330 THE QUESTIONS OF THE DAY. 



assessors and neighbors, while the property of the city business 

 man is usually known to nobody but himself, and if known 

 to the assessors could not in most cases be properly valued by 

 them. The farmer's personal property consists of horses, cattle, 

 and implements, which can be and are counted and valued. 

 The merchant's property goes in as "stock in trade," neces- 

 sarily at his own valuation. In the matter of money and 

 "taxable credits" there are suppression and perjury,* which 

 yearly increase. lu the city of Chicago in 1894 the money of 

 bankers and brokers (other than national banks) was assessed 

 at only $43,925, and their "taxable credits" at only $10,000. 

 Aside from "brokers" this included twenty-seven banks whose 

 combined capital, surplus, and individual profits were $20,464,- 

 986. It is probably true that it was sought somewhere to 

 assess and tax the "stock" representing this large sum of 

 money, but there is no likelihood that much of it was reached. 

 At any rate it can not be traced. To suppose that those twenty- 

 seven banks had upon hand and subject to draft on assessment 

 day only $43,925 is absurd. Such a statement made as a fact, 

 in a morning paper of that day, would have started a "run" 

 which would have closed every one of the banks before night, 

 for at that time the same banks owed to depositors the prqdig- 

 ious sum of $67,272,832, and doubtless had ample funds, which 

 the law required them to return for taxation, to meet all 

 demands. The l)ank officers simply committed perjur}^ It 

 is not likely that they could have been convicted of perjury or 

 of any other crime. The officers doubtless acted under legal 

 advice, and had a good technical defense. But they com- 

 mitted perjury just the same. That the Chicago estimate of 

 the value of an oath has not yet been reached by the country 

 banks and bankers is shown by comparing the assessment of 

 money on hand on the same day in the country banks of 

 Illinois; out of twenty-two counties — one of less than twelve 

 thousand population — not one showed so small an amount of 



* It is perjury when the real owner of property puts it on the day of assess- 

 ment where, technically, it can not be taxed, and makes oath to a return made 

 upon that basis. 



