Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS^ GUIDE.





YoL. xxn.





NEW YORK, SATÜEDAY, AUGUST 31, 1878.





No. 54G.





Published Weekly by

i^lje %ml (Bünk %uotti %%sotmimx,

TERMS.

-J                    0!VE YEAU, in advance....SlO.OU.

I          Coininunications should be addressed to

;^                                                    C.   \V.  SWEET,

,ä|                                             Nos. 3-15 AXD M" Broadway





THE TAX COMMISSIONERS REPORT.

No ollice in the city government excoeds in au¬
thority ancl responsibilitj- that of tho Coniinis-
sioiiere of Tuxes and Assessments. In their
hands is deposited absolute and autocratic power
to levy on the property and snbstance of Citizens
such quotaof taxation as may seem proper and
right to themselves. Tliis i^ower of lixing valua¬
tions, as measures of the tax indebtment for
which each Citizen shall bo held liable, atfects the
interests of individual tiix-paj-ci-s far more seri¬
ously than does the power of the Board of Esti¬
mate and Apportiomnent, by which the aggregate
of city expenditures Is determiued each year. A
slight increiuse to the extent of a few hundred or
thousand dollai"s in individual valuations will
extract from the ta.x-payer's pocket a larger sum
of money in the way of tax than would the in-
creiise of hundreds of thousands of dollars in the
sum total of the annual budget.

The Commissioners of Taxes and Assessments,
in the light of their authority nnd responsibility,
may be rognrded as administering the most au-
gust and most delicatc oflice in tlie government;
one towards which the aetive vigilance and jeal-
ous scmtiny of Citizens generally, and tax-payere
particularly, should be unrernittingly directed.
The manner in which the duties of this office may
be discharged, and the X'esults that may be ac¬
complished, depend largely upon the houestj',
capacity and intelligence of the oflicers adminis¬
tering it. Fortunatelj' their work is one of rec¬
ord, and should be of open record. So far as
accessible, it may be made the subject of fair and
candid criticism. The niea.sure of personal qual-
ification possessed by these oflicers, however, may
be best inferred from their ofllcial report. Such
a document has lately been spread before the pub¬
lic. To the real estate community this report
possesses more than ordinary interest at the pres¬
ent time. Of all the questions most intimately
associated with the present and the future %vel-
fare of real estate, that of taxation is the supreme
and overehadowing one.

We have waited patiently and anxiouslj' for
the appearance of this ofRcial document, and pro¬
pose to offer our comments upon tho vereion of
iE which appears in the CUi/ liecord.
:. 1. What it Contains.—The present report is
more remarkable for what it leaves unsaid than
for what it says. Like most offlcial documents its
style is bumptious and bland ; dropping a few
woi'ds of oondolence over the misfortunes of the
country and indulging in some passing dilettante
criticism upon the causes which have led to our
present coraplications, and upon the prospects and

probabilities of an early retui'n of  prosperity.

Rapid transit entei-prises are justly regarded as

powerfiü Ipvers in pronaolapg a rpvivpl of muiiic-





ipal growth and vigor. But this is the only
gleam of brightness that the writer is able to dis¬
cover, otherwise he says, in effect, " Live hoi"se
until spring, and j-nu shall have grass." "While
acknowledging, as he does, tho füll and awful ex¬
tent of tho present Stagnation and depreciation in
real estate, he fails to olTer a Single Suggestion,
praetical or available, calculated to remove the
one great bürden from the back of our oppressed
interest, to wit: grinding and destructive taxa-
ation.

A large share of the report is taken up with
quotations from previous documents covering the
tjuestion of a general and indiscriminate reduc¬
tion of valuations. This (itiostion has beeu i)re-
sented so frequently in the public pre.ss and its
true bearings and effect have been canvassed so
tlioroughly that it would appear to l)a almo.st
gi'atuitous to enter into any further discussion of
it. The merest tj-ro in government or in taxa¬
tion must imderstand by this time that no snb¬
stantial benefit can be derived from an indis¬
criminate reduction of valuations, while tho
gross sum of government expenses remains un¬
changed. The agitators of this que.stion might
far bettcr direct thoir energies towards effecting
a reduction of the city expenses, which would
have the immediate rosult of reducing the per¬
centage rate of tax.-ition, even if the pre.sent
valuations were allowed to remain unchanged.
It is the budget of taxation, the sum total of city
expenses, the sinecure and excessive salaries,
costly and mmecessary public works and kindred
items which should be made the subject of
attack. A whole.sale reduction of valuations
would simply result ni an increase of tho per¬
centage rate, and leave the tax-payer's bill prac-
ticallj- unchanged in amount. The object aimed
at by the advocates of this scheme of indiscrimi¬
nate reduction is to try and avoid a share of State
taxation. However large a reduction may bo
made in city valuations the amount thus taken
off might be and would be quickly restored by
the State assessors at their next meeting.

