davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
A Good Rule Everywhere.

To the Editor OF the World:-Thou.
sands are thanking you for your arti.
Gle on Taxation of Vacant Lots" in
Wednesdays issue. If this attention
to vacant land would be a good thing
for New York city, why should it not
work well in Belleville township,
where a parcel of land was held stifiy
at SIS. 600 and at the same time was
taxed as though worth only $500?
But worse than this can be found
here. A man is buying up property as
fast as possible and at once dismant-
ling the house, or at all events doing
nothing to keep it from ruin, just to
lower the assessments. The land, too,
is neglected for the same purpose. OF
course in the long run this would be a
profitable game. but it comes hard on
the present taxpayers and improvers.
If instead of this it should become
the practice to exempt 81. 200 worth of
improvements on each $1,000 worth Of
land, what township would not be ben
Gifted by the change? What township
in the broad United States is not stunt
ed and harmed by the present prac-
tice?
Please say to encourage the
workers. even though it dismay the
tax-dodger and land-grabber.
THoa. Il. POTTER.
Belleville, N. J.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
GLENoH N. Y.
How Taxing city Lot. Would Help.

To the Editor of the New York
Notwithstanding from the letters you
have received about your editorial on
assessing vacant lots at full value,
that subject must interest many peo-
pie. Most Of your correspondents
seem to think that by taxing vacant
lots high more buildings would be
erected, hence more workmen en-
ployed; hence higher wages; hence
good times. etc.
am a brickiayer by trade, and have
had much idle time the past two years,
and would like to see the building
trade brisk, but am too stupid to see
how by raising the taxes on vacant
lots such good results can be brought
about Will You kindly explain?
New YORK, Sept. &. J. G. @.
(The theory is that by taxing vacant
city lots at something near their real
value the will feel the necessi-
ty OF making them productive, and
therefore will build upon them for
rent or sell to those who will build.
By assessing them at a very low rate
the owners r encouraged to leave
them vacant, realizing their profit from
the advance in price caused by the
growth Of population and the increased
demand for business blocks and dwell
ing places.-Ed. Worldly
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
RURAL PROPHECYl
Our Real Taxpayers.

- Onr Real Iaxpaycrs.
To the Editor of The World:
look forward to a time when The
World will proudly refer to It's editor
1al OF September 5, 1895, on the taxa
ton OF vacant lots as having been the
prophetic f~orerunner of the greatest of
reforms. The gross misgovernment of
New York city would hardly have been
possible without the scquiescence of
its wealthy land owners Taxes have
rested lightly on their shoulders, and
they were not eager to abolish a re-
gime that had been kind and generous
to them. Tammany assessors have al
ways reckoned with this formidable
though numerically small element.
To the speculative holders of valuable
unimproved land, like the Astors, they
have been conciliatory and ~forbearing
despite the increased cost to others.
1t is notorious, as The World has shown
that to keep down the tax rate Tam
many increased assessments princi-
pally on those real estate owners
whose resistance would be more feeble.
Thus have our great landlords been
enriched while the faces of the poor
have been ground.
No mor striking illustration of the
prevailing inequality Of assessments
can be presented than by a comparison
of New York and Brooklyn methods.
In New York improved property is as
scssed at fifty per cent. and unimprov-
ed at forty per cent of it's rue value,
while the tax rate is /. 81. In Brooklyn
corresponding assessments are seventy
and sixty per cent. with a 2.65 tax
rate. And this is wilful defiance Of
the laws mandate and the assessors
oath to assess at full and true value.
An increase of the assessment of va
lots to at least that of correspond
ing improved land, or, still better, to
full value. will inaugurate a reform
more beneficial to the people md more
OF good government than
any mere change of office holders.
If the World will investigate inc
qualities in taxation and will publish
the results it will invite and secure the
gratitude of the real taxpayers of New
York, 95 per cent. Of whom are tenants
taxes in their rent. Low as
On vacant lots increase their
burdens and make more grevious the
hardship of living in crowded flats and
ALFRED j. WOLF.
Springfield, Mass.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
The Future Of Irrigation,

Irrigation makes a considerable
showing in the census of 1890. In that
year, according to the official report.
62,5s4 farm n in the arid and SUBJ
humid regions of eleven states and ter
ritories were employing artificial means
of watering their land, to the extent
of 1854, 416 acres. The average size of
these farms vas sixty-eight acres, and
their average annual production was
placed at $14. 80 per acre. The census
of 1900 will show a large extension OF
the area irrigated. The various sys-
TENS r still in the experimental
stage, but the main fact looms up that
irrigation will be one of the leading
elements of the American agriculture
of the future.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
Taxation of State Bank Circulation.

