Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, December 27, 1878, Page 5

ons of the LIl wers cagil-#1to the B N1l Ahe Soutlt Park. Ty 1A not aomly 1o the North or the Weat_stte. 1le nlso antleerd that the property-owne® o (he atreet which was taken would e mfl'fil frowm keep- fng It I revwir, Thiat wag:d he done by public taxatlon. ke iived on p o reet on the North tute which mizht be =iapted to tho purpose to eat advaniage. H+ Wished the bill to apply Lincoln 'ark, ¢ Chajrmur thought the provislons were ral, Mr. Wilape safd the bill gave authority only to 'ark Cotwmizsloners who had Leen declured weorperfty outiorities.’? Thoso on the North Sideatid the West 8ido were not corporate at- tpurities, the taxes being levied by the town au- thorities. While the bill was general in form, it should be so fu fact, Me. [itchcock said the bill had been prevared with reference to the Sonth Side. The languago of the general act of 1875 had been followed, 1t not occurring to bim that tho Snpervisor and Assessor of the North and West Towns wera the corpurate authoritles. The bill could be modi- fi~d 50 a8 to make it genetal, Mr, Wilson suggested that s clause providing for n percentare of tax to pay the cost of flrst fmpravement be omitted, aud that the Park Conwirsioners be alluwed to manago the mat- |;-r.—|nx the amount to be ralsed and appor- tion it. A, Hitcheoek remarked that the auestlon of tlie amount assesseid on the property was one of uetell, about which he had no opinion, SEXATOIL DASTE wae in favor of the bill, orone having the sama obfect, but e wauted it in such shape that, when'it was presonted to tho Gencral Aseom- bly, something could be done with ft, 1t shonld be drawn o that not only Park Boards, but any eity, town, or villare conld take advantage of its provisions. Tiais would strengthien the bill, 1o suwgested tuat it he referred back to Mr. titelicock, with @ request that the whole mat- ter bu looked Into with a view of prepariug o Wil which wonll present Itselt more favorably 1o the people of the State cencrally. As this wos o meeting of the Citizens’ Association he did not kuow that hio tould muke a motlon. MIL, AUAMS remarked that the Itnpresstou seemed t9 provall that this was a mecting of the Citlzens' Arsocla- tlon, It was not, but o meeting of citizens. Evcry oua present had the right to make a mo- tion or to vote. It ecemed to him that Mr. Ayres’ motion might by inudified so as to indi- cate the sensc of the meeting os to the general purpose; say It waa the scnse of the meeting that the Uity of Chileago ought to be connecied with the parks by a voulevard undee the pio- visions of some appropriate bill. Mr, Ayrea accepted this, and the motion s sgreed to read thus: . ‘That [t Is the senso of this meeting that each of the parke shanld be connccted with tho clty by a voufevard, and that the delegation be reqnested o obtain the parsage of appropriate laws lo accoms pilsh this object. the vrovi 4 t MILITIA LAW, GEN. DUCAT. The Mlitia law was the next tople. Uen. Dueat supposed all were wivare thata year ago lust winter a Militia law was passed. Tt bad, however, been found detlcient, both n ftacif and as to the appropriation. A comunit- tee nppointed by the Governor wasat work framing n new law. What had been done he was not informed. 1l wonld state for general In- formation that the pro rata of Illinois, under the appropriation of the (ieneral Goverament, was about $11,000, which had to be taken In armns and equipments, Tho State Taw provided for an appropriativn of about §00,000, This was entirely insdequate to provido for target prac- tico and the pav of the troops when in encamp- tnents absolutely necersary for their disciplining ond trainlng. To date, the muster rolls showed that there were about 7,000 men in tho 8tate militia. ‘This was the growth of five years from 8 very small nucleus. No appropriation had ever been made for the equipment of the men other thon with arms. These hod boen fur- nished by the State, the other equipments hav- ing been potten through the donations of citt- zens, which wero nearly ail expended, ' The men had not recelved any pay for their services, A fact perhaps not mpyreeisted by people who gave the matter no thought, but ono which con- stantly oppeared before military men, was that the holdlog of a body of men 7,000 strong together without #umo encouragement and remuocratfon was & very difficult task. Wo wero apt to say that the milicia should do this, that, or the other thing, bnt we must conelder that the men had no cu- couragement to enllst excent it be from patriot- ist0, ‘There were no armories tov tlem, Y Thére ehould be. The Btate should provide ong at every point whero there was aregiment—at Peo- riu, Bpringfleld, Chicago, and Quincy, Tho men had to do the best they vould uow, the orinories befug rented by them.” Au sunual encampment waa absolutely necessary to keep up the proper enthustusm and esprit’ de corps and malntain the organization. They might have nothing to du, and ought not to receive pay excent when on duty, but their equipment should be provided for. "1le dldu’t think the aystem of uniforming the troups worked as well as paylng them snd Jettlngg them provide their owu uniforms. Gen. Torronea was called om, but be conld add nothing. saylue that Dr, Wicks, ong of the Comiplttee, codld tell all about the new code. DR, WICKS eaid he merely represented tho medical branch, but hie could state that the code was o conserva- 1ve one, Tie amouut to bo asppropriated would oulv be to puy for the cucamptiunts, and such supplics as were necessary during one week every year for each brigade, thers belng thres, e called on Gen. Strong, UEN, STRONG sald ho was n member of the Committee, but had attended only ono menting—tho first, which was held i Chicago. He had drawy such provisions ns were required to cover the Inspector-tenerad’s — depurtment and nifle vractice. What he submitted had been aceepted, but ke hada't seen the whole of the new law, He dId not even kuow whether Mwas the intentlon to have theold law repealed, or tho new codo was {0 be added by way o amendment, Mo hud provided for acertain vumber of fnspection ofllcers, and prescrived their duties, th refercuca to rifle vractice, 1lo hed mode some auzgestions that he thought would excita some Iuterest in the National Guard. Rtifly pructico bclnfi neceseary to keep up the esprit de corps, he had recommendul an appropriation for muintaining ritle-ranges, oifer- g prizes, cte. o concurred fo what Uen. Ducat had said o reference to the luw, aud thought those who had it in charge lutended to maku 1t as near righit as possible. Mr, fturd asked i€ the proposed blt) provided for an appropriation. Dr. Wicks suld it provided for a military tax uf one-seventh of a mill, LIEUT, COLLINS 3a(d that the old law pravided for a tax of one- twentivth of & mill, and the result was an load- equato .muuut Mr, Hurd asked how much It ylelded. Licut, Colllug answered a Mittlo over §60,000, which would hardly pay for the transportution uf the troaps to the nlace of encampuiont, e hg them thers with nothing ta eat, ‘The Adfu- tant-Genera! had told hilm that the new code wus to e Introduced aa & substituto for the old vne, and that it provided tor unsppropriation of 300,000, which necessitated an appropriatiou every timo the Legislaturo wet. Dr. Wicks, Lowever, stated that & tax of one-seventh of & mill was to be ralsed. The origival idea had bean dropped. The $300.000 was Lo bove carrled the militia over 1o years. The object of the one-aeventh ot a il was to have something to rely on without goiug to the General Assumbly every thne it met, becauso the appropriation Autglic bo defeated. Alr. [lurd szid, &8 hie understood it, as the bill Btood, it Aln:rly Kot the mouey futu the Trews- urys ltcoutd ot be used without an appropri- utfou, Licut. Coliina answered that the biil provides that the money should be usul for a certain purpose, aud how 1t abould bo obtajued frowm the Treasury. Mt HURD rejolned that even If the mouey was collected by o tax it bad to ba takeu out of the Treasury bfi-nn appropriation. 