Mr. LATHAM. I suggest to the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, whether it would not be better, in order to cover all the cases, to modify the clause so as to provide that these bonds shall be recorded where the local law requires conveyances of land to be recorded.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I will so modify it.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment to the amendment as now modified, is, before the word "township" to insert "county, city, parish," and after the word "township" to insert "or district as the case may be," and between the words "by" and law," to insert "the local," || so as to make the amendment of the Finance Committee read as follows:

And an attested copy of any such bond shall forthwith, after the same shall have been approved as aforesaid, be transmitted to the district attorney of the district within which the collector named therein resides, who shall thereupon procure the same to be recorded in the registry of deeds in which conveyances of lands in the county, city, parish, township, or district, as the case may be, within which said collector resides are by the local law to be recorded.

Mr. SUMNER. The word "where" would answer for all those descriptive words. Let it read," in which conveyances of lands, where the said collector resides, are by the local law to be recorded."

Mr. FESSENDEN. The word "where" is too general. He resides in a State, and "where" might apply to that. I think it is well enough as

it is.

Mr. SUMNER. Very well.

be imperfect as it is now proposed; but, as I was about to state, there was very great difference of opinion in the committee, and, perhaps, no fixed determination arrived at as to whether it was advisable to retain it at all; but as it was, we decided to amend it, and submit the question to the Senate.

Mr. SHERMAN. This amendment is only material in connection with the other amendment read by the Senator from Maine. As I am opposed to making these bonds a lien on real estate, as a matter of course I am opposed to this proposition. If Senators will look at the effect of it, they will see that it will very seriously embarrass the sale of real estate, especially in the western country. No man will become the surety of a collector when that bond ties up the whole of his real estate, probably for ten years. The settlements of these collectors may not be made for a long time, and the bond under the operation of this bill would still continue to be a lien upon all the property of the principal and sureties. The principal and sureties may have real estate to the amount of $1,000,000 in value, and yet this lien follows that property into whosesoever hands it goes. In the western country, and in Ohio especially, we have discouraged by legislation all liens upon real estate. A judgment is a lien but for one year until levy, and then there is a lien but for a short period after a levy; and I believe that in many of the western States they have abolished all liens on real estate; and in some of the New England States, I am told, they are very much limited.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I was about to explain that; I will do so in a moment.

Mr. HOWE. Will it not be necessary, then, to insert" and sureties" after "collector?" Mr. FESSENDEN. Not at all.

The amendment to the amendment was agreed to; and the question recurred on the adoption of the amendment of the Committee on Finance, as amended.

Mr. FESSENDEN. It is proper, perhaps, that I should explain to the Senate this amendment, as it is an important one. If Senators will turn to page 31, at the bottom of the page, they will there see the provision that existed in the House bill with regard to the liability on these bonds. It read originally, "and the amount of the sums due from any collector, as aforesaid, shall, and the same are hereby declared to be a lien upon the lands and real estate of such collector and his sureties, until the same shall be discharged according to law."

The Senate will observe that the effect of that would be that wherever the collector had given bond with sureties, it would form a lien upon all the real estate, not only of the collector, but of his sureties, until the final winding up of the business. The result would be that no man, neither the collector nor any one who was his surety, could, with any safety, perhaps, (certainly with any legal safety,) transfer any of his real estate, but it would be under this perpetual obligation. We had considerable discussion about it in the committee, and we decided to amend it, and then submit the question to the Senate. We propose to put in this amendment providing that the bond of the collector shall be recorded somewhere, and fixing the place. Everybody is supposed to understand the law, and to know where to go for the proper records, and that notice is all that could well be given. When a man is appointed collector, it will be understood what the effect is, and everybody may have access to his bonds and see who are his sureties. Then we propose to confine the obligation to all cases where the official bond of the collector has been duly recorded as provided in the section we are now considering.

Mr. GRIMES. Suppose most of his real estate, or that of his securities, is beyond the township?

Mr. FESSENDEN. I suppose it would be covered, because the language is, "a lien upon the lands and real estate of such collector and his sureties;" but I shall propose, if the Senate adhere to this provision, to amend that by adding, "wherever the same may be situated.

It may

cers select men of character and responsibility, and then the United States will have that character

and the property of the principal to rely upon. I have no objection to this bond being a lien on the property of the collector, but to make it a lien on the property of the sureties will substantially prevent the Government getting any surety that has any considerable amount of real estate. In the western States, real estate passes like personal property, passes almost as rapidly as personal property does in the eastern States; it is the great bulk of the wealth of our people; and therefore everything that tends to prevent the sale and negotiability of real estate works a great deal of injury. Now, merely to secure a lien on these bonds I think would not compensate for the injury we do, and therefore I shall either now or on the other amendment call for the yeas and nays. This amendment is only material in case the lien is established. If a majority of the Senate are opposed to making the bonds a lien on the property of the sureties, there is no object whatever in this amendment.

