LAWS I USAGES, 
 
 IK 
 
 IN KBLATION TO 
 
 THE TAXING OF CHURCHES. 
 
Acceding to tlie desire of those whose generous communications have 
 served as data whereon the following document was mainly based, the un- 
 dersigned, upon whom was devolved the labor of drawing up, writing out, 
 and presenting the Committee's Rkpokt to the Diocesan Convention of Cen- 
 tral New York, at its late session in Calvary Church, Utica, has thought it 
 would be an acceptable acknowledgment, on his part, of the courtesy ex- 
 perienced from the many and distinguished correspondents to whom he is 
 indebted for the facts thus accumulated, to procure that Report and Digest 
 printed separately from the Journal of the Convention, for their and the 
 Church's benefit. And it is with this view of the case that the Report is 
 herewith presented in pamphlet form, trusting it may serve as a convenient 
 Manual for reference, iu matters touching mooted questions of interpreta- 
 tion of the various laws, all over this continent, for the exemption of Houses 
 of Divine Worship from public taxation. 
 
 By the courtesy of the Rev. Dr. A. B. Goodrich, Secretary of the Dio- 
 cese, this Pamphlet has been printed from the type already prepared for 
 the Journal of the Convention. 
 
 PHILO WHITE, 
 
 Chairman of the late Diocesan Committee on Church Taxation. 
 
THE TAXING OF CHURCHES. 
 
 To the Co?ivention of the Diocese of Central New York : 
 
 The undersigned having been appointed by the Convention of last year, 
 a Committee to make inquiry into the nature and extent of the immunities 
 and exemptions to which Church Buildings and Chapels for Divine Wor- 
 ship are entitled by the statutory laws of this State, in the varied assess- 
 ments for general and local taxation, beg leave respectfully to report: 
 
 That, after devoting much time and diligent attention during the past 
 twelve months to the investigation assigned them; and having become sat- 
 isfied that the subject opened a wider field of inquiry than the terms of the 
 resolution under which they were appointed would seem strictly to imply, 
 they felt warranted in departing somewhat from the letter of their instruc- 
 tions,aud have embraced tlie entire Federal Union, as well as the neighboring 
 Dominion of Canada within the scope of their correspondence. Some three 
 hundred printed circulars of inquiry, with at least half that number of 
 written letters, have accordingly been despatched in quest of infohiiation 
 touching the law and usage among the English speaking people on this 
 continent, as to the extent, &c., of the exemptions in favor of Churches, 
 Religious and Charitable Institutions, &o., within each State and Province! 
 And although responses to less than one-half the number of circulars and 
 written letters of inquiry sent out by us have come to hand, yet the com- 
 munications we have already received contain authentic information from 
 nearly every State in the Union, — all of which it seems have, at one tinie 
 or another, passed laws exempting from taxation Houses of Worship, Char- 
 itable and Educational Institutions, Cemeteries, &c. These exemption laws 
 vary somewhat in manner and form, as well as in degree, according as the 
 fancies of the legislative bodies of the different States that enacted them 
 happened to dictate at the time; and they appear to have been interpreted 
 and carried into effect pretty much as the caprices of the tax officers of the 
 counties, towns, cities and villages, might rule at the moment. 
 
 It was this vexatious contrariety of practice and usage among the imme- 
 diate administrators of our tax-leVie.s, that suggested to the last Conven- 
 tion a reference of this matter to a select Committee, with the hope that 
 the result of their investigation might lead to a more definite and uniform 
 rnle of action in all the Parishes of this Diocese, as well as throughout the 
 State. 
 
 In view of the present aspect of the case, therefore, the Committee have 
 taken some pains to make out a summary statement of the prominent points 
 of law, and of the usage under it that generally prevails in each of the 
 States of the Union, — and especially as applicable to the enigmatic status 
 of the question in our own Diocese and State. 
 
 Our summary may appear somewhat diffuse; but we thought, in order to 
 afford a clear view of the whole question, and impart a full understanding 
 of the entire subject, an ample digest of the laws and usages that prevail 
 in all the States, touching the matters submitted to the Committee, would 
 be acceptable to the Convention ; and that our non-observance of the 
 wholesome axiom, that " brevity is the soul of wit," might be excused for 
 this occagion. 
 