1le thought there was a ieucral islike to the Military law on account of the fact thut it put upou the property of the Hiate a given amouut whether it was necded or not. A bt which proposed to affect thu whole tuachiuery of taxation, because when suything wus added thero was un fuducement 1o msko the valuation less. "This was sccn in the case of the two-rmlil 1ax co puy the old State debt. Il thought the military wen moade s infstuke right there. Tho object might be sccomphsbed Ly an_ appropristion, ond ougbt to be accomotished ~ fu that way, The law woull Lo ~constantly interfvred with if + tax wus mposed. e objected to a wilttary code,—claborato wilitary laws full of detail, The law should be stnpic ang so frated that the Governor, or whouver was in command, sould moke the needed regulations ut dleasure. Gen. Ducat stated that in all States where e militia mystemm waa 8 success dhore was & do- taled vude, * The law ol ,this btate, previous to Ve cod nlv sakl tho” Gorernor wighit 4o so and so. Under 1t u Berzesut unght bave huocked Bius o i i the § wnd Thare was Boway ol dfsclalatg Liny exeept elore 3 dustiecat the Pe It S uttenly worthiless. ' law of the e Meha Lhat, we Lo tLivreed, How Alue must e d tot ' THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: FRIDAY- DECEMBER 27, 1878 Our teoops were they didu't reach the States, yultinteers. ‘The law must he clearly defines ur oflicers wonld not take hold. Tle had organ- ized the nhitia under the ol Taw, but wouldn’t undertake auch n work nzaln, [f A man were bad, he couldn’t be held,—nothing could be done to him; he had to be let go. With 8 law of that kind the troons might us well be dis- banded. RAPRARIRNTATIVA SHERMAN snid that Mr, $lurd’s Kdea was theoretically good, but in practice it would be the death of the ayatem, e thought If the people were not willing to pay the tax tley were strongly insen- sible to the events of the Iast two years, The only hope of Illiois or other Statcs situated ke 1t was a lnw under which tha militia might not only be thoroughly orzanized, but be sus- tained,” None of the oxpenses of the '77 lots were yet pnid. All wera held in abeyauce, awniting au appropristion. Two or three more auch experlences would deum{ the militie, Instea of the aystem belng s burden, the people demanded ‘it, almoat unani- mously. i{e ald not beliove 100 property-osrners could Ko found in Chleazo who would not eav, “(live-us n pood military system. Put the truons [n proper shanego as to gravple with what threatencd to aeatroy our city,” Mr. Tlurd was not'in favor of paging gentle- men for having o parade. As ntazpayer, ho thought camping unnccessary, He used to ¢o to tzaining in Connectient, but got no vay. "It waa fum, Or patriotinn,” Taxation was great now,and a new Military Jaw to Increnss the Lurdet was a mistake, It nover rained but it pottred, It seemced to him ft woull ho well to feava the thinz to tho Levislature,—to let that hody tnake an aporopriation e WO yenrs, aad not maddle upon people n law which ralsed so much noney whethier i was needed or not. Agaln, he found rrnvlnlom in the mititary code which enabled the commandine oflicer” to punlaha man almost to the oxtentof taking hislife. Ho doubted If sucha low were constitutional, and he saw 1o necessity for o vode, Licut. Collins eald” his father had beena Colunel In the Connectient militin, and he had heard him ray that there was never in thiscoun- iry such an ungovernavle rabble. But now ttiey hdd a new law down there, and the Secoud Connecticut was the best disciplined and equipped regiment fn the Unlted Stutes. The discipiine clauso fn the lnw of iinols wastaken word tor word fromi the Conncctleut law. Quly eoough money was ssked for towcarry the niflitia througl, so that the oflicers would not to pay the bflls. It the people didn’t want stich a fnw et them say so through the Leglsiature, and when another tiob camo Bes what proteetion they will have! ~ No militia had @ Letter record than’ that of Ilinols. What was necded was & mensuro to enable them to keep it untarnfsbed, 10 4t 18 not basd, the peoplo must look out themnsclves for thelr_tives and nrnperl'y. Uen, Ducat semarkend that it was no use to dlscass the dotails of the hill with veuple who wers not soldlers. As Licut. Collins had stated, It the people wanted a militia they must pay for ft. He would managze the military family i iven a law and money. All be needed was what was nbsolutely noceseary, Thers wers a number of old soldlers {n the militia who were willing to devoto a wreat deal of thelr time to the organization, but they were not willing to piay the bills or he bored after the troops had been out by yeople wantiug their bills scteled,~satlsiving them that they would get sometbing. e had been Industrious in that way, ‘The militia could not be mavaged without a good Inw, Mr, Adams maved that it was tho sense of the meoting that the people wanted 4 good militia law, and were wiliing to pav for it, The motlon was agrecd to. REGISTRY LAYW, GRONOR X, ADAMS, The Chalrman announced that the next tople for Jdiscussion was the Reglstry law, and that Mr, Qeorie E. Adams had some suggestions to offer thereom. Mr. Adams zald that the present law referred only to 3tate clections, which are held every other year. County eclections, therefore, did not come within its ourview. Tho question was whether we should have a Reglstry law as appli- cable to those clections, He would assume that such s law # good thinz,—as almost every- body did,—~and If so there was noreason why our munleclpal elections should not have the benefit of {t. How was this to be secured] Thera was a general law unco which was applicable to all electlons, hut it was repealed beeause the coun- try members dlun’t fecl the necessity of it, and were unuble to pay the expenses of carrying it out, In the country the clestion districts wers gmall, aud the reslt was that tho judges were "fretsonnily nenaainteds witheavervivorer, so 4hno it wos really unnucessary to pass a law applica- bl o them: The present layw, he bolicyed, was tho result of o compromise between thae coun- try and tho city members, 1C the registry was to bo made applicnbio to our county clections, that could ot very well bo done without A general law, which conld not be passed, or without a law nqulmblu to Couk County, which would probubly be unconstitutional. e was unable to think of nny Kegletry law whicl could bo passed, except one appllenblo to mu- nicipal elections only. Buch a law, he thought, m(u?n. e mnde as ni amendment to the act fn- corporating cities and villazes, but whether tho otler citles, tuwna, aud villuges would vbject ta the apolication of the Reglstry law to thuin was o question. At auy rate, this was th only prac- tleal way In which'it could be obtained In Cook County without runniug aguinat sume conatitu- tional provision, so fur us ho could sce, In 1877 there way a shiort amendment to the law, which was passed, und by which o general olection was to be held the bird Tucsdoy fn April In citfes sud o few days be- fore in econotry towns. It eccurred to bim that the section amended by that amend- wmient might be smended by o very fow worda so ns to mako the Regisiry Iaw applicable to them. Bu there stlll romatnel the question whether a Reglatry law was a good thing. He thourht It wan, Some objected to it for the reason, as they claimed, that it gave occasion to fraud, It might cure and preveut fraud to somo extent, but it certatuly did give rise to somu, because it Ald not uecessartly prevent a man from fllegully voting who, four or five woeks befora eleetlon, had inade up bis mind that he would so vote. FEverybody knew thoe pructices resorted to,~the piviug of lictitious nawes and residences which turned out to be nothing mors satisfactory thun vacant Jots. There waa, lowever, unatlier way in which the desirable result whicth all good citlzens almed at could de reached, and this without having woy Reglatrey law ot all, 1t consisted