Mr. LATHAM. I do not understand that this lien question is now before the body. The chairman of the Committee on Finance merely called the attention of the Senate to the fact that in a subsequent provision there was such a clause.

Mr. SHERMAN. The Senate will perceive that this provision is of no account unless in connection with the other amendment.

Mr. LATHAM. There is an object as to the collector himself.

Mr. SHERMAN. That may be so. I have no objection to this amendment, because it is simply inoperative unless in connection with the other amendment; but if this is defeated it will indicate at least the sense of the Senate that the bond should not be a lien on the real estate of the surety. I shall not, however, call for a division on this question. If this amendment be adopted, it may be reconsidered after we have considered the other.

Mr. HARRIS. Mr. President, I concur with the views expressed by the Senator from Ohio, but there is still another and a stronger objection to this provision. It is proposed by this amendment and what is contained in the other referred to by the Senator from Maine, to make these bonds a lien on real estate, not only the real estate of the collector, but the real estate of his sureties, and the real estate of his sureties throughout the State. Now see how it would operate in a State like New York. We shall have thirty-one collection districts; we shall have thirty-one collectors, and each

about examining the title. First of all, I must ascertain whether this proposed grantor has not signed somebody's bond as surety; and how shall I ascertain that? I must examine in every one of the thirty-one collection districts for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not he has not created a lien upon his real estate by signing a bond. That would render the thing utterly impracticable. No sane man would ever sign a bond under such circumstances. The thing would be utterly futile.

Mr. GRIMES. I am satisfied that the bonds of these collectors will in many cases be valueless, unless they are a lien on real estate. I can see the difficulty in the case stated by the Senator from New York, and I was going to suggest to the chairman of the committee the propriety of inserting a provision here declaring that these bonds shall be filed and recorded in the clerk's office of the United States district court for the district in which the lands lie. In my State, the judgments in that court are liens, and every man who buys land examines not only the recorder's office of his own county, and the clerk's office of the court of his county, but the clerk's office of the district court of the United States of his district, to see whether there is any lien on the real estate which he proposes to buy. All the gentlemen who deal in real estate will soon learn who the securities are, and it will obviate a great many of the difficulties that would arise if the provision remained as it is now in the amendment. I am not disposed to throw many obstacles in the way of the transfer of real estate, because I have a considerable amount myself that I desire to transfer; but I am satisfied that if we want to derive revenue from this taxation, we have got to hold some lien on the gentlemen who are seeking these offices and their friends who are importunate that they shall obtain them.

Mr. SUMNER. It seems to me that the suggestion of the Senator from Iowa is eminently practical, that the records of the district courts of the United States are on the whole the best places of deposit for these bonds. The law requires, Senators will remember, that every copyright shall be entered with the clerk of the district court of the United States for the district in which the owner of the copyright resides; and it seems to me that that furnishes a very good precedent for this case. The office is accessible, and it will in every way be much more convenient, as these bonds will be distributed all over a very extensive region.

Mr. HOWE. It is a little uncertain, I think, how extensive the lien created by these two sections, the fourth and twenty-fourth, would be, provided these amendments were both adopted. The amendment now before the Senate proposes that these bonds shall be recorded in the registry of deeds where the conveyances of lands of citízens in the township where the collector resides are recorded, and the twenty-fourth section as proposed to be amended makes these bonds in all cases where they have been recorded a lien upon all the lands and real estate of the collector and his sureties. I supposed the effect of that was to create a lien only upon the real estate of these parties within the district where the record was made; and if the local law provides for a record to be made in the several counties, and the collector resides in one county and his sureties in another, or a part of them in one and a part in another, the effect of the two amendments would be, that if the bond was only recorded in the county where the collector resided, it would be a lien merely upon such real estate belonging to the collector and his sureties as was in that county.

I may be mistaken in the construction to be put upon these two sections; but it was with that view I suggested that the word "sureties" should be added here. I am opposed decidedly to creating this lien. It seems to me that it is as much as we ought to ask, that authority shall be given to the agent of the Government by recording this bond in some proper place to create a lien when a default has occurred. When your Commissioner finds that a collector is in default, then allow him to make a record of this bond either in the office of the clerk of the circuit or the district court, or

ances are made, and then give the lien from that time. But it seems to me very dangerous, it seems to me very hard to require that these collectors shall give these heavy bonds, that they shall give

adequate security, and that that security shall operate as a mortgage upon all the real estate owned by the collector and his sureties when no default in fact may ever happen. I do not understand what sensible man, if he had any real estate to give a lien upon, would consent to be a collector, and I should distrust very much the sanity of a man who would agree to be a collector upon such terms. It effects a mortgage upon his whole real estate to await the results of this administration.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the amendment of the Committee on Finance to the fourth section of the bill, as amended.

The question being put, it was declared that the amendment appeared to be rejected.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I think I must call for a division.