M 4 S 
 
 4 
 
 WITHIN THE DIOCESE. 
 
 Among the earliest responses to the Committee's Circular, was that from 
 St. John's Church, Auburn, in which the Junior Warden, a gentleman of 
 the legal profession, recites the points of a case in the local court: The 
 City of Auburn vs. St. John's Church, — Assessment for re-laying a pave- 
 ment in front of the Church. Waiving the city's right, under their char- 
 ter of _a subsequent date to the Revised Statutes, to assess all real estate, 
 including churches, &c., that it might bear a due proportion of the expense 
 of such "local improvements" as tended to increase its value, — yet the 
 Vestry resisted the requirement in this instance, as in conflict, not only with 
 the State laws, but was not in conformity with the city ordinances them- 
 selves, which had restricted the powers of the corporation in assessments 
 against Churches, &c. , to extraordinary local improvements, the Vestry 
 contending that the laying of pavements was an ordinary improvement in 
 chartered cities and villages. Though the assessment was persisted in by 
 the city authorities, they have never to this day enforced their demand by 
 a levy and sale of the Church's property. 
 
 Syracuse — The Junior Warden of St. James' Church informs us, that 
 their Church building, with its lot, has been exempted from State, or- 
 dinary and county taxes, yet they have paid the city assessments for streets, 
 sidewalks, &c., and paid every class of taxes on their Kectory. 
 
 Elmira. — We learn from the Junior Warden of Trinity Church, who is 
 a member of the bar, we understand, that in that city and county it has 
 been the practice to exempt both Church buildings and parsonages, with 
 their lots, from State, county and municipal taxes proper, but to exact as- 
 sessments from them for beneficial local improvements. Under this ruling, 
 he says, the Churches of this city " have probably, within the last four 
 years, paid some four thousand dollars for assessments of that class, the 
 decision of Attorney General Champlin not being sufficiently relied upon 
 to induce them to resist the demand." 
 
 Tioga County. — In this adjoining county, however, the Junior Warden 
 of Oraee Church, Waverly, who is a Counselor at law, informs us that, after 
 nearly thirty years' experience as Vestryman, &c., and in official connection 
 with municipal, county and judicial affairs, he has never known of any 
 claim to tax what is strictly Church property, — that is a Church edifice and 
 a Rectory on the same lot; and that one Religious Society there paid no tax 
 on their Parsonage, although detached from the Church lot, and not strictly 
 exempt by statute. And this legal gentleman of thirty years' experience, 
 " cannot see how there can be two opinions upon a statute so plain as ours;" 
 expressing it as his belief that the requiring of religious societies to con- 
 struct streets and sidewalks in front of their Houses of Worship, cannot be 
 enforced against them under the usual municipal charters. 
 
 In Broome County, next east of Tioga, we learn from the Rector of Zion 
 Church, Windsor, and from the Vestry of St. Luke's Church, HarpersviUe, 
 that Houses of Worship and Rectories, with the lots they stand on, have 
 never been taxed or assessed for any purpose whatever, in those villages or 
 their neighborhood. 
 
 Sherburne. — The Rector and the Warden inform us, that Christ Church 
 in that village, with a lot of five acres of land, has never been troubled 
 with any kind of taxes or assessments. The Parsonage, however, has been 
 assessed the same as other property, and paid the regular taxes. 
 
 Sacketts Harbor. — Christ Church, with its lot, we learn from a Vestryman, 
 has never paid any other tax or assessment than the cost of repairing the 
 pavement in front of their lot; leaving it to be inferred that the corporate 
 authorities of the village originally constructed it at their own cost. 
 
5 
 
 Antwerp. — St. Paul's Church, in that Village, has never been taxed or 
 assessed for anything, so says the Senior Warden. 
 
 Manlius. — Begular Houses of Worship, -with their lots, have never paid 
 any kind of tax or assessment in this village, but Parsonages, not on 
 Church lots, do pay. An intelligent vestryman of Christ Church there, in 
 writing to us, remarks that 8t. John's Diocesan School in that village occu- 
 pies two lots, i. e., the recitation edifice is on one, while the studying and 
 boarding apartments are on the other. The assessing officers exempt the 
 first, while they tax the latter. Our correspondent dissents from this dis- 
 crimination, believing that both buildings are entitled to exemption; and, 
 as Treasurer of that Church educational institution, he pays the assessment 
 under protest. 
 