slmply {n having moro election dls- tricts, more poliing places, where fow shiould vote at esch poll, and where, na i the country, overy voter wotld bo personally known tu the Judges. Whils this state of things could not exactly be brought about, still some approach to it could bo made by reduciog the slze of the votiug districts as miich as possible, The How 8ol Hlupking asked i€ this couldn't De done by the County Board, . Mr, Adatus replied that it could, ond that that was his point. By having smaller districts tjie chances of Hlegal voting would be reduved to o minimum, and, beskles that, the judees could get through (mlde of s week or less, and all d:uncr of 4 recount would then be pre- vented, Mr, J. P, Wilion asked whotlicr o general law, applicable to persons within cities or lucorpor- ated towns, would Lo unconstitutional, Mr. Adatna sald the gentleninn was moreof 8 constitutional lawyer then himaclf, aud ne dida’s propose to answer that questiou, - 8ol llopkins declared hiinself to be a constl tutional lawyer, and added verr positively that thie thing could not be done. ‘ .aughter, Mr. Wilvun sald he was gratiiied to bicar such & dellnite statement of opinlon on u subjeet which hud puzzied the lawyers not u little, — TAXATION, COUNTY CLEIK KLOKKZ, ‘The Chalruan stated that the next topie was Taxatlon, aud all the tax-lawyers and real- estate men prescot pricked up thelr ears at the sunouuccment that thelr favorito subject was about to bs brought on. County Clerk Klokko was callod upon, it being understood that he bad some interesting fucts oud figures bearing on the topte, He stated that, baving sutivipsted belug called upon, ho bad reduced to writiug somo facts, which bie thereupon proceeded to read, and of which tle following abstract conveys the sub- stance: The assessment, as st presout made by the Town Asscssors, requires 120 volumes aunualls, which books must contain gn accurato do- scriotion of every lot, bluck‘,‘!mcl, or parvel of Jaud fu the couniy, sud which 1s fursished 1o the Asscsors by the County Clerk abour Msy I, und retdrned by them to the “County . Clerk's — office, with the valuations extended therson, about July 1. From theso Asseasors' Luoks the Collvcturs’ warrants aro made out sud fesued o the re- spestive ‘Town Collectura trom the County Clepk’s oflice on or about Jaw. 1, which Fown Lollestors vollect theron whatever tuey can, and deliver aaid warrants to the County Colléctur about slarc ), together with a delinqueat list, contatoing descriotions of all uFuperty, both reul wud pereonal, o woleh the taxes remula unpaid, Tue County Collector, vu recciviug e tan-warralls foot e Town Collectors, alse Lioeveds b haie s T L0t one made by the Town tora a8 aforcsald, requiring from thirty-five to forty volumes of B0 pages each, Eald it fa then filed with the County Clerk, who nzaln ngkes an exact copy, containing the ssme number of volumes and pages, which cony Is called the judgment secord, “and wjon " xhieh the Collcetor oblains from the Court judement for the delinquent taxen and_nsreasinents, tozether With an order of sale. Meanwhile. during the thne expend=d in making saia records, of of the taxes on the property described thereln §a pald, After the lots on whfch. the tnxes so paid have been stricken from the record, and nfter judgmont hes been ziven, the County Clerk” mnkes a cony of tho rest of tho Jots shown on the judement record os delinquent, which copy 18 called the precept and record o Bale, and contains about twenty-Lhree volumes of 300 pages each, from which the County Col- lector selfs anid lots and lands. During the time from the making of the sale-record up to the time of sale, about ono-third of the remaln- der of the delinquent lots aud lznds are patd ; all of which shows that the making of so tnany copiesis o great waste of labor and expense. To remedythis.andtossyethocounty from £25.000to 35,000, I would recommend that a chongze be mado fn the Revenuo law, doing away with the town and counnty dellnquent lists, the judgment recard, and a pact of the sale record, and that, Instead, the County Collector shall apply for Judgment on the Collcctor’s warrant, and sell from the same, and that the County Clerk shall make a record of the lands and lots thus sold or forfeited to the Btate, to be used assaleaand re- demption reconl. This, taken all in ail, will ho 8 reduetton of ahout 240 volumes or_more ench year,—a ruduction very much desired, not only on account of the great financlal saviug, but also on account of the ston it puts on the ncownuia- tion of so many worthless records, which will In # few venrs require moro vault-room than the buflding (n which the County rk's office Is now situated can be made to contain if devoted to no other purpose. ‘lastll further simplify the collection of taxes aud reduce the expenses thereof, 1 would recommen the abolishment of townahlp organization, Under the present ays- ten: feis lmposeible to make o correct nssess ment (n the theo now allowed and specified by Tnw, which 18 two months, from May 1to July 1. ‘The clerleal work alone on the as nbsorbs two weeks of thc eleht al scssor in which to perform bisdnty. In the "Town of Wost Chicazo there are 66,349 lots and parcels of Jand, avd 10,024 entries of individuals assessed on personal property, thus showing that it is sy absolute hmpossibility to make an nccurato estimate of the value of “each plece of real estate, and the improvements thereon. To abolish township organization will do oway with the Town Assessors. In Llls place might beereated a burcau of assessment, An assessinent on real estate night be mado onee ayery threo or five years. Should such o Tuw be passed, it would be necessary, In order to praperly control the increase In Valucof sald real estate, on account of improvements made thereon, that aala law should contaln a clause compelling all partles taking out bullding per- mits to have sall permits countersigned and remistered by the Asscssor, in order to enable tim, the Assessor, to note sald Impravements and list tho sany oncd evers aur to the County Clerk, snd anid County Clerk to ndd the value of said {mprovement'to the value of the real catato ns previously assessed and Msted. The expente of naking the assessment would be materlally reduced fn the saving of the 130 voluines ~asscsstnent books - now requirgd each year, in addition to the already lare volicetion of books in the keeping of the County Clerk, ylog nothing of thu salaries of clerks an deputies, and materisl necessary to complete them, ‘The abolition of townshtp orzanization will also do nway with the oflics of Town Col- leetor, The Town Collector does not collect onough of tho taxes onreal estato to pay the expenses of runving the oflice. In fact nearl; all the moneys collected by him are deriv from tho tax on personal provertv, which tax can ba collected by the County Collectorss well, aud with less expcuse, us most of thoae paving perronsl taxus to Town Collectors do so voluu- tarity, and the delinquents ore turned over to the County Collector, brcause tho Town Col- lector has no time, nor 8 he disposed to take the responsibility of levylug on property. After the delinquent roturns have been madc the - County Collertor agaln notifles tho delinquent personul tuxpayers through the mall (which has slready been done by tho Town Colicetor), and which only doubles the exvenss. To . dispenso with the Town Collector i3 alfo to disnense with another ndditlon of thirty to thirty-tive vol- uies, contaluing about. pages each, called, 8a before stuted, tho Town Cullector’s delin- quent list, which cost the county from $10,000 1o 16,000 each year, 3 Mr, R 1% Deriekaon moved that the Citizena' Assaciation be requested to publish the County Clerk's communication, containing, as it did, so much valusble tnformatlon, Sol Hopkius asked Mr. Klokke f ho meant that the town organization shoutd be done away with by a bill before the Legidlature. Mr, Klokko said bie did, Mr, Hopking sall ho thought the lawyers shiould digest that bill before