The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-15

LOCAL LEolaLAToRs WAITING TO BE sEENp'
The COMPTROLLER left the stand and engaged
IN 9opver'atio1 with Messrs. Mazet, Fallows
M Falloys told THE sUN reporter that Mr..
Coler had told the committeeman that the
as TO w ,hs why R Re
members OF the Municipal Assembly were
eating TO receive money for approving the
pohde from the persons to whom the money to
pc raised was due. OF course these creditors
pad no desire to have the bonds approved so
the city's debt to them.
THIRD AVENUE SEPARATES RICH AND POOR.
Daniel EnRelhard. Deputy Tax Commits
s sion who has been on the stand twice beior"
creases he had made in the assessments on
property east and west Of Third avenue, Tho
t testimony given by the witness showed tina,
tieth and seventy ninth streets had been in:
TSd eSe PeG svens bsswe.n
s ms came same streets, had been greatly increased
fsd by the nH ar ar
that the moor property owners would not feel
The testimony OF Engelhard bore out the truth
OF that statement he said, and Third avenue
evidently was the dividing line between the
rich and poor.
SUBTLE TAX LAYER OF QUEENS
David /. Cooley Of milestone Landing. a
DEPUTY Tax Commissioner assessing in the
5'e S 9ou sss called ans Of the few
SCISSORS who have reduced assessments Al
reduced %. II some som PLACES se ~,
property? A,-well, I didn't advertise the fact
that I had been appointed a tax assessor.
property as real estate agent. / got letters
from q great number OF persons Offering
Then s' m hs o Sssn 6Ssr
ssSSdG g.. ''ss5isi as what ssy
ing them made differences In the price on that
account. But Just told them that didn't make
horses in the stable be- With nothing to do. and
they might Just as well be put to work on those
lots as anything else; When got the prices Of
out letting the lks know that | was a tax as-
SCISSOR. assessed according to the values oh
people were willing to sell their properly for
then the old assessment In many cases was too
high high and so lust reduced it. valued 1000
Mr.. Godley's method Of arriving at the value
member Of the committee and brought out
much laughter from the spectators.
CLEVER TAxER IN BROOKLYN.
John schhismls'nnt; q Depaty, Tax Commits:
raary. isas and before ep That had been been
SSRs x 1fE Ts sats IN ssbs SD M
Moss brought out the fact that the wit
& f Saa f saG to
esy!ns a rating Of 81 L. He applied TO the
Civil Service Com misson foranother examina-
the second examInaton he Just got through
with a rating OF 12s Reading from the e;x-
animation paper Mr. Moss showed that on the
first examination the witness had been rated
at 03 for experien nee. and on the second exam
ination, his experience was rated at ~.
your eIpsFispes SstSssn SprIi Il. i*,s. and
June 23 OF the same yearI As-Well must
BEEN e sne
then.
Q-You were in the department after you
want to o tel h' YOU Mr. Moss ABOUT that long
before there vas any OF these Giyi :, service eI-
sioners and passed. Then 1 was appointed a
Deputy Tax Commissioner. and I've really
been one ever since.
ination paper, MIR. Moss found that the witness
had completely failed to solve problem re-
value Of the property and the amount OF the
t tax The eKa ram paper also showed that
When asked why new examination had been
granted him. the witness said 1t was because
WINGED that their examiners had marked him
too low on some OF the questions In the first
0..-Who recommended your appointment?
AmWell. It wasn't Senator Plat nor Mr.. Mazet,
The answer made Mr. Mazet furious, and he
impertinent he. would be summarily dealt with
by the committee, The word ,',summarlly"
mild hammered after that.
CAN ASSESS ONE PIECE OF PROPERTY EVERY TWO
MINUTES
Q.-You own property In your district? A
Q.-And you assessed it low Al did.
Q.-Why? A-Because know that Brook.
1t was my idea that the burden should he put
Q."What salary do You get? A.-s3.OoO.
Q;-How does 1t happen that you get $4,000
S1.7QO. like Mr., Cooley. for instanee2 A.-Ah,
Mr. Moss. you'll have to ask the Sqmmssion-
assessf A.-Twenty four thousand
Mr. Mazet figured IT out that during the
two minutes The witnesss answer to this
deduction was that IL was ALFRED easy when
you know how to do it,
BREWERS IN LUCK. GAS COMPANIES NOT.
William F. qrell, the Tax Commissioner, who
said on Tuesday that he had charge OF corpor-
sand From the msse to h Tax be
partment Mr. Moss read the statements made
By sixteen brewing companies of their A1an-
ctal condition. Among these were the Con-
Witness was connseted before he, became Tax
psny showed ii was taxed on $50 900 personal
property In 1893 and on nothing In 1870, Most
OF the returns showed tnat the companies had
no taxable personal property. out consented to
be tax ed on certain amounts agreed upon be-
tween them and the Tax Commission.
BY Mr.. MAzet-l don't see how Won can tax
brewers when they haven't anything to be
taxod2 A. (speakina with a slight German ac-
centp-Oh. we'll. the brewers are good-natured
lot "a rule.
Mr.. Fallows asked II the brewers fixed the
amount OF personal tax which they were will
ing to pay. Before the witness could answer
the question Mr.. Hoffman asked II the Com
missoners were not obliged to assess accord
ing to the sworn statements made by the com
panies, and the witness replied that they did
have to. Mr.. Moss read the personal assess
ments for gas com panies, which showed. among
other things that the Consolidated Gas Com.
pany was assessed on $3.50 900 in 1929 and
On So 5O7, 800 In 1899. Other gas companies
were Increased In the same way, VIII ich was in
m K ed contrast to the taxes laid on breweries.
Unless the plan Is changed Chief Devery will
be the first witness this morning.
AID PARKER WANTS TO BE HEARD.
When the committee was called to order yes
terday Mr. Hoffman said that he desired to
read letter from Andrew ID Parker former
Police Comm ssioner, and desired TO have 1t
incorporated in the records. This request
brought a protest from Mr., MaZet, who said
that Mr. Hoffman ought to know hat the re-
qurements OF decency, courtesy and proprety
required that all commun lcations concerning
the Investigation should be referred to the
"a "a in