 Cazenovia. — We learn from the Senior Warden of St. Peter's Church, 
 whose opinion we esteem as equal to an adjudication: " 1st, That Houses 
 of Public Worship are exempt from all kinds of taxation and assessment, 
 unless there may be in some city or village charters, passed since the Revised 
 Statutes, provisions subjecting them (the Churches) to assessments for local 
 improvements, such as sidewalks, sewers, &c. ; 2d, That parsonages are not 
 exempt from any taxes and assessments, whether they are or are not con- 
 tiguous to the church building;" but he remarks further, "no taxes or as- 
 sessments have been levied upon parsonages (in that village) whether on or 
 off the church lot, although the assessors have often threatened to put them 
 on the assessment roll." 
 
 Big Flats. — St. John's Church, in that village, never paid any tax or 
 assessment. Some years ago Parsonages there were regularly taxed; but 
 for five or six years past, they have been wholly exempt. 
 
 Oneida County. — In the city of Utica, Churches, educational edifices, and 
 the buildings and realty of charitable institutions, &c., are subjected to 
 wiiat the corporate authorities choose to term " local improvements," the 
 tax officials there recognizing the statutory exemptions as only applicable 
 to State, county and general taxation. Eminent members of the bar there, 
 however, would seem to entertain more rational views of the taxing pre- 
 rogatives of a city or village municipality, than the corporate officials them- 
 selves do. 
 
 In, Pome, (same county) on the contrary, the councils of that city, 
 prompted by an enlightened spirit of beneficence, obviated all doubtful 
 interpretations of the law, by enacting ordinances which exempt as well 
 Churches as Parsonages from every class of taxes and assessments, whether 
 ' ' local" or otherwise. 
 
 From Waterville, the Senior Warden of Orace Church writes us, that 
 Houses of Worship, of all denominations, are free from every kind of tax 
 levies or assessments, whether local or extraneous; but that parsonages are 
 enrolled for general taxation. 
 
 ELSEWHERE, IN THE STATE. 
 
 Diocese of Albany. — The Rt. Rev. the Bishop writes to us that, as a rule, 
 Churches are not, but Parsonages are, taxed throughout his Diocese. The 
 Bishop deplores the indication, ai various points, of a sentiment inimical 
 to all immunities in behalf of Religious Institutions; and is apprehensive 
 lest any agitation of the matter may provoke hostile legislation against us. 
 
 Cohoes. — Rev. J. H. Hobart Brown, Rector of St. John's Church, writes 
 us that the assessments levied by the municipal authorities of his city, on 
 both Church and Educational Institutions there, are quite oppressive; that 
 his Church has just paid $750 for paving one street, — $350 for sewarage on 
 another street, — and $100 for a sewer on still another street ! For Cohoes 
 
6 
 
 City High School, of which Dr. Brown is Treasurer, he has paid several 
 large taxes, on account of paving streets, for sewerage, and for water rates 
 He expresses his own and the vestry's thanks, for the new lights which 
 the investigations of our Committee are bringing to view. 
 
 Diocese of Long Island.— The Et. Rev. Bishop of this Diocese has favored 
 ■QS with a communication in relation to tax assessments on Houses of Wor- 
 ship in the city of Brooklyn, in which he remarks: " I am not aware of 
 any decisions by judicial tribunals here. Parsonages are not taxed with 
 us, nor the Episcopal residence; but large local assessments are levied upon 
 Churches and Parsonages, for paving, sewerage, &c.; so that some of the 
 weak Parishes of the city are fairly staggering under the burden of these 
 assessments for street improvements, which are very heavy and have here 
 been rigidly enforced." ' 
 
 Rev. Newland Maynard, Rector of a Church in the Eastern District of 
 Brooklyn, writes to us at the suggestion of his Bishop, that the tax officials 
 of that part of the city have made a claim against his parish for flagging, 
 drainage, &c., which has overwhelmed them, financially. Being already 
 deeply involved, it is as much as they can do to pay the interest on their 
 present indebtedness; and they fear this heavy city claim for local improve- 
 ments, will serve hopelessly to confiscate their House of Worship i We 
 learn further from Mr. Maynard, that the Rev. Dr. Chas. H. Hall, Rector of 
 the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, refuses to recognize this city tax 
 for flagging, &c., and defies them to collect it by sale of the Church's prop- 
 erty. Mr. Maynard likewise understands that the Rev. Dr. T. Stafford 
 Drowne, Rector of St. Paul's Church, Brooklyn, has in like manner resisted 
 the payment of similar exactions against his Parish. 
 
