Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1909-05-06
"A MENACE TO
GOVERN M TENT
Downfall OF Republic Through
Ncn.Enforcement OF Law

The following is a part of the adj
dress of Supervisor of Assessment
Sever Serley, delivered at the annual
meeting of assessors last week:
To the Assessors of the County of
Rusk and State of Wisconsin:
Gentlemen: The law creating the
office of County Supervisor of Assess
ment has provided chat such officers,
annually, on or before the last Tues
day Of April, call a meeting of all
assessors for conference and instruc
tion relative to the duties of such
assessors in the valuation and assess
ment of all kinds and classes of proper
ty subject to taxation under the laws
of the state" 1t is in pursuance of
this law that we are today convened
together for the purposes therein
stated. 1t will seem to some that
these meetings do not bring the re-
suits they should, and that the bene-
fits of our conference do not Justify
the expense of the meetings, and,
while there is some ground for such
criticism, it is up to you as to whether
the annual meetings are of any benefit
to the county at large or not. If you
will heed and follow the instruction,
if you will do your best and obey the
law and your conscience, you will gain
the respect of all honest men and re-
ceive more commentator and less cur
ses from your fellowman.
From the report of the Tax Commits
sion to the Legislature, now in session,
we find these facts: The personal
property of the state is assessed at less
than half value, and the real estate at
but little more than half value. Two
counties were reassessed two years
ago-Racine and Monroe; the new
assessors found three times the
amount of personal property and nearly
double the real estate found by the
local assessors.
The assessor has the power, but he
fails ignominiously in the exercise of
that power. 1t is the experience of
those engaged in the solution of tax
alton problems, that you can not elect
men, except in rare instances, to do
their full duty as assessor, but you can
appoint assessors, the majority Of
whom will do what is required of
them.
Are we drifting from our cherished
principles of democratic government
and toward a monarchical form? This
is a vital question. If the people can
not govern themselves, if we must turn
to monarchical form of government,
we ought to do it at once, before we
arrive at state of anarchy. We, or
some of US, sometimes feel that this
form of government that we think so
much of, that has cost so much in
blood and money, is an assured fact,
but, although it has been in existence
something over one hundred years, in
the long decade of time, it is simply
vet an experiment, and you as well as
others are to determine whether it is
to become settled form of govern
ment that will meet the requirements
of the people.
Our government was built up from
that little town meeting, when all the
people got together and voted their
taxes, elected their officers, and selec-
ted the people that they wanted to
rule over them at that town meeting.
That was the origin, that was the
foundation, upon which our whole sys-
tenn was built. They freely recognized
that they must have school in the COM
munity, that they must build and
maintain their roads, and the COM
munity as whole, must pay for this
expense; they arrived at this one
method of paying it, that the whole
property within that town should con-
tribute to it and that each should con-
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