69 



A. I say that, in my judgment, never having counted it up, the State 

 did not bid in more than 3,000 acres of new territory in the Adirondack 

 country. 



Q. That was in cases where the owners didn't come forward to pro- 

 tect it and there were no bidders ? 



A. Yes, sir. 



By Mr. Hitt : 



Q. Did the State tax its own land and sell its own land for taxes ? 



A. No, sir; I can explain that to the committee very quickly; take 

 the 1885 tax sale and it was for taxes from 1876 to 1882; the State 

 bought in the land at the 1885 tax sale; its title matured; it obtained 

 title in 1885; hence the tax of 1883, 1884 and 1885 could have been 

 legally imposed upon the land, the State not having title to it; now 

 these lands at this tax sale were sold for these legal taxes of 1883, 

 1884, 1885, and we allow them to go to sale, and under the law the 

 Comptroller is compelled to bid such in in the name of the State. 



By Chairman Ryan: 



Q. Explain how it is that the counties in which these towns are 

 situated do not buy them in for their taxes; we are at a loss to know 

 the mode by which the State obtains these lands ? 



A. These taxes by law are not collected by the county only through 

 the authorized town collectors; being unpaid they are returned by 

 the collectors to the county treasurer, who must submit the non-resi- 

 dent taxes and unpaid taxes to the Comptroller's office; such of the 

 taxes as are found to be correctly described we advance the amount 

 of to the county and become the collectors of that tax ourselves. 



Q. In how many counties of the State does that mode prevail ? 



A. In the majority of counties; I think that thirty counties collect 

 their own taxes under special laws, but special laws had to be passed 

 by the Legislature in each case authorizing those counties to collect 

 their taxes j where that is done it is under a special law. 



By Mr. Fiebo: 



Q. That is to say, the State pays the tax and then must bid in the 

 land to protect itself ? 



A. When the Comptroller's office receives an account of unpaid 

 taxes from a town, all the taxes that are admitted by the Comptroller 

 upon that account are credited to the county, and we send the state- 

 ment to the county treasurer so he can distribute it among the towns 

 to which it properly belongs. 