 ^New York City.— In the New York Diocese, as well as in that of Western 
 K"ew York, the custom with respect to special assessments against Houses 
 of Worship, &c., within the limits of cities and incorporated villages, as- 
 similates nearly to the average usage in the Dioceses of Central New York, 
 Albany and Long Island, already noticed. In New York City, however,' 
 there are incidents connected with the question of Church immunity frorti 
 taxation, peculiar to that metropolis of America, whose vast population, 
 with a marvelous admixture of nationalities, and the fabulous wealth of 
 whose Church heritage, naturally exclude the rulings in her case from any 
 ordinary line of safe precedents. 
 
 IN OTHER STATES. 
 
 Ohio.—Vfe learn from the Rector of Trinity Church, Colurnbua, and from 
 a Vestryman of Christ Church, Cincinnati, who is eminent as a lawyer, that 
 all Houses of Worship, when not used in any part as residences, or for any 
 secular purpose, are exempt from taxation for State and county purposes; 
 but have been subjected, nevertheless, to assessments for sewerage, pave- 
 ments, &c. Parsonages are taxed in those cities like other property. 
 
 Pennsylvania.— yVe have not received full responses from the three Dio. 
 ceses in Pennsylvania; yet have sufficient information to assure us of the 
 fact, that Church buildings and their lots are exempt from general taxation, 
 though held amenable to the municipal authorities of cities, boroughs and 
 villages, for assessments on account of hydrant water, and the construction 
 of streets, pavements, &c. The usage as to the taxing of Parsonages varies 
 in different sections of that State. 
 
 New Jersey.— ReM. Dr. Edward B. Boggs, of Newark, and the Rev. Dr. 
 George Morgan Hills, of Burlington, the two speaking for New Jersey and 
 Northern New Jersey, inform us that Church buildings, and their necessary 
 lots of land, are exempt by statute from State, county and township taxes, 
 but have been adjudged, in the cities and incorporated villages, as liable to 
 assessments for the construction and repairs of sewers, streets, &c. 
 
i 
 
 Delaware.— Though, diminutive in her territorial proportions, yet as vig- 
 orous in the punishment of knavery as she is effective in the repression of 
 crime, she is unexcelled by any of her more ponderous sister States for the 
 noble-hearted philantrophy of her people, and their expansive beneficence 
 in fostering all religious institutions within her borders. We were, there- 
 fore, prepared to learn, as we do from the Rev. Lewis W. Gibson, Eector of 
 Christ Church, Dover, and from James Kirk, Esq., Senior Warden, as well 
 as from a distinguished gentleman at Smyrna, that the State has, by her 
 revised statutes, made a most generous provision for the exemption of 
 Churches, Church property, charitable institutions, &c., from every class 
 of taxation. And as our informants have never heard of any exceptions 
 being taken to these exemptions in all their amplitude, the Churches and 
 charities there are never annoyed by the tax-gatherer. 
 
 Maryland— 'The status oi the question of church exemption from taxa- 
 tion seems to be equally as commendable in Maryland as in Delaware. By 
 the courtesy of the Kev. Kobt. Wilson, M. D., Rector of St. Peter's Church, 
 Eastun, we are favored with a response to our inquiries from an eminent 
 lawyer of that city, who is a member of Dr. Wilson's Vestry. He states 
 that, by the laws of Maryland, '•all Church property, whether Edifices, 
 Rectories or Glebes, is exempt from taxation; and no tax or assessment 
 whatever, whether State or municipal, is levied generally or specially upon 
 any such property;" and "if there is any local departure from this rule, 
 they are not aware of it." Moreover, a clerical error happening in the last 
 tax-law of the State, a test case was mooted before the Court, and a decision 
 rendered, sustaining the settled interpretation of the Church-tax exemption 
 law, to its fullest extent; of which, however, there never had been any 
 question or complaint in that State. 
 
