The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-08-12
The DAILY REPUBLICAN
= +. cor. THIRD AND KIND STREETS
The Republican Printing
and Publishing Co.
erBLlsHED DAILY. EXCEPT SUNDAYS
q ttered at the Post Office at Wilmington
Del. as second-ciass mail matter.
SATURDAY. AUGUST II, 1900.

COUNCIL appears 10 tnink that the
city tax collectors should pay all
money refunded for overpaid taxes,
while the tax collectors cannot see
it in that light and refuse TO put
their hands in their pockets and
refund the necessary amounts, as
they are approved and ordered paid
BY the city fathers. There is no
doubt but that the methods adopted
and which have been followed in the
city tax Office for years could be i'm
proved upon without giving the COL
lectors too much additional work.
The city assessment could be i'm
proved by a house to house inspec-
tion by the collectors. The Office,
as conducted is bipartisan, a Re-
publican collector to represent the
Republican district, the Northern,
and Democratic collector for the
Democratic district, the Southern.
The Sun says: "The two collect
ors stand together. In administra-
ton and financially it is humbug.
if not something worse. The poll
teal complexion of the two officials
makes the tax Office a unit in its
opposition to any measure of which
Council disapproves. When Coun-
Gil is Democratic, the influences are
welded by Democratic tax collec-
tor and when Republican, by Re-
publican collector, but as 'agin"
Council these two collectors are al
ways of the same mind-they pool
their interests and influences and
they control the city finances.
If the above is so, then some of
the Collectors have lied to the editor
of the REPUBLICAN. He went per-
sonally to see one of the city col
lectors about having the assessment
on some of his property lowered.
The assessment was twice what he
paid tor the property. 1t has been
assessed for twenty years or more,
and in the meantime, has depreciat-
ed in value, but still the same old
assessment was kept on it. The
collector said that he could not re-
duce the assessment, as that mat
ter lay entirely with the Board of
Revision of City Council, of which
he was only one. The influences in
Council put up the rate or reduce it
to suit their convenience and accord
ing to who the owner is. In some
instances this was not so, at least
the city collectors insisted before
the Board of Revision, which is
composed OF the President of City
Council, chairman OF the finance
committee and the building inspec-
tor, that this or that property be
raised or lowered, according to their
way of thinking. OF course the
matter lays entirely in the hands of
the Board Of Revision, but then, the
advice of the collectors was gen.
orally needed by the Board. who
did not always know themselves
the value of the city property. This
is matter that should be looked
into by the Board of Trade and
our citizens generally.
R. G. DUNN s. Co. S weekly review
of trade says:
"After great expansion business
hesitates. This year it is astonlsh-
ing that the hesitation is so slight.
In one branch after another, buying
has halted, only to be followed by
larger buying. The possibility of
gold exports troubles some minds,
but now the only question is wheth-
er gold imports will soon be neces-
sary. Short crops were and are
predicted, but farmers are more in
clined to market their grain than
ever. Collapse Of industrial stocks
was feared, but they hold their
prices better than other stocks at
present, Artificial tightness of
in paper, but not in gold,
was feared for time, but the Sec
Rotary has killed that fear by issu-
ing gold certificates. Meanwhile
the volume Of payments through the
chief clearing houses in August
thus far has been 27.S per cent.
larger than last year and 81. Il per
cent, larger than for the same part
of 1892.
The output of the iron furnaces
in blast August lst was 2b9,O52
tons weekly, 90. per cent more than
in 1892 and y per cent more than
last year. With decrease of H.
367 tons in unsold stocks, nearly
half in charcoal iron, the apparent
consumption and exports do not ex-
coed l,210, 6O4 tons. which hardly
equals the lowest report of produce
ton August LIST, and other furnaces
have started since that date, with
several more to follow.
The supply appears to be at least
equal to the demand, although new
demands for the week have covered
2l00 tons for new buildings at Chi
c ago, with much for bridges and
1000 tons for eastern buildings at
Pittsburg. In bars, both East and
West the mills are unable to take
all orders offered, nor in plates can
they take all orders anywhere.
while in sheets, the Western mills
are overcrowded.
| SURELY the farmers cannot COM
plain of the dry weather thus tar
during the month OF August. The
storms are something aw-