BoLToN HALL, ESQ:
l do not see how the prohibitory tax
On state bank notes can be justified or
excused. 1t can not be on the ground
that the government is in need, for it
contemplates no revenue and is not a
tax. 1t is but a penalty for doing what
the national banks are encouraged
to do.
The issuing of circulating notes, if
needful to commerce and the conven-
fence of the public, requires freedom
as truly as the raising of wheat, max
ing of flour or of manufacturing of
shoes. The law has not even the pre-
tense of guarding the people against
fraudulent or unsecured circulation,
since no honest business could afford
to contribute sc large a share of its in
crease. Guarantees afforded to ma
tional can be applied to state ~circula-
ton. The law simply does, through
the plenary taxing power of the gov
ernnment, what in direct prohibition
would constitute an exercise Of a most
questionable pr~erogative.
Laws of this kind, it seems, should
awaken the thought of the people to a
closer scrutiny of the whole question
of taxation, and as to whether the de-
velopment of economic science has not
proceeded far enough to trust the vol
untary principle for obtaining revenue
in the state, which has been found
quite satisfactory in the church. The
question should be examined in refer
nee to its general bearing on public
policy and not as one concerning
simply the individuals engaged in
banking. AS between state banks and
national banks, it can only be looked
upon as q most ubiquitous and partial
discrimination favoring the latter.
J. K. INGALLS,.
q, pou n v
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
FARM AND GARDEN.
SUBSOIL PLOWING.
The Pros and Cons Of the Practice Stated
Without PREJUDICE.

The Pros and Cons Of the Practice Stated
Without Prejudice.
There is evidence of renewed interest
in the subsoiling question. 1t may be
that it needs careful. consideration.
The evidence seems conclusive that
subsoil blowing on the fertile prairie
soils of such states as Illinois and
Iowa, for instance, is not generally
profitable. Occasional reports, we'll
attested, have shown paying results,
but these have been the exception
rather than the rule, says the Prairie
Farmer. On the other hand, the per-
centage Of cases Of considerable i'm
provement in crops from subsoiling in
Kansas and Nebraska seem pretty
large. Obviously the deeper the soil
is stirred, If it is naturally sufficiently
porous, the larger will be the supply
of available plant food and the larger
storing water which enters the ground
after rains. Much of the prairie soil
of Illinois is sufficiently porous to a
considerable depth to readily permit
water to enter. and is SO admirably
fitted to retain the water, as also to
draw it towards the surface by capil-
larry attraction. In such conditions
there is no sufficient reason for sub
soiling for ordinary cropping. How
far the conditions are different in the
regions from which reports are sent of
marked benefit from subsoil blowing
has not always clearly appeared. There
is some confusion in the minds of some
farmers as to the meaning of the term
subsoil blowing. Properly used it
does not lean simply deep blowing,
however great a depth may be- reached,
but rather loosening the soil in the
bottom of the furrow made by the sur
face Or common blowing, without
raising this loosened earth to the sur
face. Where there is double blowing,
the second furrow slice being brought
to the surface, this is not s~ubsoiling.
In many cases it is Objectionable to
turn up the soil to a very considerable
depth, thus exposing much of the sub
soil to the surface. Rarely does any
injurious effects follow subsoiling
proper, except on fiat lands with a
very compact subsoil nearly i~mpervious
to water. In such cases subsoiling
may simply make a deeper bed to
hold moisture which is not needed,
and can only be gotten rid of by evap-
grafton.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
Belleville, N. J.
Taxation and Charity.

Ernest q. Crosby, of this city, pre-.
sided over the third days session OF
the National Reform conference at
Prohibition park, Staten Island, the
other day. Bolton Hall, secretary OF
the Tax Reform association, talked on
Taxation and Charities" He con.
tended that charity was being misap.
piled, and was doing more harm than
rood. He estimated that SIS. 600, OO0
was being annually given to charity in
New York, and that this amount came
from 0,000 persons, and that they
gave on an average of $500 each. II
was the poorer people who yer the
largest contributors, not the million
atreb
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
The Purchase Of Seeds.