 Virginia.— Uev. Dr. Wall, Rector of St. John's Parish, Richmond, to- 
 gether with the Vestry of that Church, favor us with the following com- 
 pendious but satisfactory response to our written inquiries and accompany- 
 ing circular, viz: "All Church property, including therein Rectories, 
 Church Edifices and Cemeteries, is exempt from taxation by statute law 
 in this State. There is no municipal law, as far as we know, imposing such 
 taxation in Virginia." 
 
 North Carolina. — By communications from Hon. Kemp P. Battle, of 
 Raleigh, and John Steel Henderson, Esq., of Salisbury, who are lay officers 
 of the Church in their respective localities, we learn that the revenue laws 
 of that State have for many years exempted Churches, Rectories (or Par- 
 sonages) and Glebes from taxation. And although no mention is made in 
 the State laws of special or local assessments, the city of Raleigh claims 
 and exercises the right of levying the expense of sidewalks on that class of 
 property. In most of the other cities and incorporated towns of the State, 
 however, no such assessment for local or special purposes is imposed on 
 Churches. 
 
 West Virginia.— We learn from James P. Rogers, Esq., a legal gentleman 
 of prominence, who writes at the suggestion of Rev. J. Armstrong, Rec- 
 tor of St. Matthew's Church, Wheeling; as also from N. S. White, Esq., 
 Warden of the Church at Charlestown, and who is au eminent member of 
 the bar there, that the Constitution, the law and the usage of this newly 
 created State combine to extend to Churches and Parsonages alike an unre- 
 served immunity from all public taxation. In Wheeling, as Mr. Rogers in- 
 forms us, the expenses of streets, pavements, &c., are borne by a general 
 city tax; which precludes the idea of any special assessments on Churches 
 for local improvements. And in Charlestoion, as we understand from Mr. 
 White, the legislative act of incorporation specially restricts the munici- 
 pality of that city to the specific grants of power in their charter. As illus- 
 trative of this view of the municipal prerogative, Mr. W. says that the 
 Church Parsonage House is on one of the principal streets of the city; and 
 
8 
 
 althougli the Trustees holding the title to the property are expected to, 
 and do keep up the pavement in front of their lot, no corporation ordinance 
 has ever exacted that expenditure from them. And the prevalent senti- 
 ment of that region approves these legislative and municipal acts of Christ- 
 ian philanthrophy, in the broadest and most enlightened sense of their 
 refining and happy influences. 
 
 Mmissippi.—'We learn from the Junior Warden of St. Andrew's Church, 
 Jackson, — and, also, by a polite note from the Rev. James T. Pickett, Rec- 
 tor of Christ Church, Holly Springs, — that Church property has been entirely 
 exempted from taxation in xMississippi, either for State, county or munici- 
 pal purposes, by that impoverished but nobly philanthropic people. A 
 Church School, St. Thomas' Hall, in Rev. Mr. Pickett's Parish, with ten 
 acres of land, of which his Vestry are Trustees, pays no taxes, neither 
 State nor municipal. 
 
 Arkansas. — We have a letter from the Rev. B. W. Trimble, Rector of 
 Trinity Church, Pine Bluff, — as also a letter from Ex-Gov. John R. Hamp- 
 ton, of Bradley county, — and likewise a communication from the present 
 Executive of the State, Gov. Alexander H. Garland, accompanied by a copy 
 of the new Constitution of the State of Arkansas, inclosed to us by the last 
 named gentleman. From Art. 16, sec. 5, of this organic law, we learn that 
 Churches and Cemeteries, when used exclusively as such, — Schools with 
 their buildings, apparatus, libraries and grounds — and buildings, grounds 
 and materials used exclusively for public charity; are exempt from taxation. 
 But while this seemingly explicit constitutional exemption exists in form. 
 Gov. Garland remarks in his letter to us, " I think the better opinion is that 
 they (the Churches, &c.) could be taxed for local improvements under mu- 
 nicipal ordinances. See Cooley on Cons. Pro's., 3d Ed., p. 514 and notes.'' 
 
