398 Deed. shall cause to be issued to the purchaser a deed which shall have the effect to convey to said purchaser all the right, title and estate of all persons whomsoever claiming an interest to said property, except as hereinRedemption by after provided: And provided also, That minors or other persons under persons under dis- legal disability be allowed one year after such minors coming to, or being of full age, or after the removal of such legal disability, to redeem ability. the property so sold, or of which the title has, as aforesaid, become vested in the District of Columbia, from the purchaser or purchasers, his, her, or their heirs or assigns, or from the District of Columbia, on payment of the amount of purchase-money so paid therefor, with ten per centum per annum interest thereon as aforesaid, and all taxes and assessments that have been paid thereon by the purchaser, or his assigns, between the day of sale and the period of such redemption, ten per centum per annum interest on the amount of such taxes and assessments. SEC. 6. That the collector of taxes, immediately after he shall have made sale of any property as aforesaid, shall file with the comptroller a written report, in which he shall give a statement of the property advertised and the property sold, to whom it was assessed, the taxes due, to whom sold, the amount paid, the date of sale, the cost thereof, and the surplus, if any, and the lands so as aforesaid sold to the District. Any surplus remaining, after collection of taxes, penalties, and costs, on any real estate, shall be deposited by the collector of taxes to the credit of the surplus fund, to be paid to the owner or owners, or their legal representatives, in the same manner as other payments made by the District of Columbia. Collector's port of sales. re Deposit of sur plus proceeds. Distress for de SEC. 7. That when the installment of one-half of the taxes on personal shall not be paid before said linquent tax on property so as aforesaid due and payable before the first day of Novempersonal property. ber, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, date, or when the remaining installment shall not be paid before the first day of June, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, then, and in either such event, the collector of taxes, or his deputy, may distrain sufficient goods and chattels found within said District, and belonging to the person, persons, association, firm, or corporation charged with such tax, to pay the taxes remaining due under the provision of this law from such persons, firm, association or corporation, together with the penalty Sale of land, thereon and the costs that may accrue; and, for want of such goods and when no goods, etc. chattels, said collector may levy upon and sell at auction, in like manner, the estate and interest of such person, firm, association, or corpoProceedings in ration in any parcel of land in said district; and in that case the procase of sale of land. ceedings as to such land subsequent to sale shall be the same as in the case of taxes against real estate, as in this act provided; and thereupon said collector shall immediately proceed to advertise the same, by public notices posted in front of the court-house, in the city of Washington, and in the office of said collector, and by advertisement three times for one week in some daily newspaper published in said District, as hereinafter provided, stating the time when and the place where such property shall be sold, the last publication to be at least six days before the day of sale; and if the taxes and penalty thereon for which such property shall have been distrained, and the costs and expense which shall have accrued thereon, shall not be paid before the day fixed for such sale, which shall be not less than ten days after the taking of such property, the collector shall proceed to sell, at public auction, in The collector of taxes front of his office, to the highest bidder, such property, or so much thereof as may be sufficient to pay said taxes, penalty, and accrued Fees for selling. costs and expense of such distraint and sale. Advertisement. Sale. traints and sales. shall be allowed, for making such distress and sale, the same fees as are now by law allowed to the marshall of said District for making levy Report of dis- and sale of property under execution. Said collector shall report in detail every such distress and sale, in writing, to the Commissioners of the District, or their successors in office; and his accounts, in respect of every such distress or sale, shall forthwith be submitted by him to the accounting-officers of the District, and audited by them. Any sur plus resulting from such sale shall be paid into the treasury of the Dis. Surplus proceeds. trict, and, upon being claimed by the owner or owners of the goods and chattels, shall be paid to him. SEC. S. That the property exempt from taxation under this act shall be the following and no other, namely: First, the Corcoran Art Building, free public library buildings, churches, the Soldiers' Home, and grounds actually occupied by such buildings; secondly, houses for the reformation of offenders, almshouses, buildings belonging to institutions of purely public charity, conducted without charge to inmates, profit, or income; cemeteries dedicated and used solely for burial purposes and without private income or profit; but if any portion of any such building, house, grounds, or cemetery so in terms excepted is larger than is absolutely required and actually used for its legitimate purpose and none other, or is used to secure a rent or income, or for any business purpose, such portion of the same, or a sum equal in value to such portion, shall be taxed against the owner of said building or grounds; thirdly, such property as is now exempt from taxation by laws of the United States; fourthly, personal property not in said District and taxed elsewhere, but owned by persons domiciled in said District; fifthly, personal property not held for sale and not over the value of five hundred dollars. Exemptions. Deduction of SEC. 9 That from the assessed value of the credits only of any person there shall be deducted the amount of any valid and bona-fide debt debts from credits. or debts which any such person shall individually and absolutely owe, in respect of which he has no remedy over against any other person, upon the same being established by the affidavit of such person claiming deduction as hereinafter provided. SEC. 10 That the Commissioners of said District or their successors Blank schedules Notice of schedules advertised. ules. in office shall cause to be prepared a printed blank schedule of personal of personal propproperty, including bonds, deeds of trust, mortgages, credits, and other erty. choses in action or possession owned or held in trust or otherwise subject to taxation under the provisions of this act, together with deductions claimed for exemptions or debts, to which shall be appended an affidavit in blank, setting forth that the foregoing presents a full and true statement of all the personal property, bonds, deeds of trust, mortgages credits, and all other choses in action or possession, together with the amount of indebtedness on account of which deductions are claimed, and the kind of property claimed as exempt, under which class of exemptions, and that the property claimed as exempt under the fifth clause does not exceed in value five hundred dollars. And when said schedule is ready for delivery, notice thereof shall be given by the assessors by advertisement for six successive secular days, in one or more of the daily papers published in said District, and a copy of said schedule shall be delivered to any citizen applying therefor at the office of said assessors. Every person, corporation, or Filling up and firm in said District liable to taxation hereunder, and every executor, swearing to schedadministrator, guardian, or trustee holding property in trust liable to taxation hereunder, shall, within forty five days after the first publication of said advertisement as aforesaid, fill up the proper blanks in said schedule with a full and true statement in this section above required, and make and sign an affidavit to the truth thereof as aforesaid before one of the said assessors, who is hereby authorized to administer such oath without charge, or before any person authorized by law to administer oaths; and the address in the District of the affidavit shall in each case be given below his signature, and thereupon any one of said assessors shall assess said property at its fair cash value, and enter the same in the columns upon said blank to be provided for that purpose, and the amount thus ascertained after making the deductions provided for in this act shall be entered upon the books for taxation: Provided, That if any person, firm or corporation, administrator, executor, guardian, or trustee, shall fail to make for forty five days after the first advertisement of the notice above required, and deliver to the assessors or one of them, the schedule of his or its said property held in trust or otherwise, Assessment schedules. on Failure to make schedule. 400 When return of as in this section provided for, any one of said assessors shall, without delay from the best information he can procure, make an assessment against such person, firm or corporation, to which he shall add fifty per centum thereof: Provided further, That if a majority of said assessors schedule not satis- be not satisfied as to the correctness of the return of personal property factory. so made by any person, corporation, firm executor administrator, guardian, or trustee, any one of said assessors may, from the best information he can procure, or by making such an examination of the personal property as may be practicable, assess the same in such amount as to Notice of rejec him may seem just; and notice of the rejection of the sworn return shall be given to the party intrusted at the address given by him on the schedule, if he shall have given one; and he shall in all cases have the right of appeal to the board of assessors within the time hereinafter limited: And provided further, That if any person shall make a false affidavit touching the matters herein provided for, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to the penalties for that offense now provided for by section fifty-three hundred and ninety-two of the Revised Statutes of the United States. tion. Appeal. False affidavit; penalty. Tax on capital stock. Shareholders not taxed. Deduction of real estate from stock. Assessment un der former acts Assessors, number, term, salary. Time and man SEC 11. That the capital stock of all corporations in said District not herein exempted shall be appraised in bulk by the assessor, and the corporation issuing the same shall be liable for the tax thereon according to such value and the shares in the same shall not be assessed against the individual owners thereof; but from the appraised value of the stock shall be first deducted