Some farmers will carefully look
over the catalogues every year and
purchase all the newest novelties that
are offered. They buy seeds knowing
nothing of them, and the new varieties
turn out to be of no value. Yet these
same farmers keep the same kind of
stock they had when they began to
farm, and all the evidence that can be
presented in favor of pure breeds is Of
no avail. If they were as energetic in
securing the best stock as they arc to
procure superiority in fruits, grains
and garden vegetables, they would
be able to abolish the mortgage.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
TAX REFORM STUDIES
EDITED BY BOLTON HALL.
An Open Field.

II any one has an impression that
communications to these "Studies"
VIII not be published unless they echo
the editors ideas he is mistaken.
Articles on any aspect of taxation
will always be welcome, if thew are
oecent, well written, within reason
aole limits and to the point, except
mat we DO not discuss the tariff.
Land n especially should be
interested, as the principal benefit of
any improvement or social advance
goes to them in the increase of value
given to land. Address this Office, or
IL Lock street, Buffalo, N. Y.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
Suggestion for Cattle Raisers.

Beef cattle are yet in demand, and
there is plenty of time to grow calves
Of good breeds for conversion into
beef in three years provided the calves
are well bred. If every farmer would
resolve to keep a pure bred bull the
calves would be more valuable and not
be sold off the farm when but a few
days old. There is a large loss to the
farmers of this country in the annual
slaughter of very young calves and
yet the failure to retain the calves is
due to the use of scrub bulls, which
have done more, to curse cattle raisers
than all other causes combined.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
COMMERCIAL

ABOVE Mannheim the Rhine is to be
made navigable as far as Strassburg.
AS a canal will be inadequate, impor.
tant changes must be made in the river
bed.
Iris estimated that thirty per cent. of
the iron manufactured by Tennessee is
sold outside of the southern states. It
is said to be the favorite iron with pipe,
pillow and stoafmakers in the east and
north. o.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
auern..y's Tax on ror.isnsrs.

From the London Daily News
A Guernsey correspondent writes:
1.-THE royal court Of Guernsey has just
adopted d measure entitled Law Re-
lat;nR to Persons Of Foreign Nstional-
ity,' whereby aliens coming TO the
island in search Of employment are re-
quired to register their names, with
other particulars, at a public Office
named, and to pay a graduated fee ac-
cording to tleir status. A single man
or woman is charged LOT, . married
man l5f., ! man o. woman with ohil-
drea under issal sse 2ef-eA ID, ~
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
germ=1ife

The doctors tell us, nowadays, that disease germs
are everywhere; in the air, il the water, in our food,
clothes, money; that they get into pur bodies, live
there, thrive and grow, if they ind nythsing ito thriveo on.
Consumption is the destruction of s1ng-tissue by
germs where the lung is too weak to conquer them.
The remedy is strength-vital force.
SCOTS Emulsion, with hypophosphites, means the
adjustment Of lung strength to overcome germ-life.
It is fighting the germ with the odds in our favor.
These tiny little drops of fat-food make their way
Whether you succeed with it or not depends on how
good a start the germs had, and how carefully you can
live. The shortest way to health is the patient one.
The gain is often slow.
u a. nd ,,e SCOTT a BOVINE, eassss, New YORK.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02

"You ask me to marry you, George?n she
said, slowly. 'Do you know that l ain
rich % Yes" ''In my own right?' yes"
"And that you will have to come to me for
money!" Yes" Even for u cab fares"
Eyes" "And thatSou will nave to walk
in pleasant Weather?' "IeS.' "And YOU
are willing to marry me and take the
chancesa" eyes" 1Thcn l am yours,
George, and | hope you may be happy
Household Words.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02

EVcB VII.
Nothing but leaves" said Eve with
a twinkle in her eve, when Adam COM
plimented her upon her new garment.
Transcript.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02

meaning. The frame is ~three-cor-
nered. This style of stack will hold
from twenty-five to thirty tons 1t
will keep in any climate. Here the air
is damp and foggy and the above is
the only way l can cure til D.
Kean, in Breeders Gazette.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
High Wheat BELTS.

