Republican Administration. 65 



merits, however, were not to exceed one-tenth part of the number 

 of taxable polls. 



Provision was made that any real estate belonging to the federal 

 or state government, or to any municipality, or to any incorporated 

 academy or college, or to any religious or school society or district, 

 or to any religious or charitable corporation in the state, should be 

 exempted from taxation. ^ All property of ministers to the amount 

 of twenty-five hundred dollars was exempted from taxation, ^ (re- 

 pealed in 1822) ,3 and woolen and cotton manufactories, as already 

 provided by an act passed at the May session, 1817,^ were to remain 

 free from taxation until the rising of the legislature in 1821.^ 



The system of taxation thus worked out by these acts is a good 

 illustration of the transitional stage between the old and the present 

 method of taxation. The specific mention of the property to be 

 assessed and the classification into groups with different ratings 

 for the several groups still remain, although these groups have been 

 combined into a fewer number. On the other hand, these acts require 

 that all taxable property, except stallions, shall be entered in the 

 lists at a stated per cent of their true value. Under the new system 

 honest and correct lists would assess a watch or any other tax- 

 able object in proportion to its value. The groups were also more 

 equitably assessed than before. For example, three thousand dollars 

 invested in building lots, instead of being assessed for less than a 

 cow, was listed for as much as seventy cows.^ It is noticeable that 

 for the first time insurance stock and also the stock issued by the 

 United States and by the individual states was included in the list 

 of taxable property. Turnpike stock netting six per cent was also 

 added and in 1824 the limitation phrase "netting six per cent" was 

 dropped. The rate at which bank stock was to be set in the list was 

 doubled. These provisions are the first serious attempt to reach 

 persons deriving an income from investments in different kinds of 

 stock. 



This system of taxation was made to conform still more closely 

 to the present system by an act passed by the assembly at its May 

 session of 1824. This act required that all real and personal estate 

 taxable by law should be estimated at a fair value and listed at three 



^ Public Statute Laws, May 1819, chap. 2, sec. 14. 

 ^ Idem, sec. 15. 



3 Public Statute Laws, May 1822, chap. 24. 



4 Cf. p. 56. 



5 Public Statute Laws, May 1819, chap. 2 sec. 16, 

 « Judd's Plain Truths, p. 19. 



Trans. Coxn. Ac^d., Vol. XVIT. o March, 1912. 