It went befare the Locistature, e belioved, bimself, in the pur- vore of the {nstrument, but he ala not belleya the present townshlp ormunization could bo dcne away with withiout a constiiutional amend- nient, Mr. Root mado his first, lust, and only specch of the afternoon, **It cun be done," aald he to his elghbor, S8vlomon, * by vote of the people and of the county.” Alr, Hopkins appeared to be edified. At sny rate Lo suld nu more, 3 Theu aross MR. D, R, TRNNEY, who stralghtway announced that ho had glven the subject of the Biale Kevenue law attention for ton vears, and that uow, In fact, he considercd bimsolf au expert on the subject, He admitted that the schemo of "letting tho job of revision out to & Comumisslon to report moicm heneo was & oud one, but the oblection to it was tnat, in- stead of walting for two vears, the revision should bo mude ot once, anid the revised law reported and sdopted ab the coming. sesslon, As Mr. Tenney cracefully expreesed it, ho thought they ought to take the bull by the horos aud buve tho thing done, Practical men, experts, should by pud ou that Commission, and then the country would geta bill that would hold water every Lime,—uno that every court this side of perdition couldn’t plek holes 0. ‘The Chairman, sinilingly, suzgested that Mr, Tenney’s langunize was nardly appropriate, and sugeeated that he meant all the courts this side of_fieaven. Mr. Tenuey replicd that pcrhn‘fl Mr, Wood- brigga had becn practieine s o different class of courts thun had he, Mr. Tonney, bis experlence wont, it dId socm thas tha courts, as a rule, wero very apt to pleie holes snd tind 1 o auything that related to tax iatters, Ong of tho ‘principal dificultics net with, uud which chiefly operated muzaivst the adoption of a sound Reveuuo law was tho flliteracy of the Legistature. ‘The majority were really lucous- putent to accomplish sny useful purposs in the way of tax legisiation, They weru all very well 1n thelr way, but 1t so hapvencd that thoy were the last people in the world who wers calcu- lated by nature and education to draft legista- tion for the carcful assessment of properiy and the collection of taxes theieon, But talk was one thing amd business was anothor, aud Mr, Tenney drew (rom his breast-pocket tno crystal- 1laation of his vlews on the subject in the form Of u yesolutl ceaolyul ™ declared In favor of equal anil tlually cawio & reso- lutton providmg for the apuointtient of “a commisaion of thireo experts and pructical men to rewrito oud shinplity the Revenue laws of the Htate so that au ordinary mun can understani thems and to report to the Ueucrsl Assembly before fts adjournment.” The resolution also declared it the sense of tho mecting that the tneasures, as recommended by the Cominlssion, should be passed substantially as reported, ty the end that symmeotryYa the law mizht b sa. cured, Mr, Teuney was nlso provided with a surt of sunplementary resolution, which gave hia fdea of what modificatlos it would bu well to Introduce nto the uew law, Auwong hie “moditications,” a8 he termed them, was ons to place the coutrol of asicsawonts in the houds of s Siato Asscesor, who should appolut County Assessors. Uthers provided that the usscasments siould be mady 8t thelr fuir carh value; that personal oropeity should be lsted under oath, and that every person or corporation should bo required to list; that fraud in Mstingshould be visited with hieav: cunltivss that Boanis of Equulization sboul ¢ abolished, jnasmuch as they bad never done any ossential scrvice; that the lwmis of tuxation should be 1 per ceut, Al HUHD 3 had some queations to usic Mr. Tenuey. Heo As far as dldn’t seen quite »atisiied, In face, that Mr. Tenuey had exhausied the subject, even Lo wis i expers. What he wauted to kuow, drst, was whetlier Mr, Teuney would TAX CREDITS. - Mer. Tenuey sald he would jet all theorles go, Well, but,” insisted Mr. fund, * practically speakiog, would you tax vreditst " * 1 don't auswer thy question at sll,” was Mr. ‘Teuney's reply. ** Let sl tbeories go. vury wnan i ¢very bur-room hssopinfonsand theories n the subjéct. Follow the Counstitutivu. The Joustitution settles it when it says tuxcs shall be levied on all property, 40 that taxes shall by ejqual. The Lewwslature cun’t say & credit Is or i uot property, They bave got to provide that esery picce of property shall pay equaliv.™ “ Would you tax u prowlssory sotel™ asked Mr. urd. * Dectdedly. * Alsu & mortgaze debtd o Ven, pir® PR A * Rua! catate be:tdead® The Coustltution eays so." wir.'" Merchant's credital " ! Dechledly, —nfter taking oot his debts.” U Capitad atock 1 ** Certataly; anything in the shape of prop- erty,—Just an we pitrport to do now, " Mr. ‘Hurt abpenred to think Mr. Tenney was sounder ho had expected to find him, P. T. BARRT, of Lake, Represcntative from the Rernnd Dis- trict, wantod the tee avatem for publir nifieials’ bav abolished. The offices of County Treasurer, County Clerk, County Collector, and Justicns of tho V'eaco should ho salaricd oflices, In his opinion, and the fees should all go fnto the County T ’ for the first 0 5,000 & yoar. Mr. Klokke, who saw what the speaker had been driving It. sald M: was wiiling to enter Into eood and sufiiclent bonds to seii ont to the eentleman last on the_floor all_his financial in- terest in the ofilce of County Clerk for £5,000 & {r-r. The whole ealary wes $3,000 & vear, and hero were no perquisites, unless a man was a thief, anit he was ahava that. fle had entered tigon the offlce of County Llerk-with & zood und respectable name, and lie was gulug 1o preserve it [Anpinuse.] Mr, Hued pleadedd for JUST ARSRSBMENTA, Ilereln, aatl he, Jay the diffeulty, Just assess- menta could hot be had from the Legislature. It might furnish more machinery, but with o dishonest or incapable Assessor the public was without relfef, He would advise the .egisla- ture to make only such amendments as seemed to be pressing, and to put those amcodments fnto separate bills whera they would atand on thelr own merits. Uenerally apeaking, leginls- tion on this subject should be hased on the litea of intducing people tupay taxes ratlier than Lhut of drlvln‘,: them Into 1t Mr. Wilson spoke of the necessity of reducing the cost of the machinery, of. securing equity in the valuation and assessment, and of securing tho prompt collectionof 1he taxes. The firat voint hnd been advertod to n the report of the County Clerk. The provision In roard to the abolition of townslilp organization might lead to serfous results here wher: vur parks re- malued dependent on the park organizations. What wes' wanted was better machinery for nescesment and leas expensive machinery for collection. Ile was opposed to the idea of a central Asseasor's offlce st Springficld, be- catse ho believed fn local self-goverg. ment 8a far a8 {t could be apolied. What was necded here was » perimancnt Assces- or's otfice, and a man who shiould hold the office and perform the duties all the year around. The short periol of two months, 0 which the As- sessor did his work, prevented any cont{nuity of scrvices, Prompt payment. of taxes stiould also be secured, Besiues all this, be was tn favor of bringing tho period of collection und expend|- ture closer together, and thanght thecity shoutd make {ts appropriations during the last quarter uf the official year, In this wav, ho thought, it would not be obliged to g0 _on credit when §t Hiad no luwful eredit, and when it had to pay more for what it required than would be niceessary 3L it carried on business on a cash basis. In goneral, the fewer changes the better. In reference to Mr. Tonney's aug- gestions, lie remarked that uo wan, unfess it were Mr. Tenuey bimnsclf, conld draft » law in time for the comlog scssion to nct upon it, and no man, unless it were Mr, Tenney, could’ fiod engueh property on which to raise sulicicnt tax at ! per cont. uahicr. Mr. Teouey dldn't reply to this bit of sar- casm, but Interested himsell with saying that his object was to reduce expenscs, anfi with asking Mr. Wilson what he did