The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1915-04-01


BE say, Mr. Editor. il ! were to
ten you that there is place-a
countryon the Western hemis-
phersand in the United States Of
America where the tax assessing
laws are 60 lax or inefficient that
the man who is called the Tax As
season sends out men once year to
assesa your taxes. And these men
walk the side walks Of great city,
with pencil and book in hand, stop
IN front Of q residence, or an APP
partmeBt house with 500 rooms, or
ii front Of a store, look up at the
windows or the doors, and write
down the amount Of property there
in there subject to taxation?
III were 10 tell you that there really
was such place, you would laugh
!; me and think / had gone mad
Because, you know-as does
everybody else in any and in all the
States. that tax assessing laws are
very stringent and very thorough
When 60 to give in my tax in
Georgia, the tax collector hands me
) long blank, wirh every kind Of
property. real, personal and house
hold, listed in bold type. Then
there is another paragraph which
says. All other property not
herein mentioned" And then at
the bottom, Is an oath as solemn
and binding as the human intellect
can get up. and yon read, or hear
read this oath, then sign the blank.
That is a good law, as all will
agree.
But here, in the District OF Col
urnbia, a city Of some 100000 souls
"a territory embracing some 20
square milea-about, the size Of
Redhone district, or little larger
governed by that thing known
40 the American congress, there
are absolutely no laws regulating
the assessment Of taxes. The tax
assessor himself says that his men
walk the sidewalks and assess the
property without even going inside
the dwelling, or the store, as the
case may be.
And mind you, this tax assessor
in the District OF Columbia is al
lowed 43 assistants and the people
in the states have to cough up the
sum of s66, 900 to pay the assessor
and his assistants every year.
In my old home county-Thom-
as-there are more tax payers than
there ara in the District Of Columbia,
end. the tax assessor and the tax
collector, both together get less
than $4,000 a year.
In other words, the tax assessor,
and his Office force, are allowed ex-
actIy ELEVEN TIMES as much as
the two men in each county in the
states are allowed for doing a great
deal more. work. Ort put il diff.
isreptly-and exactly as it is--the
District Of Columbia tax assessor is
allowed $3.50, 900 for doing nothing,
while in the States, for doing the
actual work in a lawful and eff
eieHt manner, two men are paid
less than $1,000 each.
Let me show you another mys-
terry.
In order to help defray the ex.
penses Of government, every city,
town and village, from 200 popu.
lation up. have adopted city ordi-
nances, or municipal laws, where
BY every business operating in that
cityi charged a city license to do
busineas. l have before me at this
nssment the 1915 license ordinance
.og the, town Of Boston, Ca, my old
home, and I find that every BUSH
ness imaginable is taxed, and
dealers in cigarettes are taxed
$1,000 year; each soda fount
$50, ice cream dealers $500, and
80 on down the line. / am run
aing a kind Of variety store, and ]
find that il I had the same store in
Boston, Ga, my license bin would
be $3.50 per year. As it is, l