as may from time to time be prescribed by law. He shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take the oath by law provided for executive and judicial officers; and in the performance of his duties he shall have power to administer oaths to

any person.

SEC. 3. The Tax Commissioner shall visit every town in the State at least once during his term of office, and inquire into the manner in which the laws relating to the listing and assessment of property taxable therein are executed by the Assessors and Board of Relief, and whether all persons and property taxable in such towns are, in fact, justly assessed and taxed, and whether all taxes which are due and collectible are, in fact, collected; and for the purpose of such inquiry he shall have power to summon any persons in such town before him, and examine them under oath, and to compel the attendance of any such witnesses, and the production of books and papers, by suitable process. If any person disobeys such process, or, having appeared in obedience thereto, refuses to answer any question put to him by the Commissioner, the Commissioner may apply in writing to any Judge of the Superior Court, who shall cause such person to come before him, and shall inquire into the facts set forth in such application, and may thereupon commit such person to jail until he shall comply with the provisions of this Section.

SEC. 4. The Tax Commissioner shall be a member of the State Board of Equalization, and shall annually report to said Board the results of his official inquiries. He shall also make an annual report to the General Assembly, in which he shall mention any imperfections in the laws as to taxation, or in their execution, which he may think proper to bring to the notice of the Assembly, and from time to time may suggest any further statutory provisions, which he may deem desirable.

SEC. 5. The Tax Commissioner shall have an office in the Capitol, and shall receive ten dollars for each day necessarily employed in the duties of his office, and also his traveling, clerical and incidental expenses, necessarily incurred in the performance of his official duties, his account for the same being first audited and allowed by the Comptroller.

SEC. 6. The modes of summoning witnesses before the Tax Commissioner shall be the same as practiced by Justices of the Peace in summoning witnesses in the trial of a civil action, and all fees and mileage due witnesses, or for the service of a subpoena or capias issued by the Commissioner, or by a Judge of the Superior Court upon the application of the Commissioner, shall be paid by him, and allowed him as part of his incidental expenses.

The bill, as printed above, together with the report of the Special Committee, was reported to the General Assembly at its January Session of 1887. The report was accepted and the bill referred to the Committee on Finance, who reported favorably,

and the bill passed the House in the amended form; it was further amended in the Senate, and after reconsideration by the House, and a Committee of Conference refused, the bill and the report of the Committee was finally rejected.

Thus it would seem that State supervision was not desired by legislators of that time, but the necessity for it still exists, and other States in which systems similar to those which obtain in Connecticut had long been in vogue, have adopted this means of doing away with old and obsolete rules in the matter of making assessments of property for purposes of taxation, the inequalities. of which had become so prominent and the injustice so apparent, that such legislation resulted that its instigators and advocates have abundant reason to be proud of the success of its application.

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION.

Sections 3865-6 of the General Statutes provides that "the Treasurer and Comptroller shall constitute a Board of Equalization, and shall meet annually, on the second Tuesday of March, and equalize and adjust the assessment lists of each town, by adding to, or deducting from, its list, or any part thereof, such amount as, when compared with the valuations of other towns, will equalize the same; and said lists, after they have been so equalized and adjusted, shall constitute the general list of the State, upon which State Taxes shall be imposed. If the Board of Equalization shall add to, or deduct from, the list of any town, the Comptroller shall, on or before the tenth day of April, annually, give notice thereof to the Town Clerk of such town, who shall thereupon add to, or deduct from, said list, such amount as may have been added or deducted by said Board; and State Taxes shall be levied and collected on such list, thus added to or deducted from.

This Statute was so amended by the General Assembly of 1895 as to change the date on which notices to Town Clerks must be given, from the tenth day of April to the tenth day of June annually, and to cause the Statute to apply to County and State Taxes alike.

In the exercise of their official functions the State Board of Equalization, after the passage of the amendment to the Statute above alluded to, mailed the following circular letter to the Selectmen of the several towns of the State:

STATE OF CONNECTICUT.

To Assessors and Boards of Relief:

HARTFORD, October 19, 1895.

The recent agitation and growing sentiment in favor of a more just and equal rate of taxation throughout the State, resulted in action by the General Assembly of 1895, in enlarging the practical powers and duties of the Board of Equalization.

It is notorious that the tax valuation of the various towns is unequal, and in nearly all of them, contrary to law. Some towns assess property as low as 35 per cent, and others claim to assess at par, showing such a gross inequality when State or County Taxes are levied, that immediate and drastic treatment is demanded.

Assessors are requested by the Board of Equalization not to value property for taxation at less than actual value, or not to receive a less valuation in sworn lists, than actual value as required by Statute.