the value of of any real estate of said corporation in said District, which shall be separately taxed against said corporation. SEC. 12. That the assessment of real property made under the provisions of the act of Congress entitled "An act for the support of the government of the District of Columbia for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth eighteen hundred and seventy six, and for other purposes" approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy five, and amendents thereto, is hereby ratified and approved as the assessment except as hereinafter modified, for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth eighteen hundred and seventy-eight and the Commissioners of the District, or their successors in office, shall appoint three competent persons to be assessors, and to hold office for the term of five years, unless sooner removed, the salary of each of said assessors to be twelve hundred and fifty dollars per annum. Said assessors shall, before the first day of October, eighteen hundred ner of assessments. and seventy-seven under the direction of the superintendent of assessments and taxes of said District assess the value of all the real property not embraced in the assessment for the fiscal year, ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy seven, inclusive of all buildings erected, or roofed, improved or enlarged, and not heretofore taxed, and all personal property in said District liable to taxation, and shall The assessed value state the same separately, in books to be kept in a systematic manner; and such value for taxation shall be the true value in the lawful money of the United States of the property so assessed. shall have reference to the date of the first day of July, eighteen hun dred and seventy seven, except in regard of buildings erected, roofed, improved, or enlarged subsequent to that date, or, in the case of stock in trade, shall be the average value of the stock of merchandise or other articles kept on hand during the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy seven. Persons coming Where a person, coming into the District subsequent to June into District after thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy seven, engages in trade of a permanent character, he shall pay a tax proportioned to the June 30, 1877. fraction of the tax year ending June thirtieth eighteen hundred and seventy eight, during which he conducts said trade and the assessment in said case shall have reference to the average stock in trade for sixty days from the date of commencing business; but when a stock of goods of any character whatever any person shall bring Goods brought in for sale at auction. Auctioneer's for sale in tempo ness. into the District for sale by auction, a tax of one and one half per centum shall be paid to the collector of the District; and; it shall be the duty of the auctioneer making such sales to deduct the said tax duty. from the gross proceeds of each and every sale so made by him at the close of each days sale and pay the same to the said collector; and when goods are so brought into the District to be otherwise dis- Goods brought posed of than at auction, and in a place of business temporarily occupied for their sale, then before it shall be lawful to make any sales rary place of busiwhatever, the owner of said goods shall notify the board of assessors who shall assess the entire stock to be sold, at its fair cash value, and the owner thereof shall pay to the collector of the District a tax of one and one half per centum on such assessed value, and shall receive a receipt therefor, which receipt shall be his permit to proceed with the sale of the goods; and any auctioneer or owner of goods who shall violate the provisions of this section, or any part thereof shall be fined in the this section. police court of said District, on information filed therein, in the name of the District of Columbia, in the manner used for breach of municipal ordinances and laws, not less than one hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars. Auctioneer or owner violating Equalization of 1875, ch. 162, 18 Stat., 501. Said assessors shall, between the first day of September, eighteen hundred and seventy seven, and the first day of October eighteen assessments. hundred and seventy seven, hold daily sessions for the purpose of equalizing the assessments theretofore made by them, and for the purpose of hearing and determining any and all appeals from the valuations theretofore made by them. Each assessor shall, at the meetings of the assessors as aforesaid, make full and detailed reports of his acts as such assessor. And during said period they shall have power to revise assessments theretofore made by them or any of them, or by their predecessors in office, appointed under the act of March third, eighteen hundred, and seventy-five, by either justly increasing or justly diminishing any particular assessment. Upon the assessment so as aforesaid made and finally revised, the tax herein before provided for shall be levied, and the collector of taxes shall be in readiness to receive payment of the same on and after the first day of November, eighteen hundred and seventy seven. Said assessors, before entering upon their duties, shall respectively take or subscribe an oath or affirmation, before any officer authorized to administer oaths or affirmations in said District, to faithfully discharge the duties of their said office: which oaths when taken shall be certified by the persons before whom the