favor instead of A CENTHAL ASNESEON, ° Ir, Wilson replied that he was in favor of B Bonrds. But there was one change in the law which he considered necessary. The Boards of Equalization were authorized to add rates to the various kinds of property, but they were not allowed to combine tho raies, The result wan that, after the State Hoard got through with the valuatlon, there wae no equality Jeft. 1f the 8tate Board wererequired to combine the ratos. inatead of belng prohibited, the result would bo—if wo had cqualization here~a fair asscasment between ourselves. There wonld bs no gisturbauce by the action of the State Board, and auy action of that Board would not affect our city, park, county, or avy other except Btato tnxes, or less than one-tenth of the tax pald this year. ME. SILVERMAN dwelt upon the subject of excessive expend- Itures and exceasivo taxation, and ureed the necessity for cutting down, He moved, In clos- ing, to refer the m(vorl: of tho ‘Third Ward Re. publican Club on this subjectof taxes (published 10 Tuesday's TRIDUNB) to & committes of law- yers selected from the meeting, who should be paid o fair compensation by the Citizens’ Asso- clation for drawing “F bills to be presented at the comfug resslon. The motion alsa contatned u request to the Cook County delegation to nse thelr influence to bring about ,such changes ns would relieve the taxpayers from their presont leavy burdens, Mr, Peck remarked that this meeting had no right to voto awav money of the C. A, to pay lawyers. ‘Tho ineetiug mizht request the . AL to do it, or tho C. A. might do it without betng requested, but, on the whole, he thought the ‘U. :\ ahould be kept in the background o this natter. ‘The motion was amended so that the C. A, was ‘‘requested,” cte, Belng thus amended, it prevatled. Mr. Derickson’s motion to publish Mr, Klokk's roport was nlso carried. MR, PECK suggested that, fustead of appoluting a commibs- slow of revision, as bad boen auggested, it would be n good fdea to have the wnttor referred to the coming Mayors' Convention at Springficld, before which body it would recelve careful uu Intellizent consideration, and any recommenda- tions emanatiug therefrom would certutuly be entitled to respect, Mr. Harding regarded this as extremely un- ise, The Mayors were tax-caters, and any leglalation thoy wmight proposa would bo after the tax-cating kind. #is idea of amunding this Revenuo law waa very simple,his hobby being to have a limitation upon expenditires, and every- thing clss wouldl take care of itself, Tho Hmi- tatlon he was n favor of was, not 1 per cent, s Mr, Tenney had favured, but 3 per cent, it waa gotting Iate. For' tho last halt hour gentiemen who hiad spoken thelr minds had,im- edlutely thercatier, drawn on thelr overcoats nnd vony out to get fresh alr. At this partien. lar point, while r. Handing was golng ou, the uneasiness culmionted, and the gentleman gradually took tho hint and his seat. Theu & Mution Was rushed through-to referall the pendiug resolutions tothe Exceutivo Committen of the Citlzens’ Association, After having talked a great deal, and done very little besides vossibly befuddling the legislative mind, the assembly adjourned to meet st tho eali of the Chuirman. CHARTER OAK. The Investization at Iartford, 8pecial Dipaleh 1o The Tribune. Illantroun, Conn, Dee. 2—To-day wit- messed s repetition of the previous failure of the prosecution to produce the promised wit- nesses ta testify to the appralsal of Furber's of the 3,000,000 real estate purchasein New York. This testimony was 10 have been preseunted this afternoon ns part of the Hlate's testimony-in- chief by a concession of the defenso, ond while in the power of the defcnso to exclude {t, they made a further conceaslon that the Btate might present it to-morruw, The testimooy during tlio day was principally that of ' Actuary Sted- man, of the State Inwurance Department, from whom the defenso secured an explanation of whatlstechnivally termed tie luadine of policles, 50 that the warziu that fs charged over and above the net premium required under the Stato law to secure risks, aud which goes to meet nu- merous expenses of the business, Wituess tes- titicd that fu 1876 the lvading o the case of the Charter Oak polivies was 38 per cont, and the object of this evidence s to provide eround for the clalm, that when solvent the Company conld heve pald without Injury the large com- missions stipulated (u the coutracts with Wig~ gluand White, uud also the contract unoer which Furber was to bo relubursed for asscts contributed. Witness further explalued to tho Jury why & company may ba comrmaercially soly- cnt and at tho same time technlcally insolvent, sovording to the Insuranco laws of the State, au cxplanation wislch appeared 10 be a_ poser for the jury, which does not fuclude a slugle wem- ber who knows auything about the intricacies of Iife insurance. Othier witucssea for the defunse were brought forward to show thut Furber fuund the Chiarter Uak's nilalrs in o muddle whicn ho cawe {oto the fustltutioa, ud&mmplly set about ascertalning thetr trus conditlon. A vew bood and mortguge statement wus prepared, based on the records ©of the cost of apuratsals wheo louns wero effect- ed, and Furber curried the total juto the stats- ment as fusnished by the clerks without eyam- Inlog the itenas. 'fhe premlum-note accouut was 8130 overhauled at the fostuuce of Furber, Wi suspocted that its value was uverestimated, and a reduction ut $60U,00 was wode lo this Saatt iU the next avuual tevort. e ee— FINED FOR CONTEMPT. Special Dispaich o The Triduns. Dxcatus, 1L, Dec. 20.—State’s Attornev J. A. Buckfugham was flved 850 in the Cireult Court thls morpiuz for contenst of court while L a unou Ludore Jud,: JRANCE. A Bickly Trio: Being the Fire, Marine, and Life Underwriters of New York, The Mutnal Life’s Dose---The Demor- slieation, and Its Victims. What the Rehate Has Effected—The Artfal Dodgers Playlag Thelr Uame. A Royal Oanadian Oomplication—Bwindles upon Life Companies—Expenses Eating Up Companies. Bvectal Corrrspondence of The Tritune, NEw Yousk, Dec, 24.—The year which Is sbout closing has stot been o the whole s satisfactory vne to either of the threa classes of under- writers whu make their headguarters In thls ¢ity. ‘The Gre offices are enfeebled by compe- tition, nearly worn out by low rates, and ina condition of hopeless despair for the future. The tnarinevflices gencraliy have fost money, snd are trying to cipber out the impossible prublem of nought from nought making other than nought. ‘Ihe life offices have barely held their own, aud, even §f they have made progress, ara inthe depths of misery generalls over the re- cent new departure of the Mutual Life, Thusall classes are In a.miscrable mood, and superadided Lo thelr other vezatlons fs the Inevitable bother and trouble of preparing thelr January state- tients, o that the hest foot may go torward, and the worse anpear the uvelter side, No one who has w oityIng hesrt for the unfortunate need envy the lot of an insurance oflicial at this perivd, " They beioug to ths order of Ler ;I‘I::;mh'a, which may be kinogioed but not en- od. TRX MUTUAL LIFE MATTER, Whatever may be tho abstru:t right of the Directors of the Mutual Life to offer Induce- ments for new blood to enter into that matn- wmoth Company's veins and membership, it 1s perlectly evident that the old members do not szree with the Board tuat they have done s wise or prudent thing. When the fuuds of a mutual company belong to all its members It {s rathier bard to cunvince any number of them that a now sct of fellows should come in to par- ticipate fo that owoership on better terms tban the first lot. That is a simple problem which the most unlearned of the Mutual's members can comprebend, ond that s just what will ulti- nately make ft very warm for the Mutual Lile's ofticers. ‘That ta the side upon which the mem- bers will rally. Agsinst it the oificers urge that the who's membership will be benetited by the new depariure. Of course tha eontroversy cau- not burepeated in this letter, but 1t fs” just proper to add that the charge tiat the agents and caovassers of otler companlea’ are quite busy fomenting and aggravatig this rumpus ia strictly true, There fs scarcely s life-solicitor fu thls vicinity who i3 not srmea with pamphiets, lenflets, cirenlars, and other. documentary evidence to turn over tue oresent plan of the Mutuai Life, aud persuade Its policy- holders that the schome is tmpracticable and unjust. These men are interested, of course, in upsottiog the scheme. It haa ralsed hob with tiielr owu canvassing, and, vaturally, thoy wislh to destroy sod overthrow b, Al present It scemsas {f they would succeed, thouwh Hro, Winston and bis right-bower, Bro. McCurdy, willdie nard, THE DEMORALIZATION IN FIRE-DATES, Bowo time ago thie New York Local Board ap- pointed acommittee to fuvestigate the causcs, and, if possible, suggest & remedy for the pres- eut wide-sproad demornlization in fire-Insursnce inthiscity. 