Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1892 — The Truth About Taxation. [ARTICLE]

The Truth About Taxation.

Passing Over the columns of outragious and most untruthful abuse of our honorable and faithful county officers, in which they are designated as the “court house clan,” “leeches,” “court house ring” <fec Ac., and accused of plundering and robbing the people, and conspiring to make taxes higher, in the last two issues of the People's Pilot, we quote only the"following: “ • Id these figures we see nothing half so unfair as our county levies and extra 816,000 or 817,000 local tax. We trust that brother Marshall will show up all that is unreasonable and unfair in this tax law. While he is doing so, will he please show how and why it is the,.court house clan gave us a tax so much larger this year than last. We patiently wait for an," explanation. / - .

In replying to the above, the indisputable facts as they show for themselves on the public records and the tax books of the county will be used. , In September 1891, the County Commissioners were required to make the levy for county taxes, fsr the year 1891, the -taxes then levied, although known as the taxes of 1891, beiug those payable in April and November of this present year, 1892. It was -their sworn duty, as faithful public officials, to put the. rate of tax levy at a sum which, in their best judgement, would yield a sufficient sum to meet all the heedful obligations of cohiSiy gov.ernment, and to make such improvements as the best interests of the people of the county should require. ’ _ . - Tlfey were confronted with a total assessment of property of all kinds in the county subject to taxation of 86,807,250. That of'lbhe year before was 83,838,925, an increase 0f82,968,325. Assuming, and no doubt correctly, that about the same total amount of county revenue would be required in 1891 as in 1890, the commissioners cut thetas levy doVm from 754 cents on the 8100 valutiou in 1890, to 45 cents on the 8100, in 1891. The 754 cent rate for 1890 produced a county revenue of 828,983.35 T The 45 cent rate for 1891 will, if it is ever all paid, yield a county revenue of 830,632.67.

The increase of county revenue for 1891, over 1890, is 1,648 dollars and 80 cents, or only a little more than 5 per cent; *. Where is there any man of any pretentions to honesty or fairmindedness who will say that this trilling increase of some sixteen hundred dollars in the county revenue furnishes any just grounds for the unmeasured abuse that has been heaped upon'our county officials, by the democratic and subdemocratic papers of the county? What sane man will believe that he finds in it any evidence of a “conspiracy” to make high taxes for political effect, or an attempt to rob the people? Compare this little increase of 16 hundred and some odd dollars, or some 5 per ceDt, caused by the acts of Republican county officials, to the increased taxes in the county "caused by the act of the democratic state legislature. -4* The total taxation in the county for state purposes, for 1890, was S 12,855.92. . The total state taxes in the county tor 1891 are §25.689.37. ' The increase over 1890 is $12,833.44, or almost exactly 100 per cent. ' L Increase of Republican County

taxation, $1,648. 5 per cent. Increase in Democratic State taxation, 1 « or 100 per cent. If an increase in county revenue of §1,645.80 or 5 per cent, is “such another outrage” as “has never been perpetrated in the- county, | not-withstanding the fact that outrages by the ring are quite conptnon,” where will ohr virtuous “reformers” find language severe j enough to condemn the democratic 1 increase in state taxes of $1:2,-j 833.44|,0r 100 per cent.? So far} they seem to have modestly felt

that they were unable to do the subject justice and have said nothing about it. - f Stjll another form of taxation is the township taxes of various k inds. As township, road, school, s pecial school, tuition &e. These, taxes are levied, part of them absolutely, all of them practically, by the township trustees. It is their dnty, each year, to make such levies as will, in their best judgment, yield sufficient revenue to meet the various wants of their townships, such as keeping roads and bridges in repair, repairing or building school houses, furnishing the same, supplying the schools with fuel, &c &c.

