
issued in 1873 and remained in effect
until 1891 all the business conducted by
democratic Levy Courts during those
(1S years would have gone on precisely
as it did without ahe slightest Interrupt
tion or inconvenience.
This business of the Levy Court, so far
as the assessment lists are concerned, is
Clearly defined by law. 1t is to revise
and correct the same, just as has
always been done heretofore, and to add
to the lists the names of persons
omitted, at the tiHhe and place and in the
manner prescribed by law. This re-
vision and correction applies to the
IL.
transfer of irregullarly assessed taxables
to their proper districts and the augmen-
'tation or elimination as prescribed by
law, OF the amoltnt of any taxable's as
sessment. That is all. There used to be
a provision for striking off the. names Of
delinquent taxables, after the reception
OF the duly certified delinquent lists; but
there is no longer any delinquent list
and consequently there are no delin-
quents to be stHickenoff.
Hence 1t follows, as President Buck
ingham very properly remarked, that
the Chancellon's restraining order does
not prevent us from going on with our
work" OF course it does not, and If
abe Levy Court were satisfied to confine
its attention TO this ''work"-to legiti-
mate public business-the restraining
order might remain in force for the next
hundred years without any danger of
infringement 1t is only when the Levy
tCourt departs from the business before
il and attempts to prostitute its powers,
under the ,"six beats five" rule, to un-
sawful partisan ends, that the restrain
ang order steps in and says: "You must
not do this until you show to the salts
faction otshais court that you can find
warshbly sonw for SO doing" That is
ora.o ci,i x, levy Court has claimed the
dent in thep outside of the public
and Statgafs understood by all its
taxable e aHss and to usurp, for party
and not business ends, power never be-
fore exercised by any Levy Court OF
New Castle county and not believed by
a very large portion of the taxpayers
to be warranted by any legitimate con-
struction of the letter and spirit of the
law. The State Judiciary being invoked
to prevent this threatened usurpation
says, through Chancellor Salisbury
.l"You shah not do this until you have
established the legal warrant therefor
If the Republican machine succeeds in
establishing this legal warrant, all law.
abiding citizens will submit of course
But in the meantime all that has
hitherto been held as legitimate public
business may go on just as freely a.
though no restraining order had eve
been heard of.