 Kansas. — We have a very obliging communication from the Rt. Rev. 
 Bishop Vail, as to the law and usage in Kansas, touching Church exemp- 
 tion from taxation. Church buildings and the plots of ground they stand 
 on, when actually used for public worship, are exempt by statute from tax- 
 ation. Rectories are likewise exempt when attached to or are on the same lot 
 with the Church, and are not leased for pay. But when Parsonages or Rec- 
 tories stand on land separate from that of the House of Worship, they are 
 held by judicial decision in that State to be equally taxable with secular 
 property. We are unadvised as to the liability of Church property for local 
 improvements, in the cities and incorporated villages of Kansas. 
 
 Missouri. — Having been favored with communications from the Rt. Rev. 
 Bishop Robertson, and the Rev. Dr. Schuyler, Rector of Christ's Church, St. 
 Louis, we learn from them, and from other sources, that anterior to 1863, 
 all Church property, including parsonages, was exempt from general taxa- 
 tion in Missouri. Unfortunately, however, such became the demoralized 
 condition of society in that region about that time, incident to the civil war 
 then at its height, that a Constitutional Convention, which was assembled 
 at so inauspicious a conjuncture, for re-modeling their old frame of Gov- 
 ernment, was, quite naturally, made up of an undue proportion of members 
 of unregulated minds. An organic law emanating from such a body of 
 extreme men, naturally enough agglomerated all Religious, Charitable and 
 Educational Institutions, and even consecrated repositories of the dead, into 
 one common grab-bag of taxable chattels ! And it is a source of extreme 
 mortification to all the better classes of her citizens, that Missouri should 
 ever have been jostled into so unenviable a status. A more healthful moral 
 sentiment, however, pervades the entire population there now. A new 
 State Constitutional Convention, for re-modeling the former Constitution, 
 has already assembled in that State ; and coming as the members do fresh 
 from a now conservative people, they will undoubtedly adopt an organic 
 law in unison with the Christian sentiment of the age. Meanwhile, in ad- 
 
9 
 
 vance of constitutional action in this, to them, new era of enlightened phi- 
 lanthropy, the city corporation of St. Louis, and other municipalities in 
 the State, have already exempted their Religious and Charitable Institu- 
 tions from general taxation, and only require them to join in local improve- 
 ments; so that a more auspicious period is now dawning upon the Church 
 in Missouri. 
 
 California. — This Pacific State has, by an unfortunate concurrence of 
 circumstances, got the Church into a worse dilemma there, as regards the 
 taxing of Houses of Divine Worship, than Missouri ever did. From the 
 Eev. Wm. H. Hill, and others, we learn, that up to six or seven years ago, 
 Churches and Church property, as well as the buildings and property de- 
 voted to benevolent and charitable purposes, &c., were exempt by law from 
 all general and special assessment and taxatipu. But as certain religious 
 organizations, taking advantage of the liberal terms of the statute, claimed 
 to hold large and valuable tracts of land in the name of the Church, free 
 from taxation under the exemption law; — and as the Constitution of the 
 State provides "that taxation shall be general and equal," — a case was 
 mooted and carried to the Supreme Court as a test. On this issue the Court 
 held that the exemption law was in conflict with that clause of the Consti- 
 tution. Since then there has been no discrimination between the taxing of 
 ecclesiastical and secular property in that State ; but the good people there 
 are hopeful of a change ere long in this adverse ruling thereon, either by 
 a new or amended organic law, or otherwise. 
 
 Tennessee. — We learn from Mr. L. C. Shepherd, Senior Warden of Bt. 
 John's Church, Knoxville, that all Houses of Worship, as well as Parsona- 
 ges, are exempted by law from State, county or general municipal tax. 
 That city, however, compels all the owners of lots within its limits, with- 
 out regard to State exemptions, to lay sidewalks in front of their property 
 after the curbing is put down by the corporation at its own expense. What 
 the custom is in other cities of that State, he is uninformed. 
 
 Georgia. — John R. Johnson, Esq., Junior Warden of Bt. John's Church. 
 Savannah, and Treasurer of that city, writes us that, "by the Constitution 
 of the State of Georgia, all Churches, Religious Edifices, Parsonages, &c., 
 are exempt from State, county, city and town taxation. Churches in 
 Savannah are only required to pave around the buildings, and keep those 
 pavements in repair." 
 