Mr. SHERMAN. I suggest to my friend whether he had not better let the vote stand, and if the other amendment shall be adopted hereafter, he can then move to reconsider this.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair will suggest that this amendment can be moved again in the Senate, if it shall be deemed necessary.

Mr. COLLAMER. I wish to make a single remark on this point. I suppose this bond of the collector will have to be something like the amount committed to his hands to collect for the year. Now, if we raise out of our twenty millions of people $100,000,000, the average of this tax throughout the country will be about five dollars a head. A collector's district is to be a congressional district. That must contain something over one hundred thousand people. If they paid their average of the tax, the collector in each district would have about $500,000 to collect. Let us suppose that in a country district they pay less than the average; let us put it at three dollars a head, and then the tax which a collector would have to collect in a country district would be about $300,000 even at that low rate. The bond which would be required, if it would be required to cover one year's collections merely, would be $300,000.

It seems to me that to induce a man to take a collectorship of that kind, and be responsible for all his deputies in collecting and paying over the money collected by them, and especially if you require him to give this bond and make it a lien on his real estate, you will have to pay something more than this bill does. The bill provides that a collector shall have four per cent. on the first $100,000, and, as amended by the Senate Committee on Finance, one per cent. afterwards. If a man had $300,000 to collect in a district, he would get $6,000, and out of that he would have to pay all his deputies, to pay for his own time, and to pay his risks, and to pay him for getting

this bond.

Mr. CLARK. And he would have to pay his sureties, for no man would become surety under this bill as it stands without compensation.

Mr. COLLAMER. Out of this percentage which I mention as fixed by the bill, he is to pay all his deputies. He hires them and becomes responsible for them, and takes such bonds as he chooses from them. With that amount of money to be collected in a mere country district$300,000-the bond I suppose would have to be something like three hundred thousand dollars. I do not believe that in that part of the country with which I am acquainted a bond for $300,000|| would be worth anything. A bond for $10,000 is a pretty good bond, and may be collected, and I have known a bond collected where the amount was between forty and fifty thousand dollars; but when you get a $100,000 bond, it is not good for anything. No man will stand such a high order of morality that he will not dodge when you come to one hundred thousand or three hundred thousand dollars. It always will be so.

Mr. FESSENDEN. You speak of Vermont. [Laughter.]

Mr. COLLAMER. I think the people of Vermont are pretty much like others, and quite as good as others, to say the least; but I think when it comes to that, you must have other security besides leaning on the integrity of men, that their property will not be out of the way, and therefore I think it very important that this bond should be a lien. I wish another thing borne in mind. When we have done this, it is very desirable that that lien should be recorded where our

registry of lands is required to be recorded, because there we go to look after all liens. If you put it off in another place, as the office of the clerk of the district court, it will be a new matter, and may be a surprise to many people. What I wished, however, to bring particularly to the notice of the Senate, was the fact that no man can reasonably expect a bond of that kind to be obtained from a collector who has to pay all his deputies, and get but $5,000 a year. It cannot be done; no man will take the place.

Mr. GRIMES. I move to amend the amend

ment

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair declared the amendment rejected; but he will consider it open, and put the question anew. The Chair will therefore receive the amendment of the Senator from Iowa to the amendment.

Mr. GRIMES. I move to amend the amendment by striking out the words, "recorded in the registry of deeds in which conveyances of lands in the county, city, parish, township, or district, as the case may be, within which said collector resides, are by the local law to be recorded," and in lieu of these words to insert," filed in the office of the clerk of the district court of the United States for the district within which said collector resides, and be entered at length upon the records of said court."

I understand that there is a provision after this that will, in connection with this, make the bond a lien upon all the real estate owned by the principal and his sureties within the judicial district in which it is recorded. I can readily see that there are a great many difficulties that are inherent in this proposition, and in every one that we shall have in this connection. It is rather a knotty subject to deal with. I do not think it is proper to allow these collectors to be appointed and receive any sum of money, whether $300,000, or $500,000, or a larger or less amount, without proper security; and yet I know that it is very difficult to require that security to be given, and to be of value to us, without incommoding the individuals, and perhaps the public also in some degree. I think the Senator from Vermont is mistaken in supposing that the Government ever requires an amount of security to be given equal to the amount that is received by the agent of the Government. The penalty in the bond does not correspond to the amount that is likely to pass through his hands. I know that in our western country the bond of a land receiver used to be only $10,000; perhaps it is now $25,000.

Mr. TRUMBULL. Fifty thousand dollars, in some instances.

Mr. HOWE. In some instances, $100,000.

Mr. GRIMES. I have known men whose bonds were only $10,000, to receive in one year, and indeed at one land sale, upwards of two hundred and fifty or three hundred thousand dollars. Mr. SHERMAN. So with a paymaster now. Mr. GRIMES. Yes; we leave that wholly optional with the Secretary of the Treasury, or with this Commissioner, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, and he will regulate it, I suppose, according to the circumstances, according to the character of the man, his capacity for performing the public duty that is assigned to him, and the amount of money that he is to receive.