We give the various trustees of Jas per county, both democratic as well as republican, the credit of doing .this duty faithfully and, to their judgment, in the best interests of the people 6f their townships. Below we give the total of all the township levies for the years 1890 and 1891, in dollars and cents, on each 8100 valuation, with the decrease in cents, for each township. d- “< • ——■ IS9O IS9I Eedct’n Hanging Grove. .$1.05 80 25 Gillam. 1.00 65 > 35 Walker.. 65 65 ’‘>oo Barkley 1.20 75 45 Marion. 1.05 70 35 Jordan 00 70 20 Newton 95 75 20 "Keener,.... /.7.. 1.35 80' 55 Kankakee.. 1.00 95 5 Wheattield 1.20 70 50 Milroy 1.35 1.25 10 Union. 1.20 80 40 Carpenter..... * 95 75 Rensselaer.... .. 70 55 15 Remington. i.-.«, 1.10 *75 35

The above figures show an average reduction on township taxation levies, for the whole county of cents on the hundred dollars. If these taxes were kept higher than they should have been to help the Republican party, as has been charged by both Democrats and Peopo-democrats, then the six democratic trustees * > in the townships of Walker, Jordan, Newton, Wheatfield, Union and Milroy, were as deep in the alleged “conspiracy” to hurt the democratic party, as were the Republican trustees. Ip fact, a little more so, for while the average reduction in all thie townships and towns was 27£ cents, as above stated, the six democratic trustees reduced their levy on the average onty 23J cents on the f 100

valuation; while the average reduction by the 9 Republican townships and , towns was 30 cents on the SIOO. Here is a difference of ,6-| cents reduction in favor of the Republicans. HOw will our Democratic and assistant Democratic papers explain the remarkable fact that in this Republican “conspiracy” to keep taxes high in Jasper county, the Democratic of- j ficials were not only as “deep in the mud as the Republicans were in the mire but a little deeper? The above township levies have increased the total of township taxes over last year by sll,6Qf. This added to the increase in the county tax, gives a total increase of $13,252.

This rise is not thesl6,oootoslß,000 “our friends the enemy” howls so loudly about. Neither is it evidence of intentional wrong-doing. Moreover, nearly all of the increase was caused by the township trustees, and for this, as shown above, Democrats are responsible even in a greater degree than Republicans. Furthermore, and thills an important point, of this $13,252, nominal increase of local taxes, at least $7,600 is offset by the increased local taxes charged against the railroads and telegraphs, leaving a net increase of local taxes to be paid by the people, of not more than $6,500, at the outside. ", • ' .

On the other hand, of the increase of $12,833 of state tax in the county, not over $2,5b0 is charged against the railroads and telegraphs, leaving I a good SIO,OOO of the increase to be paid by the people. Leaving off from, both years the railroad and telegraph taxes, the total taxes paid this year, by the people of Jasper county, both state and local, exceed those of last by about $16,-[ 000, and of this increase at least $lO,000 is on state taxes. j L But the wor«t feature of ft all is, that under the workings of the Dem-j ocratic tax law, the assessments of] lands in the county were in-j

creased abont 82 per cent, while the assessment of personal property was increased only 2 per cent. This throws a proportionately vastly greater burdon of taxation upon the farmers, not only this year but for all future'years, and the thousands of farmers whose taxes are higher this year, can find in this fact the reason for it.

The evil was wrought by a Democratic Legislature, and county officials are not responsible for it and -are powerless to correct it

Exports of domestic merchandise for the fiscal year 1892 were $T,015,789,607. This is the first year they ever attained jthe sum of a bilHo'h dollars. This is a billion dollar country. “It is significant of the abject condition ol labor in free trade Belgium,” says the New York Press , “that a number of women perished in the disaster at the Anderines colliery. Among the victims a girl fourteen years of age; while children cried around the ffiQUth Sf "’ThC pit for theiF mothers entombed below. In the United States,' happily, there is no need of women going into coal mines for a living. f

The tide of public opinion is unmistakably turning strongly in fav. of keeping the world’s fair open on Sunday, provided a “silent” fair be assured. The exposition authorities have never had any idea of keeping the machinery running on Sunday and everything at full boom as on week days, and since they have so declared themselves the demands for Sunday closing have diminished greatly in number. Not a few who hac petitioned for a closed fair have changed their minds and revokec their request, and have asked that the gates be opened.