It is high time that the Citizens of the State
.should be intelligently instructed with regard to
this subject of State taxation. The present
method of levyhig it seems to be thoroughly de-
fective and perplexing. No Sj-stem, however,
should be accepted or even tolerated which pro-
poses to levy the Stiite tax in any other way
than by apportioning just and equitable quotas
of it among the various couo^ies.

Another and a novel reason adverted^to bj- the
commissioners for refusing to reduce valuations,
namely, the adverse effect that it would be likely
to have upon tho credit of the city seems to us, to
say the least, to be a very far fetched proposrition.
Wo are at a loss to conceive what connection
there can be between the duties of the commis-
sionei-s and tho financial credit of tho city. It
certainly would be disreputable to attempt to
bolster the credit of the city by flxing unjust and
inordüiate valuations upon real and ; personal
estate. The credit of the city must Iforever rest
upon the promptness with which its obligations
are met as weU as upon the intelligence, enter¬
prise and tbrift of its Citizens. The duties of the
Tax Comraissionere lie in an altogether different
sphere, It is their business to fix juat and equit¬
jible y&Umtions upon property witboijt. rtäf^rouco





to the city's credit or to anj- other extrinsic con
sideration. If the citj-'s credit is in danger, it
will not be helped bj- a know-ledge that its tax
valuations are artificiallj- stilted.

Auotlier subject largelj- dwelt upon in the
present report is that of bank capital. It seems
to be ono of the favorite liobbies of the writer to
extol the influence of capital above every other
agencj- under the heavens. AVe are impressivelj-
told that but for capiUil tho value of New York
real estate todaj- would !)e no greater than it was
tln-ee hundred j-ears ago. We have no other re-
.s])nnse to make to this proposition than to suggest
that in tho ndvancement oL civilization there are
other forces (pu'to as important as capital ; brains
and labor being entitled to occupj- at least an
ecjual plane. There are tnillions upon millions of
capital going to waste, if not to rot, in this citj-
for the want of intelligent and enterprising minds
to direct it in safe and profitable Channels.

The form of organized capital represented iu
banks of deposit seems to be a particular object
of solicitation bj- the conuni.ssioner.s. An alto-
getlier inconsiderable shrinkage of bank capital is
held up as verification of an oflicial prophecj'
made a few j'ears ago, at the time it was decided
to tax t!ie surjilus as well as the stock capital of
banks. Wo rogard thissympathj- aud considera¬
tion bestowed upon banks almost iis thrown
awaj-, because in normal coiulitions of business
thej' find little difiicultj- in paj'ing current taxes,
as well as enormous dividends to" stockholders.
That their reflundant capital should be unavail-
able and unprofitable in times like these is not to
bo wonrlered at, and certainlj- should not be re¬
ferred soielj- to the oppression of taxation. It
should be faikeu rather as indicative of the caution
and wisdom of bank managers that, in riskj- and
imsettled times like the present, thej- should take
in sail at the earliest moment and snug up their
atfaii-s to await future developments. There is
no question, however, but that bank capital is
just as severelj- taxed in this citj- as real estate,
albeit the former is far better able to bear the
bürden, having a more instant power of reassess-
ing it. Of .lll taxed interests in New York, real
estate and bank capital should combine together
in resisting their enormoiLs oppression and in en-
deavoring to secure a new adjustnienfof taxation.
The report abounds in tables, Statistical and
otherwise, which are worthj' of being preserved,
although not presenting anj- verj- important in-
formation. For example here is an abstract of
one of them:

ASSESSMENT OF PERSONAL TAXATION.

Names on roUs at        Applications for
Year.         opening of books.             reductions.

187li........                13.054                                   5, OTO

1877     ......               ll>,«19                                   8,600

1878......               IS.'-'IS                                   9,560

By this schedule it appears that the efforts öf
the commissionei-s have been greatlj- quickened
during tho past three j^ears, and in consequence
they have been enabled to enrol three thousand
additional names as liable to pei-sonal taxation,
and within this same period a very large in¬
crease, nearly 100 per cent,, is apparent of those
who feit aggrioved nt assessments and who
applied for reductions. The number of thia ein-««
given for 1878 ia 9,.*)66,