Mr. FESSENDEN. I suggest another thing in this connection that goes to strengthen my friend's argument: that the greater amount of this money is to be collected from month to month, and therefore, if the collector failed to pay over the receipts of any month, he would be stopped

at once.

Mr. GRIMES. In the land offices the officers are required to make regular periodical returns; and therefore, except at one great land sale, there never used to be a very large amount of money at any one time in their hands, and hence the Government was perfectly safe in having a bond with a penalty of only $10,000 attached to it. Now, in a district in New York city I suppose that the Secretary of the Treasury would require a very large penalty; but take one of the frontier counties in my State, where there would be a very small sum to collect, where the Indians have just left, he would not feel it incumbent on him to require more than a $5,000 or $10,000 bond probably, and perhaps that would not exceed the amount of revenue that would be collected in the district.

I am not tenacious about the adoption of this

amendment, but it seems to me that a proper regard for the public Treasury, and the money that we are going to take from the people, would require us to affix some security.`

Mr. HARRIS. I certainly desire to make the security which the Government is to have for the faithful performance of the duties of these collectors, as strong as any one, but I object, very decidedly, to the proposition of the Senator from Iowa. In my State it would not do at all. See. The northern district of New York embraces nearly sixty counties. It has been the policy of the legislation in that State to confine the place where liens upon land are to be found to one locality. I can go to the clerk's office in the county of Albany, and I can find there recorded all the liens upon the land in that county. I have but one place to search. I look there for judgments, I look there for mortgages, I look there for collectors' bonds, because the bonds of the State collector there and his sureties are liens on his land. Mr. GRIMES. Within the county or within the State?

Mr. HARRIS. Within the county. I look there for all sorts of liens, of which there are, perhaps, eight or ten created by our statute; and I can satisfy myself by a search in that one office as to all the liens upon any piece of land in that county. See how this will operate. In all the land transactions in those fifty or sixty counties we shall be obliged to send to Utica, where the clerk's office of that district is located, and have another search there. There is not one man in one hundred who will know anything about this, and, as the Senator from Vermont suggested, it will create another place for searches which nobody will understand anything about for a long time, and any amount of frauds will be practiced. No man will be certain that he has got a good title to land which he purchases. It will not answer. Now, if there is to be a lien created on the land of the sureties who execute these bonds, that lien should be recorded in the county where the land is situated, and should be confined to that. If you will have it a lien on the land of the sureties, then record it in every clerk's office in the district; wherever you want to create the lien, there let it be put on record. It is better the Government should be at that expense than that the community should suffer this additional burden. This bill is going to be burdensome enough to the community, at any rate.

Mr. FESSENDEN. That is perfectly impracticable, because it presupposes that the Government knows where all the lands of the sureties are located.

Mr. HARRIS. It would be better to record it in all the counties. It will not do to oppress the people with this kind of burden unnecessarily. I assure Senators that in a State like mine it will not answer.

Mr. COLLAMER. It will be worse in Vermont.

Mr. CLARK. I want to make substantially the same observations in regard to my own State, which is the native State of the Senator from Iowa. We have but one office of the clerk of the United States court, and that is in the extreme southeast part of the State, at Portsmouth, on the sea-board; and the result would be that anybody desiring to ascertain whether there was a lien would have to travel clear from the upper part of the State, bordering on Canada, down to Portsmouth, where nobody in the world would ever think of going to make a search. We have ten counties in the State, and the people in each county naturally go to the office of the register of deeds in the county, and there is where, in my judgment, this bond should be recorded. I agree entirely with what has fallen from the Senator from New York in that particular.

Mr. HOWE. I shall vote against the amendment of the Senator from Iowa, because I am opposed to this whole labor of effecting a general lien through the instrumentality of such a bond as this. How general the lien will be we cannot very well settle now, and we cannot until we come to settle the amendment to the twenty-fourth section. I apprehend the consequences deprecated by the Senator from New Hampshire and the Senator from New York would not all of them happen, because I think that, as that amendment stands, the lien would not be so general as they seem to think it is. But I ask the Senate to say

THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 2D SESSION.

what the necessity is for providing that a bond like this shall operate as a covenant on the part of the collector and all his sureties, to stand seized || of all their real estate to the use of the Government, for any default which may happen through the mal-administration of the collector or any of his deputies. Is it because the amount of money which is going to pass through the collector's hands is so unprecedented that you must require these extraordinary guarantees? I suppose the collector of the port of New York, a single individual, handles $40,000,000 per annum; and no collector under this bill is going to handle any such amount of money. Have you any law, or was it ever thought of, to provide that he should give a bond with sureties, which bond should operate as a lien upon all their real estate? I suppose not; and I put the question to the Senate if it is really believed that responsible men will consent to be sureties upon the terms that we offer here in this bill? If they will not, you cannot get a good bond. If they will, I should be in favor of giving them a strait-waistcoat at once.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question s on the amendment of the Senator from Iowa to the amendment of the Committee on Finance.

THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1862.

ernment is in the integrity and honesty of the men who are to fill these offices. It is well to have a bond; but I think you are carrying it to an extreme, when you make that bond a lien upon the real estate of the securities. I think it would be very difficult to obtain securities under such circumstances. No man would want to mortgage his property in that way. I am sure it would be attended with trouble in my State; and my impression is that you will not get as good a class of officers to perform the duties as you would if you did not require it.

Mr. FESSENDEN. There was no subject connected with the machinery of this bill that occasioned the Committee on Finance so much trouble as this, and none about which there seemed to be so many difficulties in whichever way you looked at it, and really the committee had no very definite opinions in regard to it, if I except my friend from Wisconsin, who expressed the same sentiments in committee that he has expressed here. We made an attempt to arrange it. On the one side was the apprehension, which has been suggested by the Senator from Vermont, a very serious one, that for the pay which is proposed to be allowed no man would give a bond or be able to obtain sureties, involving these consequences of a lien upon his property. On the other hand was the necessity of providing security for the Government. These two things stand directly opposed to each other. It would seem that the Government ought to have some security on the property of the collector and his sureties; and it would seem also very difficult to carry out that idea in this direction, and that was just the dilemma we were in.

Mr. GRIMES. I call for the yeas and nays on this amendment. It is a very important question, in my opinion, and we may as well test it on this amendment. The question is, whether these bonds shall be liens or not.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

Mr. CLARK. I would suggest to the Senator from Iowa that he let this go until we come into the Senate; and in the mean time perhaps we can perfect an amendment that will be satisfactory. The difficulty is in perfecting an amendment so that we can agree to it. By looking at it, and considering it, perhaps we can accomplish that purpose.

Mr. GRIMES. The trouble is that the principle of this proposition is dovetailed through and inseparable from two or three other sections.

Mr. FESSENDEN. Only one other. Mr. GRIMES. Perhaps I shall not be in the Senate when that comes up, and I want to have it settled now.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I am certainly opposed to making these bonds a lien upon the real estate of the securities. I have no objection to their operating as a lien on the real estate of the principal, and at any rate they should be recorded in some place where they will cover all the real estate of the principal. Now take my State, for instance; it is a very common thing for men to hold real estate in different counties, and some men hold real estate in a dozen different counties perhaps. Judgments in the United States courts in Illinois are a lien throughout the whole district, and the proper place to record this bond in my State would be in the office of the district court of the United States, for we have to search the records of that court now to ascertain whether there is a judgment lien there, and the record of this bond in the township or county where the man lives, if it is to be a lien on real estate a hundred miles away, will not

answer.

I agree entirely with what the Senator from Wisconsin said. I would never agree for one that this bond should be a lien upon the real estate of the securities, for, after all, the safety of the Gov

Then, coming to the details there is the same difficulty. It appeared to me that we might get along on that point, however. It is impossible to record the bond everywhere, and if we provide one specific place within the district where the collector

is fixed at the registry of deeds prescribed by the local law of the place of his residence. It seemed to me that everybody would go there that had any question to ask in regard to him, and would look at the registry there.

Mr. COLLAMER. How about the sureties? Mr. FESSENDEN. The sureties would be very likely to be within his district. A question arose whether it would not be better to provide that the bond should be a lien on the property of the principal obligor, and not upon that of his sureties. That would after all be moonshine, for in nine cases out of ten I venture to say the collector would be recommended, and would perhaps get his appointment, expressly on the ground that he was a very honest man and a capable business man who could get sureties, and that an office of this sort ought to be given to somebody who needs it, rather than to a man who is rich and does not need it. In that view it is not to be expected in most cases that the collector will be the owner of real estate, and therefore you must look to the real estate of the sureties if you regard that security as important.

These are the difficulties. They have oppressed my mind very much, and I really do not feel competent to decide; and the committee preferred to bring the question specifically before the Senate and let the wisdom of the Senate fix what should be done in the premises.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I understand the practice to be new to require the sureties upon Government bonds to make oath that they are worth double the amount of the liability which they subscribed for, over and above all their just debts. Mr. FESSENDEN. In regard to that I will suggest that it is entirely within the power of the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Commissioner of Internal Revenue under him, to provide just such safeguards as he pleases in that respeet.

Mr. TRUMBULL. I desired merely to make that statement as a reason why there was no necessity for having this bond a lien upon the real estate of the surety. The practice now is-I think it is universal; I know it is so in some cases, for I have seen the bonds which are taken; it is so in

NEW SERIES.....No. 142.

regard to marshals and I believe in reference to land officers-the practice of the Government is, which would doubtless be followed in this instance, to require each surety to make an affidavit of the amount which he is worth over and above all his just debts, and it must be double the penalty of the bond. If the amount of the bond is $50,000, the practice is to require securities who will swear that they are worth $100,000 over and above all their debts.

Mr. FESSENDEN. That is a matter of regulation.

Mr. TRUMBULL. It is a matter of regulation, and that practice would doubtless be followed here.

Mr. FESSENDEN. That would undoubtedly be done; but in the mean time, in the course of three or four years, all property might slip out of the hands of the sureties, and if the Government had no lien on the property they would be no better off than if they had no security.

Mr. TRUMBULL. That is possible, but it is a bare possibility. You cannot have these things perfect, and in adopting a law we do not want such a law as will produce so great an inconvenience to the community, and especially with us. Where real estate is changing hands every day, as it is in the West, it would be the most difficult thing in the world for a man to get security if it was to operate as a mortgage on his real estate. We sell real estate in the West much as they buy and sell horses in New England. A man does not live on the same tract of land, as the Senator from Maine says, half a dozen years, scarcely. It is part of our business out there to try and sell land.

Mr. GRIMES. If the bill would have that effect I would be much more in favor of it than I am; if it would only make our people more permanent, and attach them to the places they now occupy a little longer than they have been in the habit of being attached.

Mr. President, I apprehend no difficulty whatever in the gentlemen who are solicitors for these officers getting security; there is not any trouble about it. There are plenty of applicants for every one of these places who can give security. If this was an ordinary law, I would not be tenacious on the subject; if it was a law in regard to the bonds of any other officer that you were going to create or had created, I would not object; but I know the difficulty there is going to be from this tax law; I know very well how it is going to affect the agricultural community in this country, and I wish them to feel assured that every safeguard has been thrown around the collection of the money and its safe-keeping that it is possible for the Legislature of the country to throw around it, and it is for that reason that I shall insist on retaining this lien. It is for a political reason, as well as for the reason embraced in the law for the security; it is to satisfy the people of the country that we have used every means in our power to insure that their money shall be properly collected, shall be safely kept after it is collected, and paid over to the proper officer.

Mr. SUMNER. I agree with the Senator from Iowa in the importance of having all possible safeguards; we cannot have one too many, always provided that they are practical. Now, in devising safeguards here, I do not know any better light to follow than that of experience. What is the practice with regard to other bonds and securities? I believe that there is no single instance that can be mentioned where a bond is made a lien as is proposed by this amendment. Here are bonds all over the country by executors. Is such a bond made a lien on the real estate of the execu-> tor or of his sureties? Here are bonds for other officers discharging important duties under the State governments. Who ever heard of such a bond in any one case being made a lien? Then, sir, under the United States here are bonds now, I might myself say infinite in number, growing out of the prosecution of this war, bonds given by our paymasters in the Army and in the Navy. None of them are made a lien on real estate. I

tee propose to amend the section by adding the following words:

By the person so owning, possessing, or having the care and management as aforesaid, shall be received as the list of such person.

The amendment was agreed to.

The Secretary read the ninth section, as follows:

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That if any such person shall deliver or disclose to any assessor or assistant assessor appointed in pursuance of this act, and requiring a list or lists, as aforesaid, any false or fraudulent list or statement, with intent to defeat or evade the valuation or enumeration hereby intended to be made, such person so offending, and being thereof convicted before any court having competent jurisdiction, shall be fined in a sum not exceeding $500, at the discretion of the court, and shall pay all costs and charges of prosecution; and the valuation and enumeration required by this act shall, in all such cases, and in all cases of under-valuation or under-statement in such lists or statements, be made, as aforesaid, upon lists, according to the form prescribed, to be made out by the assessors and assistant assessors, respectively; which lists the said assessors and assistant assessors are hereby authorized and required to make according to the best information they can obtain, and for the purpose of making which they are hereby authorized to enter into and upon all and singular the premises, respectively; and from the valuation and enumeration so made there shall be no appeal.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The committee propose to amend this section by striking out, in the seventh and eighth lines, the words "before any court having competent jurisdiction," and inserting "on indictment found there for in any circuit or district court of the United States held in the district in which such offense may be committed."

The amendment was agreed to.

The Secretary read the tenth section, as follows:

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That in case any person shall be absent from his or her place of residence at the time an assistant assessor shall call to receive the list of such person, it shall be the duty of such assistant assessor to leave at the place of residence of such person, with some person of suitable age and discretion, if such be present, otherwise to deposit in the nearest post office a written noté or memorandum addressed to such person, requiring him or her to present to such assessor the list or lists required by this act within ten days from the date of such note or memorandum.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The committee having proposed no amendment to this section, the next will be read.

The Secretary read section eleven, as follows: SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That if any person, on being notified or required, as aforesaid, shall refuse or neglect to give such list or lists within the time required, as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the assessor for the assessment district within which such person shall reside, and he is hereby authorized and required, to enter into and upon the premises, if it be necessary, of such persons so refusing or neglecting, and to make, according to the best information which he can obtain, and on his own view and information, such lists of property, goods, wares, and merchandise, and all articles or objects liable to duty or taxation, owned or possessed, or under the care or nianagement of such person, as are required by this act, including the amount, if any, due for license; and, in case of such refusal, the assessor shall thereupon double the amount of the items thereof; and the lists so made and subscribed by such assessor, shall be taken and reputed as good and sufficient lists of the persons and property for which such person is to be taxed for the purposes of this act; and the person so failing or neglecting, unless in case of sickness or failure to receive the notice, shall, moreover, forfeit and pay the sum of $100, except where otherwise provided for, to be recovered for the use of the United States, with costs of suit, in any court having competent jurisdiction.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Committee on Finance propose to amend this section, between the fourteenth and eighteenth lines inclusive, by striking out the words, "and in case of such refusal, the assessor shall thereupon double the amount of the items thereof," and inserting in lieu of them the words, "and in case of refusal or neglect to make such lists, except in cases of sickness, the assessors shall thereupon add fifty per cent, to the amount of the items thereof."

Mr. HOWE. I want to suggest what will be the effect of that amendment. I am not going to oppose it, but I am going to vote against it. The effect of it, as I understand, is just this: the assessor calls upon an individual for a list of his property; if he makes it, well and good; if he does not make it, if he refuses to make it, or neglects to make it, and has not the excuse of sickness for that refusal or neglect, it imposes this work upon the assessor, that he may put down the list of items of the man's property, so far as he knows them, and he may add fifty percent. to the amount, which is all right, provided you know that the assessor can tell within fifty per cent. all the items

which make up any man's estate. I do not suppose that there is a man living who can come within five hundred per cent. of mentioning the items which make up any great fortune in this country.

The amendment was rejected.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The committee propose further to amend the section by striking out the following words at the conclusion of the section:

And the person so failing or neglecting, unless in case of sickness or failure to receive the notice, shall, moreover, forfeit and pay the sum of $100, except where otherwise provided for, to be recovered for the use of the United States, with costs of suit, in any court having competent jurisdiction.

Mr. SIMMONS. This is the only security left. I thought the fifty per cent. was some security; but if we do not have that there ought to be this.

Mr. FESSENDEN. As it stands now, we require double the amount.

Mr. HOWE. I suppose this ought not to be struck out, but I still think the section will be imperfect, it will have to be amended; but as I understood the order of procedure as announced from the Chair, we were to go through with the bill by sections, and act upon the amendments reported by the committee, and after that has been done the bill will still be subject to further amendment. I understand by the order announced this section will still be open to amendment.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The whole bill and every part of it will be open to amendment after the Senate shall have gone through with the amendments reported by the Committee on Finance.

The amendment was rejected.

The Secretary read section twelve, as follows: SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That whenever there shall be in any assessment district any property, goods, wares, and merchandise, articles, or objects, not owned or possessed by, or under the care or management of, any person or persons within such district, and liable to be taxed, as aforesaid, and no list of which shall have been transmitted to the assistant assessor in the manner provided by this act, it shall be the duty of the assistant assessor for such district, and he is hereby authorized and required, to enter into and upon the premises of such person or persons, if it be necessary, and take such view thereof, and to make lists of the same, according to the form prescribed, which lists, being subscribed by the said assessor, shall be taken and reputed as good and sufficient lists of such property, goods, wares, and merchandise, articles, or objects, as aforesaid, under and for the purposes of this act.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The committee propose a verbal amendment in this section by striking out, in line ten, the words "if it be necessary" after "persons," and inserting, in line eleven, the words "as may be necessary" after "thereof."

The amendment was agreed to.

The Secretary read section thirteen, as follows: SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the owners, possessors, or persons having the care or management of property, goods, wares, and merchandise, articles, or objects, not lying or being within the assessment district in which they reside, shall be permitted to make out and deliver the lists thereof required by this act (provided the assessment district in which the said objects of duty or taxation lie or be is therein distinctly stated) at the time and in the manner prescribed to the assistant assessor of the assessment district wherein such persons reside. And it shall be the duty of the assistant assessor who receives any such list to transmit the same to the assistant assessor where such objects of taxation are situate, who shall examine such list; and if he approves the same, he shall return it to the assistaut assessor from whom he received it, with his approval thereof; and if he fails to approve the same, he shall make such alterations therein as he may deem to be just and proper, and shall then return the said list, with such alterations therein or additions thereto, to the assistant assessor from whom he received the said list; and the assistant assessor, where the person liable to pay such tax resides, shall proceed in making the assessment of the tax upon the list by him so received, in all respects as if the said list had been made out by himself.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. No amendment being proposed by the committee to this section, the next section will be read.

The Secretary read section fourteen, as follows:

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That the lists aforesaid shall, where not otherwise specially provided for, be taken with reference to the day fixed for that purpose by this act, as aforesaid, and where duties accrue at other and different times, the lists shall be taken with reference to the time when said duties become due; and the assistant assessors, respectively, after collecting the said lists, shall proceed to arrange the same, and to make two general lists— the first of which shall exhibit, in alphabetical order, the names of all persons liable to pay any duty, tax, or license, under this act, residing within the assessment district, together with the value and assessment, or enumeration, as

the case may require, of the objects liable to duty or taxation within such district for which each such person is liable, or for which any firm, company, or corporation is liable, with the amount of duty or tax payable thereon; and the second list shall exhibit, in alphabetical order, the names of all persons residing out of the collection district, owners of property within the district, together with the value and assessment or enumeration thereof, as the case may be, with the amount of duty or tax payable thereon as aforesaid. The forms of the said general list shall be devised and prescribed by the assessor, under the direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and lists taken according to such forms shall be made out by the assistant assessors and delivered to the assessor within thirty days after the day fixed by this act, as aforesaid, requiring lists from individuals, or where duties, licenses, or taxes accrue at other and different times, the lists shall be delivered from time to time as they become due. And if any assistant assessor shall fail to perform any duty assigned by this act within the time prescribed by his precept, warrant, or other legal instructions, not being prevented therefrom by sickness or other unavoidable accident, every such assistant assessor shall be discharged from office, and shall, moreover, forfeit and pay $200, to be recovered for the use of the United States, in any court having competent jurisdiction, with costs of suit.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The committee propose to amend this section in the last line of it by striking out the words "in any court having competent jurisdiction," so as to read "to be recovered for the use of the United States with costs of suit."

The amendment was agreed to.

The Secretary read section fifteen, as follows: SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That immediately after the annual valuations and enumerations shall have been completed, as aforesaid, the assessor in each assessment district shall, by advertisement in some public newspaper, if any there be in such district, and by written or printed notifications, to be publicly posted up at least in four of the most public places in each assessment district, advertise all persons concerned of the place where the said lists, valuations, and enumerations may be examined; and when and where, within fifteen days after the publication of the notification as aforesaid, appeals will be received and determined by him relative to any erroneous or excessive valuations or enumerations by the assistant assessor. And it shall be the duty of the assessor in each assessment district, at the time fixed for hearing such appeals as aforesaid, to submit the proceedings of the assistant assessor and the list by him received or taken as aforesaid; to the inspection of any and all persons who shall apply for that purpose; and the said assessor is hereby authorized to receive, bear, and determine in a summary way, according to law and right, upon any and all appeals which may be exhibited against the proceedings of the said assistant assessors: Provided, That the question to be determined by the assessor. on an appeal respecting the valuation or enumeration o property, or objects liable to duty or taxation, shall be, whether the valuation complained of be or be not in a just relation or proportion to other valuations in the same assessment district, and whether the enumeration be or be not correct. And all appeals to the assessor, as aforesaid, shall be made in writing, and shall specify the particular cause, matter, or thing respecting which a decision is requested, and shall, moreover, state the ground or principle of inequality or error complained of. And the assessor shall have power to reexamine and equalize the valuations as shall appear just and equitable; but no valuation or cnumeration shall be increased without a previous notice of at least five days to the party interested, to appear and object, to the same, if he judge proper; which notice shall be given by a note in writing, to be left at the dwelling house, office, or place of business of the party, by such assessor or an

assistant assessor.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The committec propose to amend this section by striking out after the word "that" in the first line all down to the proviso, and inserting as follows:

The assessors for each collection district shall, by advertisement in some public newspaper published in each county within said district, if any such there be, and by written or printed notifications, to be posted up in at least four public places within each assessment district, advertise all persons concerned of the time and place within said county when and where the lists, valuations, and enumerations made and taken in said county may be examined; and said lists shall remain open for examination for the space of fifteen days after notice shall have been given as aforesaid. And said notifications shall also state when and where within said county, after the expiration of said fifteen days, appeals will be received and determined by him relative to any erroneous or excessive valuations or enumerations by the assistant assessors. And it shall be the duty of the assessor for each collection district, at the time fixed for hearing such appeal as aforesaid, to submit the proceedings of the assistant assessors, and the lists taken and returned as aforesaid, to the inspection of any and all persons who may apply for that purpose. And the said as sessor for each collection district is hereby authorized, at any time within fifteen days from and after the expiration of the time allowed for notification as aforesaid, to hear and determine, in a summary way, according to law and right, upon any and all appeals which may be exhibited against the proceedings of the said assistant assessors.

This being a proposition to strike out and insert, both the matter proposed to be stricken out and the matter proposed to be inserted instead of it, are open to be perfected by way of amendment before the vote shall be taken on striking out and inserting.

Mr. COWAN. I move to amend this amend