 Bouth Carolina. — The Rev. Everett C. Edgerton, Rector of Bt. Thaddeus' 
 Church, Aiken, informs us that all Houses for Divine Worship, with two 
 acres of land each, are exempted from State taxation. Parsonages are not 
 exempt by law ; but by courtesy, no taxes are exacted from them. So that 
 Churches, and ecclesiastical residences in that otherwise afflicted member 
 of our Federal Republic, enjoy a comfortable immunity from the unwelcome 
 visitations of tax-gatherers. 
 
 Alabama. — We learn from Thomas N. McCartney, Esq., Attorney at 
 Law in Mobile, who writes at the suggestion of the Rector of Christ Church 
 in that city, that " All Houses used exclusively for public worship, the 
 books and furniture therein, and the grounds upon which the same are or 
 may be erected, not exceeding ten acres," are exempt from taxation by the 
 statutes of Alabama, — " the construction of sidewalks being included in 
 such exemption, the municipal authorities only requiring them to be kept 
 in order by the owners of the lots facing them," in the city of Mobile. 
 
 Florida. — Rev. R. H. Weller, Rector of Bt. John's Church, JacksonviUe' 
 informs us that " no assessment for taxes, for either general or special pur- 
 poses is levied here on Church property of any kind, by either the city or 
 the State. Our Church, the Chapel School Building, and the Rectory, 
 •occupy an entire city square, on the front of which the pavement was laid 
 by the city. 
 
10 
 
 Lovisiana. — Thomas Layton, Esq., President of the Southern Bank at 
 New Orleans, has favored us with tlie written oiuuions of two eminent law- 
 yers of that city, wherein various judicial rulings are cited, analagous to 
 our case. After stating that by statute in Louisiana, "Churches, Parsona- 
 ges, &c., with their appurtenances, when actually used as such, are exempt 
 from State as well as from municipal taxation in general," — these legal 
 gentlemen remark : " But this immunity from all taxation by the State 
 law, is not held in Louisiana as exempting Churches, &c., from their pro- 
 portion of the expense of constructing streets and sidewalks, though not 
 liable for the repairs of such sidewalks after they have been once laid. 
 This municipal requirement is not viewed as a "tax," in the common ac- 
 ceptation of that term, but as a " servitude " due for benefits accruing to 
 the property," &c. 
 
 Texas.—We learn from the Senior Warden of Trinity Church, Galveston^ 
 George E. Mann, Esq., that "All buildings, with their furniture and libra- 
 ries, used solely for public worship, or for educational purposes, with ten 
 acres of land to each, are exempted by statute from taxation in Texas. The 
 city of Galveston, however, requires these exempted institutions to pave 
 the sidewalks in front of their lots ; which, without conceding the munici- 
 pal prerogative in the premises, the Churches have uniformly done, not 
 having yet tested their obligation to do so in the Courts." Moreover, the 
 Rt. Rev. Bishop Alexander Gregg, in writing us a polite note on the sub- 
 ject, after reciting the liberal terms of the Texas exemption law, remarks, 
 that he is " surprised to learn that, in any case, special taxes do not come 
 within the rule of the statutory exemption of Churches," &c. 
 
 Nebraska. — We learn from the Mayor of Omaha, who is a lawyer of 
 prominence, that Churches are exempt by statute in that State from gene- 
 ral taxation ; but that the municipal councils of that city claim the right 
 to assess Churches, and all other real estate within their limits, for benefi- 
 cial local improvements. And a case is now pending in the Courts there, 
 to test the legality of that claim, which has been preferred by the city. 
 
 Minnesota. — We are favored with the main points of the exemption law 
 of this State, by Judge Charles E. Flandrau, an eminent lawyer in St. Paul : 
 " Houses used exclusively for public worship, or for purely charitable pur- 
 poses, with the necessary plots of ground on which they stand, — as well as 
 the land actually used for Cemeteries, not being owned and sold at individ- 
 ual profit," — are exempt from taxes, assessments, &c. It seems, however, 
 that the city of St. Paul claims the right to assess every class of real estate 
 within its corporate limits, for local improvements ; but their power to do 
 so is contested ; and a test case is now pending in the Courts, to determine 
 the extent of the municipal prerogative in that regard. The plaintiff's 
 counsel has politely furnished us with a " Brief," containing the principal 
 points of his client's case, in a printed pamphlet of seventeen octavo pages, 
 wherein, by the citation of a mass of apparently irrefragable authorities 
 and judicial decisions, he demonstrates quite plausibly to a dispassionate 
 and untechnical mind, the illogical reasons upon which the municipality 
 rest their claim to assess those State exempted lands for the grading of 
 streets, &c. In this instance, the statute specifically exempted these lands 
 from "all taxes and assessments" of whatever kind, in consideration of a 
 semi-annual payment to the State. The case was still pending at last 
 accounts. 
 
