Supervisors In The Salt Business

As a basis oí taxntlon the board of BUpervisors liavc fixed llio valuó of Ihe tasablc property of Washteiiaw eouuty at 180,000,000. Of tlii. suin the city of A.nn Arbnr paya flato antl county faxes on !4,GOO,000. Now every principie of rlght and justic-c mul even coiiimon tieceney would seein to require tbat the city should be represented on tlie cnnimittee of equaliy.:iüon and Iiave one vote at teast in defense of her righta. Thla year the just claims of tlie citizens in this respect ftie eulirely set aside. Tlils is cownrdly ín the .extreme, and is tlie qulntesence ol mennness, for the city at best ia ut tlie inerey of the country diatricte, for they have twenty votes ugaiust tlired In tile city. I inqulred of severa! merabera of the board why the city, whlch paid suoh a large portion oi' tlie state and pounty taxes, was allowed no volee in iixing the valué of city praperty and telling the commlttee what it contfeted of and ho'w they had assessed it. They generally looked as wise as owls but said llttle or nothlog lo reply, but I persevered nutil 1 fonn.l one member who lohl me confldentlally thr.t he büd beard It Intlmated that tíie city was to he salted. Now the word "salt," used In thc sense ii here, te not an legan t word, hut it is a word full of ineauing, and in thla ctfge It means to lake tlie burdena of taxation froni the country and place them on tlie city of Aun Albor. I see the OOÜRIBK says the report of the commlttee on eqtialilion was adopted without tlie usual bitter con test. It would be strange indeed if there were bitter contesta wlien every memoer of the committee was selected from the country nml all tbey liad to do to feUle their llttle dlfferences was to salt the city of Ann Arbor. and they did it most eflectually. List, year tbey salted tilla city $100,000. This year it has been salted $:3,000, makliiffa total in two year of $188,000. Merubera of the eqnalizatlon commlttee have told me that they invlted the city members to come in and' make sueli statements in regard to city property aa they mlghtdeeni proper, üiítthey virtimlly said lo them it is liuc that we are not equalrzlug tlie property of the county this year butslmply snltlng the city of Ánn Arbor. but come Ín, wu III be triad to see yon. Now, while it is true that, the city "supervisors were igiiominiou-'ly set nside, and were utterly powerless to help themselvep, tbey were not fools, and they su ved the city froin the disgracc of appearlng before that commlttee when fliey knew that it had alleady been settled that tlie city must be salted. But .he city say that the property ot the dty has increased In valué whliè that in the country has decreased. In the flfth ward of thig city where my lióme is, I know that mnch of the real es tale has decreased in valué one-thlrd at least durintr the last ten years. In regard to the real estáte in the otber wards of this city. 1 freely admit that I am not very w'ell postee!, and probably ín this respect I am ignorant about it as tlie committee who fixed a valué on it and taxed it without representation on the pnrt or the city. Now, from what little 1 know about the valué of real estáte In t lio city and from what I know about its vuhie In the country, 1 nm of tlie opinión that real estáte in tíie city on an average is valued at least twenty per cent, higher tlmn it is in the country. Now let us see if real estáte has decreased in valuó in Northtield within the last three years, and as I am an oíd man and Supervisor Purtell Is a yourg man, I have no doubt lie will asist me in setlling this question. In 1SS2, Supervisor Walsb valued tlie real estáte of Northtield at $SO4,83í). In 1883, Supervisor Purtell said real estáte liad inereased in valué, and fixed tlie suin at $811,!).'0. The present year he has eorrected liis owu figures and ha flxed tlie valué of bis real estáte at Hló,020 Thig shows a steady lncrease In tlie valué of real estáte in Northlield. But tlie reader may say that if Supei visor Purtell is steadily increa.-ing the awessment valuation of tlie real estáte in histownshlp why a. j i-.o muit v itn iiim: --..,,1,, f, ,. the reason that Xorthfield has ne ver pala one cent of tax on liis increased vaination. He places it on hit roll to make it look a little morerespectable.aiid then he roes before thc committee witli tears In hiseyes and begs of them to strike it off again and salt the city with it. 