The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-03-11
NEWTOWN

Thomas F. Lyons the we'll known plumber returned to Bridgeport with family and household goods Monday, in which city he will make his home
 for the future.
 Rev. Father P. T. Dolan will preach at the L,enten devolohs Wednesday >ewening at St. Roses church. Miss Teresa Carmody, graduate nurse of the Danbury hospital, after a Isshort respite from duty with her par ents, MT. and Mrs M- F. csaTnody of Sandy Hook, has gone to Gayloz-ds- vile, Conn, on a cease.
 MT and Mrs. Michael J. Ryan at the Depot welcomed a. baby daughter at their home Sunday.
 There will be an anniversary re- quiem high mass at St. Roses church Saturday at g a. m. for the repose of the soul of the late William c. Cor
 bett-
 IA troop of a dozen Italian worknnen who had come here to work on the Mount Pleasant job on the state road, left town Sunday night. thus tying up operations for the contractors some what.
 DavidyH Bale the Haw1eyvi1Ie rep tresentative on the town board of re | lief is a painstaking member and while admitting there were some in- equalities in the assessments made by the assessors which the board smooth | ed upon request puts the DidaflS 178i1I
 up to the assessment forms prescribed by the state board of adjudication, and not upon the assessors whose work he believes to be wholly conscientioSls. His criticism is directed against that part of the blank which makes the owners, valuation optional with him. He believes if this part of the law was l made compulsory upon the owner. he
 has faith enough in the majority Of
 his townsrnen to say that @ much more nearly just assessment list would .re- s1I1t and the labor would be much l lighter for the assessors. He says this is the law in New Jersey where he came from, and that it works well there Not more than ten per cent of the owners of property here put ia their own valuation upon their prop erty, but left that column blank or wrote in Same as last year or less. 's This indeffniteness made the task diff fcult for the assessors, and the tax
 form should be amended to make the
 full valuation of property aimed at in the new law feasible" If this were insisted on all tax dodgers would eventually run up against the law which furnishes perjury, is the final word on the matter from this plain spoken member of the town board Of relief and the honest tax payers agree with him. As an illustration e says only one man in town put in his work teams of horses at full yalua- l ton, viz, $500 for each pair, and S1,- l 200 for four pairs Teams equally as young and good were listed by many lsowners same as last year. for $150 l or $75 for each horse, but every old l skate" went in for $50 same as last year. if owned by a poor man This was iniquitous. and ought to have been attended to. but the time allow ed by law and the compensation for | the work did not permit the board to rectify it. But if the owner had been | compelled to swear to the valuation | of his team things would be different and the total valuation of horses In 1 town increased by s2O. .00o., And a 15 l mill tax on this amount would add | $500 to the town treasury which rep resents an equal loss to the town. and l bears most inequitab1ly on the owner | of a family horse. He thinks the pulp | lie should know these facts, and start l in to correct the evils which come i down from the days when succeeding
 boards of assessors copied the work
 of their predecessors. and then drew 1 their pay. His ideas are up to date
 and The Farmer gladly publishes his
 l views.
 Miss Elsie M. Johnson is spending
 1 the week with her aunt, Mrs. E. c. l Platt of IIawleyvi1Ie.
 S. A Gardner of New Haven, state
 l agent of the Humane Society, is In
 | town t11is week on business