same shall have been taken, and shall be filed with the Commissioners of the District. In case the assessors shall fail to complete any of the duties in this act to be by them performed within the time provided after time allowed, therefor, the taxation provided by this act shall not by reason thereof be invalid; but such assessors shall proceed with all reasonable diligence to complete such duties, and their acts shall be valid as if performed within the time fixed therefor Assessor's oath. Assessor's acts valid. Deposit and SEC. 13. That the treasurer of the District, upon receiving any moneys, shall forthwith deposit the same in the Treasury of the United States; drawing of monand said moneys thus deposited shall be drawn from the Treasury of eys. the United States only in such sums and at such times as the same shall be actually required, and only for the expenditures authorized by law, and only upon warrants of the accounting-officers of the District, and issued under the direction of the Commissioners of the District, or their successors in office. License aet of part. SEC. 14. That the twenty-third section of the act of the legislative assembly of the District of Columbia, entitled "An act imposing a legislative assemlicense on trades, business, and professions practiced or carried on in bly repealed in the District of Columbia," approved August twenty-third eighteen hundred and seventy-one, clause twenty of the twenty-first section of said act, and all other laws and acts, or parts thereof, inconsistent herewith, be, and the same are hereby, repealed. 402 SEC. 15. That the corporation of the District of Columbia is continCorporation of District continued ued for all the purposes of this act and other acts for the collection of for certain purtaxes, for suing and being sued, for causes arising prior to June twenposes. tieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, and for acquiring and holding real estate for school and municipal purposes. Designation of lots by number and letter to be revised. SEC. 16. That hereafter no two lots or subdivisions of original or other lots in any square of ground in the District of Columbia shall be designated by the same number or by the same letter of the alphabet, and the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, or their successors in office, shall cause the numbers and letters designating lots in all the squares of ground in said District to be revised and changed to conform to this requirement; and they shall make such further changes in the existing numbers or letters designating lots in any of the squares in the cities and villages in said District as may, in their opinion, facilitate and simplify the labor of assessing real estate therein. SEC. 17. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to adAdvances by Secretary of Treasury vance to said Commissioners, between the first day of July and the first to Commissioners. day of November, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, such sums as may be from time to time required for the payment of interest on the old funded debt, and for the current expenses of the District government, the aggregate sum so advanced not to exceed four hundred thousand dollars; and the Commissioners shall re-imburse the Treasury the amount so advanced out of the revenues of the District on or before the expiration of the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight. This act permanent. SEC. 18. That this act shall remain in force as the tax law of the District of Columbia for each subsequent year after June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, until repealed. Approved, March 3, 1877. March 3, 1877. Appropriation. sion. CHAP. 118.—An act making an appropriation for the expenses of the Electoral Com mission. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That That the sum of seven thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropri ated out of any money in the Treasury, not otherwise appropriated, to pay Expenses of the expenses of the Electoral Commission provided for by the act apElectoral Commis- proved January twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, entitled "An act to provide for and regulate the counting of votes for President and Vice President, and the decision of questions arising thereon, for the term commencing March fourth, anno Domini, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven," said sum to be disbursed upon the certifi cate of the President of said Commission: Provided, That any person employed by said Commission may receive such compensation as may be allowed by said Commission in addition to any other compensation or salary he may be receiving as an officer of the government. Approved, March 3, 1877. Proviso. March 3, 1877. CHAP. 119.—An act to authorize the Secretary of War to open and re-adjust the settlement made by the United States Government with the Western and Atlantic Railroad of Georgia. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Settlement with States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War is Western and At- hereby authorized to re-open the settlement made by the United States lantic Railroad of Government with the Western and Atlantic Railroad of the State of Georgia may be re- Georgia, and to adjust the same upon the basis and the plan of settle Basis of readjustment which was adopted in the settlement made by the Secretary of War with the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company, the East adjusted. ment. |