Boards of Relief are likewise requested to add to the valuation of the taxable property in any list so that it shall be taxed at not less than its actual value in conformity to law.

The Board of Equalization will carefully scrutinize the Grand List of each town, and will add to any list which seems to them to demand such treatment, in the interest of fairness to the towns that value property as required by law.

GEORGE W. HODGE, Treas.
BENJ. P. MEAD, Comptroller.

Board of Equalization.

So many protests were received by the Board from members of different town governments, against an immediate change in the methods of making assessments, that they, the Comptroller and Treasurer, after due consideration, issued an un-official call to all the towns of the State, requesting that representatives from the different Boards of Assessors and Boards of Relief be sent to a conference, to be held in Representatives Hall at the Capitol, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 1895. Every county and eighty-eight of the one hundred and sixty-eight towns were represented at that meeting, and a free interchange of opinion as to existing conditions was had. Among other things Treasurer Hodge said:

"The matter of taxation is so simple, and yet so complicated, that it seems to fascinate students throughout the world, and the amount of labor and time spent in its study would, if paid for, go a long way toward a fund rendering taxation unnecessary.

"During the late Session of the General Assembly there was an agitation for the equalization of taxation in the towns of the

State, owing to talk of reviving the State Tax, and after it became evident that no State Tax would be voted, this agitation not only did not decrease, but actually grew stronger, for the reason that County Taxes must be paid in all the counties, for improved highways as well as for other improvements. And yet, this was not the only reason why the agitation did not stop; there was a further cause for its existence in that the system, or rather lack of system, in force, permitting such gross inequalities of valuation, was contrary to that great American love of fair play. It was obviously unfair to have one town taxed at full valuation, while a neighboring town escaped with a valuation only one-third as large, that honorable men demanded a change, and pressure was brought on the State Board of Equalization to act for the relief of the towns unjustly treated, because they were trying to obey the law. Legislation followed, and the powers of the Board of Equalization was increased greatly, and perhaps their duties as well.

"Acting under that legislation, the Board of Equalization notified the Town Clerks of the many towns, that in case the State or County Taxes should be laid this year, their towns could deduct from the Grand List certain amounts varying in the several towns so notified, and it was hoped this action would result in a revaluation in the towns this Fall, that would equalize valuations in the State.

"More recently the members of the Board of Equalization have been informed, that in a great many towns the old way is being followed again this year, and a circular was sent to you gentlemen, and to your associates.

"Many inquiries from those to whom it was sent, and requests from them and others, have caused us to ask your attendance here to-day."

This, then, brings the matter of equalization of assessments, in so far as the State has supervision, down to the present, and with regard to this, the fact that the State Board of Equalization has construed the Statute to mean, that they were not called upon to act except in the contingency that a town through the channel of its properly constituted authorities, should make a request, or demand of them for their intercession, through and by means of their official authority as such Board of Equalization. In this regard inquiry reveals the fact that in no instance, during the current year, were they called upon to equalize the list of any town

within the time required by law for them to notify the Town Clerks of the changes necessary to be made by them. The Bureau is informed, however, that one town made a request for action by the Board, in reference to a desired equalization, but such request was not received by them until after the expiration of the time above alluded to. It is evident, however, that the State Board of Equalization are determined that the inequality of assessments shall in some measure be remedied, and that in so far as the powers delegated to them will permit, they intend that Assessors of towns shall abide by Statute Law in reference to the valuation of property at full value. The intention of the Assessors of many towns to follow old rules and methods in making up the assessment lists of 1896, had, early in October of this year, become so apparent to the State Treasurer and Comptroller, that they, acting in their official capacity as the State Board of Equalization, took cognizance of existing conditions and issued the following circular letter to all Boards of Assessors in the State, which ought to some extent, at least, draw the attention of the people to the obviously false and untenable position which it is commonly and generally known many Boards of Assessors assume :

HARTFORD, October 16, 1896.

To Assessors and Members of Boards of Relief:

GENTLEMEN :- At a fully attended meeting of members of your Boards held at the Capitol, on November 6th, 1895, the following resolution was unanimously passed:

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'Resolved, That it is the sense of this Convention of Assessors and Boards of Relief that the asssessment of property in the State would be much more equitable if assessed according to the State law at its true value, according to the best judgment of the Assessors of the various towns."

In pursuance of the policy thus endorsed by you or your predecessors in office, without one dissenting vote the Board of Equalization now ask all members of your honorable Boards to follow the law and the foregoing resolution, and in so doing save the Board of Equalization the trouble of raising the list of any town to equalize the burden of taxation among the towns for County and State Tax purposes.

This Board is firm in its intention, as far as lies in its power, to terminate the outrageous inequalities now, and for many years