1t was rightly judged that, If the evil could be cured here, it would curo itselt elsewhere, This Committee was in itself a curiosity, embracing elements as diverse and irreconcilable apparcently as ofl and water, and much Interest was fclt In 1t dellber- ations. Many long and weary scsslons were held, sna suggestions invited from all quarters, and *‘open letterm™ were quite nu- merous. There was no trouble In arriving at tho causes of the deworalization. They aro patent to every bualnees-man,—Increased coni- petition, fucreased losses, and shrinkage in as- sets, or, as one vigorous member expressed ft, burning the candle at both ends and tn the mid- dlo at the ‘same time. The effect of these causes is seen cverywhere. Hates have dropped from 25 to B0 per cent, and there are hut few rlske payior what has come to be regarded by professiunal akilled underwriters sa adequate rates, Tho Cominittee were mot at the outset by diverse intcrests between so-called tariff snd nou-tarlfl compaules, agency and non-agency comuonles, snd other discordant elcments, They strugeled manfully, sud linally lost week made a report.on tho situation, whiels, If sdopted Ly & majority of the companies, witl Tead to re- »illts 08 far-reaching as vresent demoralization, THE NEW YORK REDATE SYSTEM, ‘The Commmittee unanimously recommended the abolitfon of the rebate system. 3Many of your professional readers will comprehend the meaning of this recommendation; but, for the beuefit of the unprofesslonal, it will be ex- plained, Briefly, thic rebate system Is the plan of granting a robato on the rate directly to the aasured. Many merchants god capitalists Lave secretly rejoleed that they were enabled to ges | back 10or 15 per cent upon thelr fnsurauce premiums, {n the Llissful but delusive belfel that they had thercby gained sumething, for- gettfog that before auything could be taken froin the price It must first be put on. So gen- eral has this custuin been in this city that it s donbtful if uvne polley lua thousaud fs issued g net rates to tho arod. Nuw, the effect upon the vompanies ins becu to rum;‘cl them to pay tlret a rebate nud then a broker's comiis- slon, Oriiually it was instituted to head off the brokers und” Induce the assured to deal di- rectly with the companies, Lut that attempt has Ieen about the most dismal fmlure on record In the history of tho business. The doulls reluty Las cut into the rato so deenty that it is u great hurden, and consequently tha Comtnitten hus recommended Its tutal abolltion, and reduction of brokers’ commissions 10 a lower sum than is now paid,—all this to be sccomplished through A TARIPP A830CIATION, ‘This I8 & schemo by which the companics may be jolued in one cominon brotherhoud to tx rates and toyally adhers to thew, Final action on the proposal will be taken some time uext touth, ond it Is not at present devmed likely that it will succeed. The Lonest bottom fact fs that wany of the * ig Injuns " of the firednsur- ance {raternity do not wish it to succeed, and on oue proteuss or anotbier will stay out of It In- doed, unless a light than Georga T, llope, Pres- et of the Coutinental Firo, of this city, Is re- ported to have declared ut the last mectiug of the Local Board that he swould only fotu In the movement provided %5 Scr cent of thie combas nies futhe city would do Hkewlie. Now, it is not bellevod ninely-fire per ceut will jolv,'ard, uceordingly, we may reckon the Contlnental as sout.”? ‘Tieu, it the Coutlnental, the Hume; it thio Horne, theticrman-Americun; if the German- Aumerican,the Phenix, and soon. What s avparent {s that thire ure sowme companius wud somo sgen- cles which will not jofu In 1his movement uinder any eouceivable cirvumstunces. and §f others are deterred by thelr examule the whole business witl be a fuilure. Notwith: (g these dis- couragetuenta, there are seversl sanguine spirits workiug carncstly to bring about a reform., The English companies are nl Juvor, sud s0 sre the sgoucy co feilows who would rathier rule In a place unmen. tionable thau serve in Hcaven are very troublo. sowe. TIIE OUT-OP-TOWN RISK THOUBLES. ¢ Here fu where the hitch occurs with some of the “big Injun® comypsules. Tpey are all sgency companies of great strength.’ o many lucatities thelr busiuesa bas been ralded by New York brokers. #tisks for such 8rmig ag Gossage & Co., Chieago; Dodd, Brown & Co., Bt. Louis; Johw Bhillte, Cinclunati; Barves, Baucrole & Co., Buffalo; Aucrbach, Fiuch, Culbertson & Co., B Paul; Harwood & Co., Miuneapolis; sud huudreds of oters, bave beeu written {n this city by local cotnpaniea at rates Lelow tho local taritfs in these cities. What bas beeu d6ne with such leaders," as they are culled, hius beeu ro- }‘sencd upon smuller ‘stocks many tines over, luking Chilcsgo, for example, thers sre really hundreds of your city risks insured hicre, aud usually at less than hoine rates. The whole Hue of jusurauce ou the Evercit House on the West Fide was latcly takeu from Chlcazo sud placed in New York companfes. Well, the largy sgency companfes dou's like this wort of thing, sud oue of the jorthods they bave adopted to et even s to take the choice Gty busiias Of the LON-JRVULY Coitantes At ruinonsly low rates. Thas non-agency com- nanies are Aick of this, and crying alond for peace. In subst . the biz companiea are #aying to them: t alone our out-ol-tawn business and we will agree to advance rates In New York.” But from the nature of the case this very deraand crcates Iresh irritatio n, and so the war goes on. The requirement. that tha Mrictly locsl companies shall adhere to the tariTs of other cities, and rcfase out-of-tovn risknat Tcss than local tariT rates, s slmply & bone of contention. If the smaller city com- panles accept it In ndpirdt of concession, some- think will have been gained by those who nre trying to evoke order out of the present chave of rates. The oprortunity for bad faith arising out of ignorance of the rates fa_other places (s great, and in the present demoralized condition of the indivldualr, as well nsthe companies, this temptation will probably prove fatal to the tempted. THE STORY OF THE SICK-LIST. The January statements will b» a disappoint- ment to the whole fraternityif they donot show a severe reductfon In the sarplus of the companies, more particularly of those which from tho previous smallnese of thelr surplus fand most necd vecuperation. There are a haif- dozen comonvles internally grosning over thelr present misfortunes. In two of them the ques- tiomol liquidation hasreacked such a point that the companiss are anly held tozether by tho wish'to prescrve the salaries and positions of .the Prealdents and Secretaries. In one of these the Dircetors have voted by seven In_ favor to eight against going foto retirement. The Prod- uve Exchange Company’s_liguidation:recently war predicted Joog oaggo.” The Firemen'a Fund, of New York, {8 {n “its last throes, The New York & Boston, having made good one im- vuirment, s reported to .be face to face with anotber. ‘The Frankiin of New York is freely mentioned us in the st of the respecta- bles ‘whiose stockbolders believe there Is more muney in stopning than in continuibg business. The Auvnufty is another of the new beginnars which would' be better off to wind up than to keeo the unequal strurgle. ‘The Emporium is on the 1ist and hus Leen for sume thne. But the efforts to keep allve here s supple- mented by an effort on the part of a fuw others 10 launch upon the stormy sca an agency exper- iment. It is known that some'of the oldest and beretofore most conservative vity companles have mnie arencles In your city, If they stapped there it wonld be well, hut they are in some cases establishing general ageucies aud atriving tocompete with the mammoths in plaut- inzagencies, They will lind to their cost that 1t cannot be done successfuliy. Too much tna- chinery is required, and they cannot hove for suflicient patronage to justify such an expense, 1: Is tl;«: struggle of the drownlug to catch at a straw - ] OIL TOWXS AT A DISCOUNT. To demonstrate how sprats are sometimes caught when whales are 1ost, it Is only necessary to mentlon the recent disastrous fires {n Edin- burg, I, and HBradford, fu the same State. Both are known as ofl-rezion risks, and, it touched at sll, are touched very daintily by the chlef agency companies. They pay hich rates, and as the risks are generally frames, the cer- taln result of a firc {s a wholesale disnster. 1n suite of the well-known hozard and the reputa- tton thesc risks have generally had in this city, mumerous city cotnpanies frecly accented lines in Edinburz’ and Bredford anu were caught by the late firca fo the tune of many thousands, ‘I'rue, they got big rates, but not enough to pay the losses, and now they are worse off by scv- eral thousand dollars than I they never had seen such o risk. The chaaces of discrimination 1n taking such risks arc so infinitesimally small that it must have required a pretty strong verve to permit old-fory underwriters to take policics on such hard riske, But, as the street phrase Roes, YOU CAN PLACB ANTTIING IN NEW TORK. 11 you don't Lelieve this, just make a tour on any slugle day sinong the moro liberat offices aod sce what a lot of riske are offered. Lately a line was placed upon some steambosts belong- Ing to Philadelphis parties (they couldu’t be in- sured at home) ot the moath of the Amazon River. Then alot of petroleum upon a hulk pending repairs to & Norwegian bark fo the Port of Bt George, Bermuda, was insared In scveral companies. Yesterday a rice-mill on the River TLames, near London, Eng., was In- saured {1 oearly tweuty companies ata ronnd rate. The Southern Ol Works, at Memphis, ‘Tenn., which are regarded as almost uninsura- bla at the offered rata (33¢ per cent) at home, las been placed here in _probably thirty. five or forty companles. Fertllizing works near Chicugo bave beon insured n companies here within two weeks, und the number of rickety frame rat-traps, phosplate works, nlaning and saw mills from the South oud Nortiwest rejected at home and Insured freely hero would oxceed beltel, Iut of all the hard risks ever brought vut [o thls market wus the offer recently of growlug timber upona neck of woods In Clearficla County, Pennsyl- vania, whero spark fires and incendlary fires have alinost ruined our best -underwriters. Growing timber conld scarcely bo insured on Long laland or {n Central Park, but as for coy- ering such a ris| uch a locality that Is one of the very few cases whereln even the stomach of tue New York insurauce official sickened, This tuch & rare occurrence, bowever, that it de- serves capectal incation. WILTIER CITY RATES ATE DRIFTING, ‘While the demoralization Is in active progress and measures to atop it are being sgitated, it will scem lucredible that ourcity rates have dritted down-stream so steadily, Just now the compaules are contendiug with the rates on bonded warchouses. It has vome to be con- sldered that tho establlshed rateon bonaed warchouscs 1s 33 ceats, with & rebato of courae. At this price we could today readily placo $1,000,000 In clolew companles on uny wurchouse, provided the vomponles were not nlru«lf full. Worse vet, & line of u quarter of # mililon was lnwlflhred ou Clofiin's private warehouse (supposed to Le fire-proof) at 2% vents, Worse yet, @ lus was acee on wareliouse nuar the Hut cents, But protobly the worst yel is the 1act that the Howe of Now York aud” the English companies are writhg on stocks of leatber in the stores (n the *Swamp District ” at20 cents, with the usual rebate, Now, In each und every one of theau instances there {8 somo particulir fustitieatiun or explanation, too prolix to be considered here, In nine cases out of ten, howerer, the excuse {s just this: **'The other cumpany next dour did 1ty and it they did 1t we cau do the sume.” The absurdity of this sort o logle ls spparont at a glance, ** OTHER PEOPLR'S MOXEY,'! One old veteran says that the trouble with our fire-usurance men, as well as with the Jife- fusurance officials, s ghat they have teo much 1o say In disposing of other people’s money, He nuver looks upon the magaificont palaces erect- ©d by tho Nfe companies that ho is not remind- ed that thoss who bullt them used other peo- ple's monvy, and thus were lud futo wild, ex- travayunt expenditures, ‘This Is & truth thao Mes ot the bottom of the milschiet with other corporations beside Insurance coiupanies, but in the lotter there Is no doubt that it is a prolitle sonrce of troutle. Whun the aceeptance of & r the hxingof a rate of commission Is done upon tho basis of uther people’s money, the alficer who nandies {s not apt to feel thy same about it s If he had personally an inter- et fn paying the loss contiugent upon the policy or the compeusation agreed to be paid to the gent. 2 . s - THE MOYAL CANADIAN AGENCY, About a furtnlght ago Mre. E. J. Hughes, the lucal mauager of the Royal Cansdian lusurance Company, suddenly dicd. It is & somewhat slugutar fact that his contract with the Company would have expired Juw, 1, 1570, and the Company had taken steps toappolut another agent 1n his place His acath hactened wattcrs. The President, one of the Directurs, aud 1he resident American Man- ager, all vamu to the city to wake the selection. Of course thera was o hiost of apolicants, und, from the fact thatthe furmer azeat bad re- ceived a liberal salary and u very lberal allows ance for ullice rent, clerk bire, ete, 1t was gen- erally thougit the sgency was s rich plum, It wis i curfous problem to solve, Theold agent was a very promiuent Roman Cutbolle, sod be bad obtained for the Compuny an immenss auouus of chiolee Catholls busiucss. The Pres- dent of the Compauy is o Beuteh Prestytgriay nud wisbed to Lreserve the Catbolie busine sltkouglh he hiad vo liking fur Catholics s 1o tbe race for the npzency forty-oue names were presented, sud thisty-nbic ot thein were fmme- dlarely nrdwlm. “Fhris 1elt Just two Inthe ruce,— otie the tnally successful applicant, asud the other that of & stroug and promfuent Hr. The ~ wvames wers taken to Moutreal ana laid betore the home offlce Board. The Huul dectston wos fu -taver of Mr. Charles Bl V'eck, of this city, oze of our widc-awake azents. There la s report lu wrculation that, owing 1o this appulntmcot, wn stlence between the Royul Canadlan wnd Lancurbire lusurence L‘umlmhm' futerests (o New Evgland will shiortly be consumimated. SWINDLES UPOX LIFE COMPANIRS, Peoply who are unsequaluted with the facts Would be surprised by the ntiwber of aticmpts tiade evary vear o cheat Uielusurance cots 1 panfes by meanaof fraudulent death claima, A volome hew been written exposine rome of, the principal crimes of this charucter, but the smaller frauds, which are simply eXpsed bug never punished, wonld fill several hooks. Ona . of the commoncst {8 te get an able-bodied im- Postor Lo personate some slekly individual. and thus obtain a medical examiners’ certificate an Agents and eanvassers are soedger for rinks that they are easiiy imposed upon by destening men, and applications mada on belnlt of persons really uninsurable ara made the basts of the