387. A tax assessed on property is called a Property Tax, and is reckoned at a certain rate per cent. on the estimated value of each person's property.

388. Taxable property is either Real or Personal.

389. Real Property, or Real Estate, consists of fixed property; as, lands and houses.

390. Personal Property consists of movable property; as, merchandise, cash, stocks, ships, etc.

391. For the purpose of assessing taxes, Assessors are appointed, to estimate the value of all the taxable property of the inhabitants of a city, district, or town; and if a poll-tax is to be levied, to make a list of the polls.

EXAMPLES.

1. A tax of $5860 is to be raised in a certain town. The town contains 450 polls, which are assessed $1.50 each. The real estate of the town, subject to taxation, is valued at $756500; and the personal property, at $10400. What will be the rate on $1, and what will be the tax of Aaron Brown, who pays for 1 poll, and whose property, real and personal, is valued at $3350?

From the above illustration we derive the following

RULE.-I. To find the rate of property-tax, divide the sum to be raised, less the amount assessed on the polls, by the value of the taxable property, real and personal.

II. To find each person's tax, multiply his taxable property by the rate, and to the product add his poll-tax.

392. Having found the tax on $1, or the rate per unit, as

above, assessors facilitate their business by preparing a tax table, as follows:

2. The town of Hudson is to raise $6840 by taxes; the taxable property of the town is $862000; there are 540 polls, each taxed $1. What will be the tax on $1, and what is A's tax, he paying for 1 poll, and his property being valued at $1750?

3. In a certain village a schoolhouse is to be erected, at an expense of $3750. This amount is to be raised by a tax on the citizens of the district, whose property is valued at $22500. What will be the rate of taxation, to cover both the cost of the schoolhouse and the collector's commission of 3 per cent.?

NOTE. When the expense of collecting a tax is to be included, the net amount required, divided by 1 minus the rate to be paid for collecting, will be the gross amount to be assessed. Hence, in this case, $3750 ÷ .965 = $3886.01, gross amount of the tax.

4. Suppose it is required to raise by taxation, in a certain town, $7600, and that the taxable property of the town is $1558000: what will be the amount to be assessed upon property, if the cost of collection is estimated at 2 per cent.? What will be the rate on $1, and how much will be the tax of A, whose property is valued at $2460?

CUSTOM-HOUSE BUSINESS.

393. A Duty is a sum of money required by the government to be paid on the importation of goods, for revenue purposes, and the protection of home industry.

394. Custom-Houses are branches of the Treasury Department, established by the General Government for the collection of duties, each being controlled by a Collector and Naval Officer (in small ports of entry by a collector alone), who are responsible for such collection to the Secretary of the Treasury.

395. Duties are Specific, Ad valorem, or Combined.

396. A Specific Duty is a rate of duty chargeable upon quantity, without regard to cost.

397. An Ad valorem Duty is a rate of duty chargeable upon the value of the goods at the last port of exportation.

398. A Combined Duty is a combination of specific and ad valorem duties, or a rate of duty assessed upon both quantity and value.

TARES, ETC.

399. Tare is an allowance, deducted before estimating the duties, for the weight of the box, cask, or bag, containing the goods.

400. The following is a Table of Tares fixed by Act of Congress, July 14, 1862: On all articles not included in the schedule, the actual tare only is allowed; or, where the tare is expressed in the invoice, it may be taken, with the consent of the collector and consignee, as the actual tare; but in no case shall there be any allowance for draft:

Almonds, in bale, 24%; in bags, 2%; in frails, 8%; Alum, in casks, 10%; coarse or ground, in sacks, 2 lbs. per sack; Barytes, 3%; Cheese, in

casks or tubs, 10%; Cassia, in mats, 9%; Coffee, Riɔ, in single bags, 1%; in double bags, 2%; all other kinds, actual tare; Cinnamon, in bales, 6%; Cocoa, in bags, 2%; in ceroons, 8%; Chiccory, in bags, 2%; Copperas, in casks, 10%; Currants, in casks, 10%; Hemp, Manilla, 4 lbs. per bale; Hamburg, Leghorn, and Trieste, 5 lbs. per bale; Indigo, in ceroons, 10%; Melade, in bags, 11%; Nails, in bags, 2%; in casks, 8%; Ochre, dry, in casks, 8%; in oil, in casks, 12%; Peruvian Bark, in ceroons, 10%; Paris White, in casks, 10%; Pepper, in bags, 2%; in double bags, 4% ; Pimento, in bags, 2%; Raisins, in casks, 12%; in boxes, 25%; half-boxes, 27% ; quarter-boxes, 29%; in frails, 4%; Rice, in bags, 2%; Spanish Brown, dry, in casks, 10%; in oil, in casks, 12%; Sugar, in hogsheads, 121%; in tierces, 12%; in barrels, 10%; in boxes, 14%; in bags, 2%; in mats, 24%; Salt, fine, in sacks, 3 lbs. per sack; Teas, China or Japan, invoice weight; all other kinds, actual tare; Tobacco, leaf, in bales, 10 lbs. per bale; in extra covers, 12 lbs. per bale; Whiting, in casks, 10%.

NOTE. In reckoning tares, any fraction equal to, or exceeding half a pound, is called one pound, and any fraction less than half a pound is disregarded.

401. Gross Weight is the weight of the goods with the box, cask, bag, etc., containing them.

402. Net Weight is the weight of the goods after all deductions have been made.

DUTIABLE VALUE OF MERCHANDISE.

403. The Dutiable Value of Merchandise, under the present law, is the original cost, or actual wholesale price, in addition to commissions (in no case less than 21%) and general charges incurred in the purchase, and also the cost of transportation, shipment, and transshipment, with all the expenses included, from the place of growth, production, or manufacture, whether by land or water, to the vessel in which shipment is made to the United States.

FOREIGN CURRENCIES.

404. The values of foreign currencies, to be used in estimating duties, are proclaimed annually under the Act of Congress passed March 3d, 1873. See page 329. The following is the circular issued January 1st, 1875.

CIRCULAR TO COLLECTORS OF CUSTOMS AND OTHERS.

1875. Department No. 2. Secretary's Office.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

Washington, D. C., January 1,1875. The first section of the Act of March 3, 1873, provides "that the value of foreign coin, as expressed in the money of account of the United States, shall be that of the pure metal of such coin of standard value," and that "the values of the standard coins in circulation, of the various nations of the world, shall be estimated annually by the Director of the Mint, and be proclaimed on the first day of January by the Secretary of the Treasury."

The estimate of values contained in the following Table has been made by the Director of the Mint, and is hereby proclaimed in compliance with the above-stated provisions

of law: