The History of Pettis County, Missouri, including an authentic history of Sedalia, other towns and townships, together with biographical sketches, Part 5

Author: Demuth, I. MacDonald
Publication date: 1882]
Publisher: [n.p.
Number of Pages: 1154

USA > Missouri > Pettis County > The History of Pettis County, Missouri, including an authentic history of Sedalia, other towns and townships, together with biographical sketches > Part 5

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TAXATION.

The constitution places it beyond the power of reckless or dishonest

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

public agents to burden the people with excessive taxation. Taxes for state purposes, exclusive of the taxes necessary to pay the bonded debt of the state, cannot exceed twenty cents on the hundred dollars valuation; and whenever the taxable property of the state shall amount to $900,000,- 000 the rate shall not exceed fifteen cents. The rate of taxation for county, city, town and school purposes, is likewise strictly limited. Counties, cities, towns, townships and school districts cannot become indebted beyond the revenue provided for each year without a two-thirds vote of all voters therein, nor, in any event, to an amount exceeding five per cent on the value of the taxable property.

The statutes of limitation in Missouri provide that an open account can- not be collected after it has run five years; a note is uncollectible if held for ten years after due; and a judgment expires by limitation in ten years.

The standard legal rate of interest in this state is six per cent; but a higher rate not exceeding ten per cent may be contracted for.

PUBLIC DEBT LIMITATION.

The state debt, according to the State Auditor's last report, [1878], is $16,758,000. This mostly grew out of the various issues of bonds given in aid of railroads, and bears interest at the rate of six per cent per annum. To liquidate this debt the constitution provides for the annual levy of taxes, now fixed by law at twenty cents on the $100 of the valuation. With the sum thus raised the interest of the debt is first to be paid, and of the remainder not less than $250,000 is to be set apart as a sinking fund for the purchase and retirement of the bonds themselves. Hence, in a few years, with the vast increase in the taxable wealth, which is sure to come, the whole of the debt will be extinguished. There is an additional state tax of twenty cents on the $100 for current expenditures, a large share of which is devoted to the support of the common schools. This tax is ample for the purposes for which it is intended, and there is a con- stitutional provision that it shall be reduced to fifteen cents on the $100 as soon as the taxable property of the state shall aggregate a total valuation of $900,000,000.

The state, and all its municipal subdivisions, whether counties, cities or towns, are forbidden by the constitution to loan their credit to any corpora- tion, so that there is no method by which the public indebtedness can be increased in the usual way. . Owing to the great zeal of the people to for- ward public improvements of all kinds, a municipal indebtedness, aggre- gating, according to the auditor's last report, $35,727,566.49, has been contracted. Of this amount the debt of the city of St. Louis is shown to constitute $22,712,000, leaving for the agricultural portion of the state and the other cities, towns, townships and school districts only a little over $13,000,000.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

The present organic law prevents any municipality from contracting liabilities, in any one fiscal year, beyond the amount of the levy made for that year, and in no county can the rate of taxation for local purposes, aside from the school tax, exceed fifty cents on the $100 valuation, unless two-thirds of the voters shall assent to the levy of a larger sum. Neither can the school tax in country districts exceed forty cents on the $100 without the consent of the ta'x-payers, to be obtained by a vote of the ma- jority of the residents.

COMPARATIVE TAX RATE.

It will be interesting to note how the tax rate of our own state com- pares with that of adjoining states.

The average tax levy for all purposes in Missouri is about $1.30 on the $100; adding to this 70 cents on the $100 for the payment of bonded indebtedness where it exists, there is an average of $2 on the $100 as the rate, and a certainty of its steady decrease. This is given as an average, and while in a few counties the tax rate is higher, in the majority it is much lower.

By the report of the state auditor of Kansas, for the year ending June 30, 1878, the tax levy for state purposes is shown to be 55 cents on the $100, and the average levy for local debts and expenses $3.82 on the $100, making a total average tax of $4.37 on the $100. The taxable property of Kansas in 1878 aggregated the sum of $138,698,810.98, and the local indebtedness was reported by the state auditor at $13,473,197.51. In Nebraska the tax levy for state purposes alone is 622 cents on the $100, exclusive of taxes to pay local debts and expenses.

In Iowa, the average rate of taxation for the year 1878 was $2.67 on the $100. In Illinois the tax levy for 1877, the last given in the auditor's report, was $3.24 on the $100, and the local indebtedness of that state was then the sum of $51,811,691.

Thus, it is clear that Missouri has a lower rate of taxation than any of the neighboring states above mentioned; and, in addition to this, under her wise constitutional provision, the rate of taxation must continually decrease every year, until only a sufficient amount of taxes to liquidate current expenses will be collected.

There are twenty counties that have no indebtedness whatever, and forty more the debt of which is merely nominal; so that their burden of taxation will be lighter than in any other portion of the United States.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

FEDERAL AFFAIRS IN THE STATE.

FEDERAL COURTS.

The United States is divided into nine supreme court circuits, to each of which one of the supreme court judges is assigned. Missouri is now in the eighth circuit, which includes Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, MISSOURI, Nebraska and Colorado; and George W. McCrary, of Iowa, who was secretary of war, in President Hayes' cabinet, is now the judge of this circuit. Missouri is divided into an east and west United States judicial district; and Samuel Treat, of St. Louis, is United States judge of the east district, while Arnold Krekel, of Jefferson City, presides over the west district.

FEDERAL REVENUE.

Missouri paid the following amounts of internal revenue to the United States during the year ending June 30, 1880: On distilled spirits, $2,151,- 643.98; on tobacco, $2,391,989.93; on fermented liquors, $711,654.53; on banking, $182,929.25; on other items, $1,360.27. Total, $5,448,344.83. Illinois, Kentucky, New York and Ohio were the only states which paid a larger sum of revenue on spirits; Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia paid larger on tobacco; Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin paid larger on fermented liquors (chiefly lager beer); California, New York and Pennsylvania are the only states which paid larger on banking transactions.

In 1878, Missouri paid $115,729.64 as penalties for violation of U. S. internal revenue laws, which was the highest amount on this item paid by any state-the next highest being Pennsylvania, which was "caught at it" to the amount of $27,867.20.

U. S. LANDS AND LAND OFFICES.

There are now three U. S. land offices in Missouri, to-wit: at Boon- ville, Ironton and Springfield. The report of the general land office for 1879 showed 41,836,931 acres of government land still open to home- stead entry in Missouri.

LEGAL TENDER IN MISSOURI.

Gold coins of the United States (unmutilated), and the " greenback" paper currency are legal tender for the payment of any possible amount of indebtedness. Silver coins are legal tender for any amount not exceed- ing $10 at one payment-but the standard silver dollar is legal tender for

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

any amount, unless the contract specially provides otherwise. The baser. coins of nickel, copper and alloy (3 cent pieces), are legal tender for any sum not exceeding 25 cents. The "trade dollar," and national bank notes are not legal tender ; neither is any foreign coin, either of gold or silver, nor the " stamped bullion " gold pieces of California.

U. S. CUSTOM HOUSE.

St. Louis is a port of entry for foreign goods; and the imports received here during the year 1880, amounted to (foreign value), $1,401,180; on which the import duties paid was $537,257.83. A fine custom house building is in process of erection, and will be completed in 1881.

MILITARY.

In the south part of St. Louis, on the river, there is a United States arsenal, and six miles below the city, Jefferson Barracks are situated, a sta- tion for a small part of the regular army. A few squares from the arsenal there is a United States marine hospital.

MISSOURI'S DISTINGUISHED MEN.

Within our allotted space we can only give a brief sketch of those citi- zens of Missouri who have so pre-eminently distinguished themselves as to have achieved a solid national, and in some cases a world-wide fame. First among these is-

DANIEL BOONE. The adventures of this famous hunter and Indian fighter have become a staple part of the world's perennial stock of daring exploits and hair-breadth escapes. He was born in Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, February 11, 1735; emigratcd to North Carolina and there mar- ried. In 1773 he emigrated with his own and five other families to Ken- tucky, and founded the present town of Boonesborough. In 1795 he removed to the Missouri river country; and settled in St. Charles county, about forty-five miles west of St. Louis, where he died in 1820, aged 85. His remains, together with those of his wife, were many years after- ward removed to Boonesborough, Kentucky, and a monument reared over them.

THOMAS H. BENTON. Col. Benton was, in his lifetime, recognized as one of the foremost statesmen of the nation, and the hearts of all good Missourians kindle with pride at the mention of his name. He was a specimen type of the best sort of Democrat; he always stood with Gen.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

Jackson and opposed the state-rights doctrines of John C. Calhoun; in congress he opposed the repeal of the "Missouri Compromise;" and during Gen. Jackson's presidency Col. Benton was so vigorous a champion of hard money, as against the old U. S. bank swindle, that he came to be familiarly known all over the United States as "Old Bullion." Col. Benton was born near Hillsborough, North Carolina, March 14, 1782; studied law at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1810. In the war of 1812 he served as a Colonel under Gen. Jackson; settled at St. Louis in 1815. In 1820 he was elected as the first U. S. Senator from Missouri, and continued to be re-elected every term for thirty years; the longest period that any man in the nation has filled a senatorial seat. In 1852-3 he served one term as member of con- gress from the first district. In 1856 he was defeated in his candidacy for governor by the state-rights party, to whose doctrines he was strongly opposed, from the time of the nullification acts of South Carolina in 1832, up to the day of his death. In 1854 he published his great work, "Thirty Years in the United States Senate," in two large volumes, and these are held in high esteem as standard authority by politicians and statesmen of every class. Col. Benton died April 10, 1858, mourned by the whole nation as one of her worthiest sons.

JAMES B. EADS, a citizen of St. Louis. His marvelous achievements as a civil engineer have made his name familiar in all civilized countries on the face of the earth; and his last great work, the jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi river, has revolutionized the commerce of three continents. Mr. Eads was born at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, May 28, 1820; emigrated with his parents to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1829; and in 1833 settled at St. Louis. In July, 1861, the government advertised for seven gun-boats of about 600 tons burden, drawing not over six feet of water, plated with iron 23 inches thick, to steam nine miles an hour, and carry thirteen guns .* Mr. Eads contracted to build those seven vessels in sixty-five days. At this time the timber for them stood uncut in the forest; the iron for their plating was still in the mines, and no machine yet in existence of capacity to roll such enormous plates; and not a pound of iron or steel yet wrought or cast for the construction of the twenty-one steam engines and thirty- five boilers required to propel the fleet. But within twenty-four hours from the signing of the contract at Washington, he had all the iron works, foundries and machine shops of St. Louis, started on the work; and inside of two weeks he had more than 4,000 men working in alternate gangs by night and day, Sundays included, so that not an hour should be lost. The boats were built at St. Louis, but the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and Missouri were all drawn upon for material, while large works in Cincinnati and Pittsburg were also whirling every

*See Major Boynton's "History of the United States Navy."

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

wheel to hasten forward the great undertaking, all being under the direc- tion and control by telegraph or in person of this one man; and he filled the contract. The world's history shows no parallel to the wonderful mastery of resources and the tremendous vigor of executive and super- visory talent which this achievement involved. He projected, planned and built the magnificent railroad bridge across the Mississippi river at St Louis, which ranks among the greatest works of its kind on this round globe. He projected and built the jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi, which enable the largest sea-going vessels to pass in and out freely, thus making possible the barge system of shipping grain and other products from St. Louis and Kansas City direct to foreign countries, and which has within two years revolutionized the entire international commerce of the Mississippi and Missouri valley states. He is now engaged in devel- oping a ship railway across the Isthmus of Panama, which will take the heaviest loaded ships into a dry-dock on wheels and trundle them from ocean to ocean as easily and safely as they are now towed through the ship canal at Suez.

CARL SCHURZ. Born near Cologne, Prussia, March 2, 1829; educated at the University of Bonn; took part in the revolutionary agitations of Europe in 1848 and following years, involving Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, etc .; and in which Kossuth in Hungary, and Garibaldi in Italy were prominent leaders, whose names are familiar to and honored by all Americans. Mr. Schurz came to the United States in 1852; settled as a lawyer at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1859; in 1861 was appointed minister to Spain; resigned and came home, and in 1862-3-4, was a major-gen- eral of volunteers in the Union army. In 1867 he settled at St. Louis as editor of the Westliche Post; was United States senator from Mis- souri from 1869 to 1875, and was secretary of the interior in President Hayes' cabinet. Mr. Schurz has thus won the highest positions ever held in the United States by any foreign-born citizen, and has reflected honor upon Missouri, his adopted state, by his masterful ability as a public speaker, and his strong, earnest, humanitarian efforts as an executive offi- cer.

PROF. CHARLES V. RILEY, was born in London, England, September 12, 1843; came to the United States in 1860. In 1868 established in St. Louis, in company with Benjamin D. Walsh, a scientific journal called the American Entomologist, and was the same year appointed state entomol- ogist of Missouri; this position he filled to the great benefit and honor of the state for eight years; then he was called to come up higher, and took position as entomologist of the national department of agriculture at Washington. Prof. Riley's valuable investigations and discoveries with regard to the Colorado beetle (potato bug), the Rocky Mountain locust 4

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

(grasshoppers), the cotton worm, and the phylloxera, or grape insect, have placed his name in the foremost ranks in the world of science, and among the greatest of benefactors to the agricultural and horticultural industries of the world. This he achieved while serving Missouri as state entomol- ogist, and through the publication by the state of his annual reports. Hence, the name and good repute of our noble commonwealth is insepar- ably associated with his honor and fame, which has reached the farthest confines of every land where potatoes, cotton or grapes are cultivated.

MISSOURI IN THE CIVIL WAR.

Missouri was powerfully agitated by the controversy on the slavery question in 1818-19-20, which resulted in the "Missouri Compromise." This was a compact, mainly carried through congress by the eloquence and influence of the great senator, Henry Clay, of Kentucky, by which it was agreed that Missouri should be admitted to the Union as a slave- holding state; but that slavery should be forever excluded from any states which might thereafter be formed out of new territory west of the western boundary of Missouri, and north of the parallel of 36 degrees, 30 minutes of north latitude. This line practically corresponds with the southern boundary of Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and Utah, as they now stand.

In May, 1854, congress passed a bill organizing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, in which it was declared that the Missouri Com- promise of 1820 did not apply to them. This was an indirect way of repealing or rendering nugatory the bargain made between the northern and the southern states in that compromise; and the floodgates of angry debate, contention and strife were at once opened. This became the issue upon which all elections turned. Instead of slavery being prohibited, as the compromise of 1820 had declared it should be, it was thrown open for the territorial legislature to decide whether it should be free or slave territory. In view of this, there was a rush and race of settlers from the free states and the slave states into Kansas, to see which party should get control of the first territorial legislature; and in this movement Missouri, as a slave state, took a prominent part. It was a border country conflict, and there was illegality and violence on both sides, making a chapter in our state history the details of which might profitably be dropped out and forgotten. Suffice to say, the free state party carried the election; and this conflict was a precursor of the great civil war.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

In 1860 C. F. Jackson was elected governor of Missouri. Abraham Lincoln had been elected President of the United States at the same time. Governor Jackson took his seat January 4, 1861; the question of secession was then already in warm discussion in some of the southern states, and Governor Jackson in his inaugural address maintained that "Missouri must stand by the other slave-holding states, whatever course they may pursue." The general assembly ordered an election to be held February 18th, for members of a state convention; the proposed object of this con- vention was "to consider the then existing relations between the United States, the people and government of the different states, and the govern- ment and people of the state of Missouri; and to adopt such measures for vindicating the sovereignty of the state and the protection of its institutions as shall appear to them to be demanded." This convention met, first at Jefferson City, and afterward at St. Louis, and had a decided majority of Unionists-that is, of men opposed to secession; some because they believed in the doctrine of "Federal Nationality," as against the doctrine called "State Rights;" others because, like A. H. Stevens, of Georgia, they saw with a clear eye that secession must inevitably result in the overthrow of slavery. And thus the Union men themselves were strongly divided into northern and southern sympathizers. The convention sat at St. Louis, without any important results, from March 9th to 22d, when it adjourned, subject to the call of its committee on federal relations.

National events rushed on rapidly to a crisis which would admit of no temporizing. In April, Fort Sumter was fired upon; President Lincoln called for 75,000 troops; and men must now take sides for or against the national sovereignty of the lawfully constituted Federal authorities. Our legislature was in session; its measures and discussions were almost entirely of the "State Rights" type; and in a message to the legislature on May 3, 1861, Governor Jackson said the President's call for troops "is unconstitutional and illegal, tending toward a consolidated despotisın. * * Our interest and sympathies are identical with those of the slave-holding states, and necessarily unite our destiny with theirs." While these influences were working in the central and western parts of the state, and organizations of " state guards" were being rapidly formed to resist the federal authority, Gen. Nathaniel Lyon and Col. F. P. Blair were actively enlisting men and organizing regiments in St. Louis and vicinity, to main- tain the federal authority. The most intense alarm and consternation prevailed throughout the state. Several minor conflicts occurred between state militia or "guards " and Union troops, all hinging upon the question of which power had the right of paramount sovereignty. The state troops were mostly under command of General Sterling Price, subordinate only to the governor of the state; while the federal troops were under

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

command of General Lyon, by authority of the President of the United States .*

Governor Jackson finally tried to make terms with Gen. Lyon, that no federal troops should be stationed in or allowed to pass through the state. This was refused; and the governor then immediately issued a formal call, June 12, for 50,000 state militia. About April 20th, nearly two months before this, the " state guards " had seized the United States arsenal at Liberty, in Clay county, and taken its stores and arms for their own use. This was several weeks before the celebrated "Camp Jackson" affair. The wager of battle was now fairly joined in Missouri between different parties of her own citizens, although volunteers from other states soon began to pour in. The following is a chronological list of the more important actions and events:

April 12, 1861 .- Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter, which was yielded up and evacuated on the 14th.

April 15 .- President Lincoln's proclamation, calling for 75,000 volun- teers to sustain the government, and calling a special session of congress.

SUCCEEDING EVENTS IN MISSOURI.+

April 19 .- Gov. Jackson wrote to David Walker, President of the Arkansas Convention, thus: "I have been from the beginning in favor of decided and prompt action on the part of the southern states, but the majority of the people of Missouri, up to the present time, have differed with me. "

April 20 .- The U. S. arsenal, at Liberty, in Clay county, was seized and garrisoned by about a hundred " state guards," and the arms and cannon were distributed to their friends throughout the county, with the concurrence of the governor .;

April 22 .- Governor Jackson officially resented the president's call for troops, and called an extra session of the legislature, to arm and equip state troops. State militia ordered to go into encampment on May 3, for one week.

* It is not the purpose of this history to give a detailed narrative of events of the war time; neither to discuss the right or the wrong of the views of either party in the conflict. We only give a brief mention of some of the most important incidents and leading actors, to show how and wherein the people of Missouri were themselves divided in opinion, what motives moved them, and what events stand out as of chief historic celebrity. Indeed, we would gladly skip this period of our state history entirely, if it were permissible in such a work.

+The events here given, in their chronological order, have been collated from more than thirty different volumes containing different items or parts of Missouri's war history. The narratives, dates and statistics were found often conflicting; and we have endeavored to use those only which seemed to be the best authenticated, or the most probable under the circumstances-and to localize events as closely as possible by naming the towns, streams, counties, etc., where they occurred.

#The governor had already (April 20th) seized the United States arsenal at Liberty, and had distributed among his friends the arms it contained. "-Draper's History of the Civil War, Vol. II, p. 228.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI.

April 25, Night .- Capt. Lyon secretly removed the war stores in U. S. arsenal at St. Louis, by steamboat, over to Alton, Illinois.

April 28 .- Gov. Jackson wrote secretly to J. W. Tucker, Esq., of St. Louis: "I want a little time to arm the state, and I am assuming every responsibility to do it with all possible dispatch.

* * We should keep our own counsels. * * Nothing should be said about the time or the manner in which Missouri should go out. That she ought to go, and will go at the proper time, I have no doubt. She ought to have gone last winter, when she could have seized the public arms and public property and defended herself. " *

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The History of Pettis County, Missouri, including an authentic history of Sedalia, other towns and townships, together with biographical sketches, Part 5

Author: Demuth, I. MacDonald Publication date: 1882] Publisher: [n.p. Number of Pages: 1154

Author: Demuth, I. MacDonald
Publication date: 1882]
Publisher: [n.p.
Number of Pages: 1154