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WHO PAYS YOUR TAXES?

“ In case of failure to file or make inventory, or omission tostate therein all real and personal property, ‘ the assessorsshall, to the best of their ability,’ ascertain the amount of theproperty (personal and real) ‘ omitted from the inventory filedand liable to assessment and taxation therein, and shall doublethe amount thereof as the assessment of such property for suchtaxable year,’ unless it can be shown that the failure to filethe inventory or the ‘ omission ’ was not done with intent toevade the provisions of this law.

“ Whoever files a false inventory (of real or personal prop-erty) and makes oath thereto shall be guilty of perjury andpunished accordingly ; refusing or omitting to make an in-ventory will be a misdemeanor, and shall be punished accord-ingly.”

Judge Arnoux, as spokesman for the visitors, said:

“ Mr. Chairman :

“ With Mr. Gardner, our secretary, representing theBoard of Trade and Transportation of the City of New York , and with others, I appear before this honorablecommittee to oppose the passage of a bill introduced bythe senator from Buffalo, and designed to compel mer-chants, manufacturers, traders, and others to pay taxeson all goods in their possession, without regard to theindebtedness of the owners thereof.

“ The true title of this bill should be ‘ An Act to dis-courage Comrrterce and Manufactures in the State of New York, ’ and such will be its effect. The Board ofTrade and Transportation has a membership of onethousand merchants and mercantile firms, who are unani-mously opposed to this bill, and who believe that its pas-