'l'his year the committee owed him a debt of gratitnde for placing tbem where they could t'ike care of their own dlstrlcts, and tbey very gladly complied witli bis request. As briefly as I can I now propose to ajiow that reul estáte in Northfield is equalizcd at a very low ligure. I do not select that township because I think it la valued lower than any other township, for I do not, but I select it matniy for tlie reason that I am well acqualnted In that town and claim to know sometliing about tlie valué of real estáte there. And here again I must cali on Supervisor Purtell to assist me. In 1881 Supervisor Purtell says that Northtield eontains 23.2Ü4 acres of land. This vear the real estáte of that townshipjis equalized at $801,000. This rives an average valué of real estáte in Northfield of about $34.50 per acre. I have recently requested several oíd settlers of Northlield to tell me how niany farms in their township could be bought fot $04.50 jier acre. Tlie answer has been in every case that they did not know of any. Supervisor Purtell knows and I know there are a vast number of farms in Northtield tbat are wortli from S-tO to $80 per acre. I should not have called attention to liis outrage bv low BHeasmentof tria real estáte liad it not been for the fact that he has relie ved liis township within the last two years of $45,000, and has brouglit it here and dumped it on the city of Ann Arbor, which was already overburdened witli taxes. Now, !et us see who besidfl the cliairman has profited by this infamous aalting business. Supervisor BraUD, whose district is almost a part of the city itself, said lie hardly knew wliether Ihe real estáte in the city or in the country was equalized the liifíhest. So he geoerously gave himself the benefit of the doubt and took $10,000 trom Ann Aibor town and shoved it on the city. The supervisor of Sylvan got a reduction of $10,000 and tlunr it upon the city. lint what shall I say about Scio? The supervisor of that town seems to be an expert in this ealling business, and was no doubt a gre.it lielp to the salting eommittee, fcir he took $40,u00 wi'h their consent, and placed it on the citv, and after that he liad thecheek to go bi fore the board and make a rnot'.on that $20.01)0 more be taken Irom 1 1 is township and added to the city. I have been told by several membersof tbc board that they were so disgusted with thls last propositlon froni Scio thal if any member had made a inotion to tuke the $10,000 wlnch the committee had taken trom Scio and placed upon the city, and return it to that township where it houestly belonired, it would have carried. Supervisor Gravea of Ypsilanti town was a member of that salting conimittee, and I am not surprised that he reduced his township $10,000, but he refused to place the burelen of this on the city of Ypsilanti. He knows that it is for bis interest to huilil up bis own city. There is wh re he sells his beef and pork. There is wht-re he sells bis applea and potatoes, and no doubt there is where he pets his moral and religious Instructlon, Perbaps the supervisor in the vlolnity of Ann Arbor miglit do well to follow his example. I have now showen where $80,000, the re.sult of thissalting husines-, has been placed, but it seems the commlttee had on hand a little surplus of $3,000, having salted the city a little more tlian was necessary, and what to do with it tbey did not know. The cotninittee could not and would not. submit to any furtlier reduction of tlieir taxes, but Supervisor Graves, who seems to be a very kind bearted man, helped them out of their dilliculty by doiiati'ng the benetit of it to Ypsll'int) city, and so Ann Arbor city will pay the taxes on it. Xow $3,000 wonld eem like u sniall reduction to satisly the greed of a city like Ypsilanti, hut the reader must bear in rölnd that Ypsilanti city has been reduced in value $105, out) within the last three years, while the city of Ann Arbor bas been raised SIDO, 000 in tlie same time, and I have no doubt that Supervisor Yost put on one of his blandest Miiiles wben the committee reported on the valuaüon of his city. Now, while It Is true that ome of tbc country dletrlctP, like Northfleld f'or Instance, hive not within a few yeara Increased very much n valué, ii i equally truc thal somc i ihem have. Railroads have been built, depots esulilishnl, beautifui hamloti have sprang into existente, as if by majrie, and rtne thrlviog vlllrtges are now hemg bulll In some of Ihe dlitricts, aduinc t-ns of tuousandsW dollars yearlyto their value, but the commlttee have fnilud tn find a single district in YVashtenaw coonty, outsiilu of Aun city, which lias increased in value one dollar wiihln Uie!:t year. Tlicy sectu to liave been so fntenl ou ealtiog tíie city of Ann Arbor tliat tlipy lost Blsbt of every other district I would like to cali the attention of the to a commnnlcatlon In bist vveek's Coübibr, sijfned by an "outsider," but I wiil walt untii Supervisor Winder of Salem, and Supervisor Vost of Ypsllantl, e! over tlicir lanli about his statement thal s.ileni and the flrst district of Ypsilauti ure paylng the taxcs of York and Sylvun. In conclusión let me gay to th eöuiiiy supervisors: You are a noble band. Yon have made a gallaut liglitYou have marohed up to ihe city of Ann Arbor, armed %vith jour twenty votos, and you have conquered the three city supervisors. Your trluinph over tlie city is complete. But it isa triumph of mijilit over jrljtht, and whlle you may rejoice in the gmlles of your conetituents over tliis viciory, it can bc only for a season, and win n a few more yeara have been ndded to the past, and the shadows of evenlng are gutherlng around you, it can only be to you, in the language of the great poet. Bnrns, a source of "regret, reraorso, and intime. Aun Albor Citv, JSov. :utli, 11.