TAX LANDS AND FORESTRY. 



105 



Noteworthy are the large areas involved. Since the bulk of these 

 lands fall to the northern half of the State, it is evident that in 1897, 

 for instance, nfearly half of the N i?^ of the State was delinquent for 

 taxes. 



Every year large portions of these tax lands are sold for taxes and 

 large areas revert, that is, keep coming back. If this were a matter 

 of a few thousand acres, as is the case in the southern counties of the 

 State, and the taxes were promptly forthcoming, this whole matter 

 might be regarded as one properly and naturally belonging to the gen- 

 eral business of collecting taxes. That this is an extraordinary situa- 

 tion in our north counties, one need but see the above figures and re- 

 member that even in 1905 these lands equalled an area of fourteen ordi- 

 nary Michigan counties. 



The handling of these lands has been a very large expense to the 

 State; thus we have from the official report the following: 



Amount in round numbers expended in handling the tax lands in the Auditor General's 



office. 



In the ten years ending 1905, these two items amounted to |1,591,- 

 252.00. While there can be no (loubt that a certain amount of expendi- 

 ture is necessary to collect our taxes, the above sum, especially in the 

 advertisement of the descriptions, seem exorbitant beyond all measure. 



At this point two facts need particular emphasis: In many, if not 

 most cases, the advertisement, with its extra clerical expenses of prob- 

 ably not less than 80 cents to fl.OO per description, was continued for 

 years and evidently far beyond the period intended by law. The law 

 on this point seems quite clear and reads as follows: 



The following are the sections of the general tax law relating to tax 

 homestead lands: Section 127 is as amended by an act approved May 

 17, 1901: 



Section 127. "Lands delinquent for taxes for any five years, where 

 said lands have been sold and bid off to the State for the taxes of one 

 or more of said years, and then so held, and no application having been 

 made to pay, purchase or redeem the said lands for said taxes, and no 

 action pending to set aside such taxes or to remove the cloud occasioned 

 thereby, shall, within the meaning of this act, be deemed abandoned 

 lands, unless such lands are actually occupied by the person having 

 the record title thereto. Any lands delinquent for taxes for a period 

 of five or more years, and said lands having been sold and bid in by 

 the State, and held by the State for the taxes of any of said years, and 

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