examination of an entire- 1y difterent_person. Several' cascs of this sort Liave been detected by the companics and pay- here 13 po donht in the minds of otficers of companies that elaims havo been paid which were a8 fraudulent a8 any that If the life-company sis- ply delays payment until be made, there Is 4 public ahout the * crueity swindling lifecom- pany,’ and on_gencral principles it Is asstimed . patment of an mehow all the claimants are honest and all the compantes are roguce, Prob- ably a little reflection will convince the skeptichl that (o a1l Juch cases there 1 a half-way towanl right- 88 well as wrong, thelr claimants, arenot always saint-like in their they ara _devils, they are not s@ biack nathey are painted, be assured. TN EXPENSE QUESTION. At this time various Boards of Dircctors are wrestling with the expenses of thelr several companies. It {s & scrious question, bLut it oughtn't tv vex their precfous souls lonz, The rule ought to be, ** Cnt them down vigorously,” ‘There are fire companies fafrly incumbered with superflucus clerks and officers, and thors are very few wherein a healthy paring down of sale arfes would not exert a bealthy influenco upon There are Presidents of compunlies whose salarles eat up 5 per cent ot the whole income of the cumpany, and Sccre- taries quite as numerous. scem to be kept alive for thd exoress purpose of -roviding fat offices for men nnable to carn & tving in any other wav, 19 his sound health. ment thwarted, bnt have been exposed. vecta fraud, and sim an Investigation can hue and cry immediately and rapacity " ot the company honest loss, Lifecompanies, tke conduet, but, if the expensc accounts. Indeed some of them The devotlon of Di- rectors to ‘their Presfdénts sometimes s re- markable. A sinall company whose stock s eold 8 long way under and coutrolled by these, three virtually bold a mafority of the stock. Some tine sgo a proposal was mado that they should sell out thelr Intereat to' some parties anxfous and willing to pay to get Into ‘The chiet stockhulder was offered an of 15 centa on the market price of his stock, and he ngreed to accept ft on the condi- tlon that the stock should not be used for fiva years to disturb the Presidency of the Compa- uy. As this was the ublective point of the woull-be purchascrs, the aule fell through. The Company still lives In a weak nnd fecble way, and the President draws his $4,000 per year, but what servico he regders in return s odie of the hidden myateries of the business. GETTING A SALARY FROM A DEAD COMPANY, 1t has been reparted tuat the President of the Atlas of tiartford, which Company voluntarily retired from business about s year and a half ago, Is still recelving a salary of 84,000 per year from that soft thing for Company going of thits Its former President is contioued as President, hief stockholder of the ries in both capacitios. more expeosive than ad- s score of men. advan and s also Racciver a Company, recelvin 1t thero is anythi ministering the a mast be winding up the aff: paoy. No wonder the air is filled with rumors of (mpondinz dissolutions. g some enmpany {s better than letting them live on io a sickly stat The wrecking of Although not at all ambitlous for notorlety, this writer notices that an Insurance perfodical bas started a gossip column conducted by ono *Nemo." Let ft be understood that that col umn has no conncction with this author, aud fs edited by sowme other than Tre Trmuse's old {nsurance correspondent and mend—nx\g “‘only genujne " —————— ADULTERATION IN ENGL To the Editor af The Cmicaao, Dec, 20.—In these days of adultera- tion, when nearly every article of food we buy scems to be subject to some unwholesome ad- by unscrupulous manufacturers,— when suzar contajos tin, butter 3 made from oleo-margarine, coffee compounded from pea- nd candy culored with polson. ous plgmants,—It may be a reltef to the readers of Tz TRIBUNE to learn of somethme whicly chiewical analysis proves to be ires from udale ND AMERICA, mixture nuts and chicory, A slort time since my atiention was directed in the London Tises, by of that city, on the * Adulte- ration of Starch.” In the codrse of his commu. uvleation, Dr. Iinseall, who Is prooably the fore nost llving authority on the subject of adulte~ ration, says: 1 recently parchased, on the same day and in th same neighborhood, a rerles AR starch, paying for them three differest pricus. #ubjecting them to anslyeis, 1 found the wholo of tliemn to be o 40 per cent of oarthy or mineral found to constat of mineml whi sulphate v! that 4 toaletter, published Dr. A, 1. Hassall, eight samples of terea alha, or been informed ely 30ld to some ch, und 1 bave now beforo nc, on Lweite, tho clecalar of two diferent Arms who deal in tham, and who offe: slarch-manufacturcrs bul of Feartug that our own manufactarers wonld scarvely bo bebind theie knglish brethren fu this matter, I caused a number of sanples of fcan starch to be anulyzed, and while the were rather tmexpected and wholly alff; from thoee obtalned by Dr. Hassall, et 1 ite s valuable to the public, mory palatabile than if tlie samo whalesalo adulteration bad been discovered that is practiced abroad, Thirteen samples of starch twere purchased from different retall dealors; five of them were ‘corn starch,' the kind Jargely used tn making ples, puddings, ete.; the other samples were or- dinary washinir starch, The thivtecn spechnens cameTrom eight dierent manufacturers in vu- rious parts of the country, Under my direction, my firet “nssfstunt, Mr, Lewls McArthur, sub- Jected thesu »amples to careful aualysl the gratifying result of Buding in none o any adwieration vhalwever, the apecimens, It 18 true, contatned trivis titws of carbonate of sodium, dently present, not a8 an sdul wminuteness of tho quantity showed, Lut camo undoubtedly troin the sodic compounds used frequently in making starch, and which had ot bevn completely removed from the samples in question, The small proportlon of carbonate of oworer, could produte 1o pos- sible {11 effect eltber in tho laundry or Lhe cooke lug starch, Readers of Tiw Trincxw, therefore, mav eat thelr corn-starch pies, corn-starch puddings, blanc mange, and thickened eravies with the suereeable ysurance that they are not tak Into tucir stomachs eithor 2, 80, or 40 per ¢ of terru alba, aud oy thank thelr zood fortuno In llving {u o country “where, alibough adultera- tion 18 practiced to wn unfortunate degree, yet Is not carried on to thesame ahameless extent that Dr, linseall and other chomists have shown to be done fu trade-depressed Exglund, ‘The press of tho country Is properly ever ready to puollah accounts of (raud sud adulterations in foud, 80 that the publiv may be put on its Wheu houest manulucturers sod dcal- ers furnish thelr patrons with a good, whole- some artiele, 16 It not but Justice to thew aud a At encourazemient of thelr probity tha! boneaty bo publtshed to the world! W. 8, HlaiNgs, Profestor of Chemistry at Rush AMed —— substances are exteus! manafactarens of st r 1o aupply not only lieve they will be and certainly mue ‘Threa or four of sudium found, guard. A Napoleonio ftellc, An old bat that once beionged to Napoleon I, was recently sol for §35: wiich (s ;mlt:u\g) 18 a good price, when we cousider that th Nap t It you will, hut be sure to use Sozodont rizht away, in vrder to carry off o the teeth. With thew {f thoy w BUSINESS NOTICES, Use Mrs, Winstow's Koothiag Ryra, ehildren walto tcothiug. d. -eaters should carry 3 RANDAL U, FOOTE, BANKER, T0 BROADWAY, NEW YOI, begu fur twelye yeant a lueaber of New Yoric ge aldent of Gold Lear. Uss raud ezperience Is guaranteed. K lidas Blad. BLUCK Cuistracta, such as *+at it " pata, * el **calls " wi large Or Amall annou bouiht aund 10l uu Tegular co; 1ua Fgiut, Paspbict eutitled ' Wall Siract. * s34 2 contalulng valuaula latoruisiia, walted oa tock vid, a3l alunis ik ubuvrany tabies ccibt o TOWN OF WEST CHICAGO. WEST TOWN PARK LONDS. The Janusry lotercet o those boida will Us patd wie Teacuiation &t 06 OIS OF 156 Nurthwomwra S ailoaal ik of this