The aegis & intelligencer., 1910-08-12

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| ConmissioDers. their c0-1ssl a-t a..
I Of the assessors Of Harfgrd county.
The assessor. had haf the be-.tc
Of one weeks experience IL the f-ld,
the ore set wor. .ng IN the vicinity Of
/ Sorri.Tilie and the other ct near
GIenTi!Ie, and they wrrr therefore
m4sh bet,er prepared 20 i,ss1ss coz.
dItions than they had ever teen be-
fore since the Commiss.oaer. in
due time will act as 4 Board Of Re.
view. wiki fsIi power to rererse or
corhrm the previous valuations Of
the assess0rs. the more nearlT they
reacn common mind on th. main
subjects to be passed upon the more
completely will harmony AMI unity
Of action follow.
Both Boards If assessors com
planned tha. they had found no tax.
payers ready igr their visits. five
recall correctly Only one man, oay II.
over eighty T.s;,ed. had prepared ia
advance his scheda.e O: property,
with his values attached a. rel uirel
by law. This vas partly dueto Their
early arrival after the blanks had
been stnt out. To supplement; this,
much delay was often incurred while
the taxpayer, previous TO preparing
his l.st, entered into the merits Of his
various horses, COWS. etc, and gave
an extended talk On market values.
Courteous officials naturally hesitate
to abruptly terminate such inter.
views, but as their salaries run ~
rapidly i, IS but fair that values
should lie liked as promptly as is
consistent with justice. To accom-
plish this the Boards divide animals,
except individuals Of extraordinary
merit, into genera classes, and as the
same course is pursued with every
one, substantial equality is main
tar ed.
Much discussion has been carried
on by the general public, and in
Official conferences such as that Of
last Saturday, as to whether or not
property should he assessed his ~
low. i, seems to us that one MEM
Der struck the key note when he sag.
sested that their gauge is the law
and their oath Of Office. the law fIr-
ing it AT rs market value, not look
ing TO forced sale Fears are er.
pressed that a high valuation will
not correspond with other counties
and Hartford willtbus pay more than
fair proportion Of state taxes.
Others fear that an increased taxable
basis will increase demands on the
county treasury for public improve.
ments
tal The assessment made year
ago in Wlcomico and Worcester coun.
ties does not warrant the opinion
that values will not he increased
elsewhere; for. because OF their sub.
stantial increase, they were relieved
by the Legislature from making a
new ass ss.ssment at this time.
lbj Appropriations will be made in
the future, as in the past, to accord
with public sentiment, no Board oi
County Commissioners would have
any incentive to do otherwise. The
vital point is proper education ofthe
public mind so that demands will be
commensurate with the county :
ability to meet them.
30 fixed rule of values compared
with those OF thirteen years ago can
be laid there are sections where for
various reasons values have so i'm.
proved that it would be a traycsty on
truth and justice not TO raise assess.
ments, and there are other sections
which will doubtless demand and re.
ceve relief. Because ofthese changing
conditions and for the discovery and
valuation Of newly acquired proper
ty a rc.valuation has been ordered
and a set OF competent men have
been clothed with authority and
directed TO view the county as a
whole for the purpose OF havingevery
man pay his Just share towards the
support Of the government