Wheat can be grown in the Alps at
an elevation of 3, 900 feet; in Brazil, at
5000; in the Caucasus, at 5000; In
Abyssinia, at 1000; IN Perm and
RoliVls, Of i!,eaA
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
Not What T!e Meant,

Mab-And is this really the first time
you yer were in love, Freddie?
Fred-Absolntely, darling; but I sim
cerely hope it won't be the last!-Illus-
tratad Bits,
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
KNOWLEDGE

Brings comfort and improvement and
tends to personal enjoyment when
rightly used. The many, who live bet
ter than others and enjoy life more, with
less expenditure, by more promptly
adapting the worlds best products to
the needs of physical being, will attest
the value to health of the pure liquid
laxative principles embraced il the
remedy, Syrup of Figs. =
Its excellence is due otis ~pre~snting
in the form most acceptable and pleas
ant to the taste, the refreshing and truly
beneficial properties of a perfect lax
alive; efectually cleansing the system,
dispelling colds, headaches and fevers
and permanently curing constipation:
1t has given satisfaction to millions and
met with the approval of the medical
profession, because it acts on the Kid
neys, Liver and Bowels without weak
ening them and it is perfectly free from
every Objectionable substance.
Syrup of Figs is for sale by all drug
gists in Soc and 81 bottles, but it is man
ufactured by the California Fig Syrup
Co. only, whose name is printed on every
package, also the name, Syrup Of Figs,
and being we'll informed, you will not
accept any substitute if offered.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
Genuine.

Hairdresser-Yes; / pride myself on
the fact that all the false hair sell is
thoroughly genuine.-N. Y. Journal.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02

"Whv do you suppose the Kings of
old were clothed in purple?"
$50 that they might be in violet, l
guess.'-N. Y. Recorder.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02

II WILL kill him." cried the poet, "1f l
have to tie him fast and read him to death
with one of my W sonnets. '-Harper's
Bazar-
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
Plain and Ornamental.

Plain and OrnamentnI.
At first the drinkers DRINKS are "'plsin,'
Dut shoYh he frequently renew them
With whisky, beer and vile cham payne,
He'll add delir1um trimmt,'s to them.
L A. w. Bulletin
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
Highest of all in Leavening Power--Latest US. Govt Report
Roe! RskiRs
ABSOLUTELY PURE

THERE is this difference between happt
ness and wisdom, that he who thinks him
self the happiest man, really is so; but he
that thinks himself the Wisest is generally
the greatest fool.-Colton.
AN old member of the London stock ex-
change says: THE ouly time a man of ex-
p%erience takes his wife into his confidence
is to tell her he is not making any Money"
Household Words.
WE have not been without Piso's Cure for
Consumption for % year5.-LlzzIE FEKREL,
Camp St, Harrisburg, Pa, May 4, -.
THERE is nothing that a man can less af-
ford to leave at home than his conscience
or his good habits.-Packe.
Halls Catarrh Cure
Is taken internally. Price 75c.
''pRACTICAL JOKER is one for whom no
one has any practical use.-Young Mems
Era.
In case of doubt III a Kentucky poker
game always draw both guns.-Washington
Post.
How FAST we learn in aday Of sorrow.-
81. Bonar.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
An Apt Illustration of Our Bad Tax sys-
tenn.

The effort made in the house of
representatives to reform the tax sys-
tenn of this state met, we arc sorry to
say, with a disastrous failure.
We trust that our country friends
who have been antagonizing the propo-
sitions for tax reform a be made to
realize that it is not a desire to escape
taxation that %actuates those who are
pushing this matter forward, but a
desire to have the burden or incident
of taxation SO adjusted hat it shall
not impede healthy business develop
ment. What these gentlemen do not
comprehend is that a relative light
tax, imposed under certain conditions,
is an Infinitely more serious obstacle
than a much larger tax otherwise inn
posed, that the intident or point should
come where it Gin be sustained with
the least trouble. To give a personal
illustration: If Representative Bliss, of
Springfield were to lie on the ground
upon his back, a cldld holding a silk
thread across thu bridge oIrhis nose
could prevent him from rising; but if
the silk thread was SHIFTED SO that
it fell across his waist he would prob
ably have not the least trouble in
overcoming the obstacle. Precisely an
alogous results are brought about by
injudicious forms of taxation, and we
in this state have by the willful perver-
sity of some OF our legislators chosen
by preference the worst possible, be-
cause most obstructive, methods of
raising a public e These un-
wise and prejudiced legislators have
been and are a terrible affection to the
state of Massachusetts,. for we have
little doubt that if during the last
twenty-five yedrs we had had a scientif-
ic system of taxation the wealth of the
city of Boston alone would be greater
by several hundred millions of dollars,
and that throughout the state many in
dustries would now be fourishing that
in spite of Yankee pluck. intelligence
and capital have been driven elsewhere.
Boston Herald.
By all means let the farmers investi-
gate the subject Of taxation. The
more they discuss it the clearer will it
be shown that all attempts to tax per-
sonal property (the farmers pet theory
have not only utterly failed, but they
have paid the largest share Of that
which has been collected.-EDIToR-
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02

"D1D your uncle remember you in his
will!' Eyes, dear old fellow! He left me
his best wishes in a special codicil."-
Harper's Bazaar.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
Her Midnight Farewells.

Her Midnight Farewelis.
81 call my girl Adelina Patti"
"What for?"
"She says good-by SO many times at
the front dcor.'--Chicago Record.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02

"IsN'T that a new ring?" cts new to
me.N-Life.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02
ARRESTED FOR x
Factory Employees in New Jersey Force
tn Paw What Thex Ora

Factory Employees In New Jersey Forced
to Pay What They Owe.
ELIZABETH. N. j., August 12.-The
city authorities are trying to collect
thousands of dollars of overdue per-
sonal taxes. The law permits the i'm
prisonment of those failing to pay.
The first steps were taken this after
noon. Three deputy tax collectors
were sent to the Singer factory to col
lect the amounts due from 300 delin-
quents employed there. The deputies
went to the office and had the men
called there, a few at a time. They
were at once placed in custody, and
were not released until they paid the
mount due or gave al order, the firm
having previously guaranteed all such
orders. Other factories in the city
will be visited later and an effort made
to collect every cent due.-New York
Press.
We thought that the personal prop
erty tax was an instrument for making
the rich" pay their share Of the
taxes.
Now that the workingmen of Eliza
beth (many of whom we are assured do
not average over So per week wages)
have had a dose of the practical work
ings of this method Of taxation, per-
haps its rigid collection from our farm
friends (who are such vociferous
of its enforcement will also
open their eyes to the injustice, not to
say stupidity of this system of taxa
tion.-ED.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02

A "rRACTICAL joker is one for whom no
one has any practical use.-Young Mems
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02

Halls Catarrh Cure
Is taken internally. Price 75c.
The Opelousas courier., 1895-11-02

THERE is nothing that a man can less af-
ford to leave at home than his conscience
or his good habits.-Packe.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-22
FIGHT FOR A BIC ESTATE,
There Is No End to the Strup-
gle for the Millions Left
by Davis.
Now Come Claimants Who Check
the Distribution of the Rich
Property.

NEW YORK, n. Y, June 21.-The fight
over the estate of A. J. Davis, the mil
Honaire, which has been going on in the
courts of Montana for several wears and
was supposed to have been settled be-
tween the heirs, is to be renewed in the
Supreme Court of this county in suit
which has just been begun in the name of
Erwin Davis, brother of Andrew J..
Davis.
The object of the suit is to enjoin Henry
A. Davis, Andrew ]. Davis Jr., Ellen S.
Cornue and her husband, Joshua G.
Cornue, and other relatives from dividing
or distributing the estate or participating
in it without recognizing the rights of
Erwin Davis and Calvin P. Davis,
Harriet Wood, Elizabeth S. Bowdoin and
Diana Davis as secured under certain con-
tracts and agreements, and from receiving
any part of the estate or the proceeds until
the rights of these parties have been de-
termined and they shall have received
the portion of the estate to which they are
entitled under the agreements.
Upon the application of Lawyer Logan,
Judge Patterson in Supreme Court cham
bers has granted an order for the service of
the summons in the action upon a number
of the relatives by publication. These rel
atives live in Butte, Helena, Chicago, Cali
fornia and Massachusetts.