 Wisconsin. — M''e have communications from State Officers of Wisconsin, 
 and from a leading Professor in tlie University of the State at Madison, 
 touching the law and usage of Church exemption from taxation there. House.s 
 of Worship, Parsonages, &c., are exempt from general taxation, but subject 
 to municipal assessments for the construction of streets, sidewalks, &c. In 
 1873, however, so formidable was a movement in the Legislature of that 
 State to repeal all exemption laws, that the aid of the late Rt. Rev. Bishop 
 
11 
 
 Armitage was invoked in belialf of the Church, Schools, Colleges, Grave 
 Yards, &c. And it is believed the very able and elaborate Memorial which 
 that eminent Prelate addressed to the Legislature on the subject, exercised 
 ■ a most potential influence in saving the reputation of that deliberative body, 
 by defeating the consummation of an enactment so discreditable to a 
 Christian people. 
 
 Illinois. — From Springfield, the State Capital, we have a full and polite 
 response to our Circular and written letter of inquiry, occupying twelve 
 manuscript pages, from Ex-Gov. Palmer & Brother, Counselors at Law in 
 that city ; wherein, after stating the provisions of their Constitution, with 
 regard to exemption laws, and the various Legislative enactments in acord- 
 ance therewith, they favor us with a clear and instructive citation of litiga- 
 ted cases, legal rulings, and judicial opinions, there and elsewhere, as 
 affecting the exemption laws of that State. In conclusion they remark, 
 that the settled rulings in this matter in Illinois are, in effect, that " special 
 assessments for improvements are held not to be taxes. And hence, in 
 Bumming up, they say that " Church property is exempted from general 
 taxation, but not from special assessments for public improvements." 
 
 Iowa. — The lay Officers of Trinity Church, Iowa City, write to us, that 
 "Houses of Worship, of all denominations, and all property used for 
 Church, benevolent and charitable purposes, are exempt from taxation by 
 statute in Iowa ; " and that the exemption applies alike within and without 
 cities and incorporated towns and villages. 
 
 Maine. — We learn from the Rev. Charles W. Hayes, Canon of the Cathe- 
 dral Church in Portland, that a " Church building and Parsonage are 
 exempt from general taxation there, but are liable to be assessed by the 
 municipal authorities of cities and incorporated villages, for street improve- 
 ments, sewerage," &o. 
 
 Vermont. — A legal gentleman writes us from Brattleboro, that by statute 
 of Vermont, "All real and personal estate, granted, sequestered, or used, 
 for public, pious, or charitable purposes," is exempt from taxation : and 
 that the practical construction of the law has been, in the southern part of 
 that State at least, to exempt Parsonages as well as Churches from every 
 class of taxation or assessment, general as well as municipal." But what 
 the usage in the northern part of the State is, we are unadvised, the 
 Churches at Montpelier and Burlington, neither of them having responded 
 to our letters and circulars. 
 
 New Hampahire. — The Rev. Dr. Isaac G. Hubbard, Rector of Trinity 
 Church, Claremont, writes us, that, in 1843, the Revised Statutes of that 
 State provided that Houses of Public Worship should thenceforth be ex- 
 empt from taxation ; and by an amendment of those statutes in 1872, Par- 
 sonages were added to the list of exemptions. But he cannot learn whether 
 any City municipality (there being no incorporated Villages in the State) has, 
 or has not, exercised the prerogative of assessing Churches, &c., for special 
 local purposes. 
 
 Connecticut. — From the Rev. Wm. Tatlock, Rector of St. John's Church, 
 Stamford, and from John Day Ferguson, Esq., a member of the Vestry of 
 that Church, and a prominent member of the Connecticut Bar, we learn that 
 ' ' Churches, exclusively used for public worship, as well as all buildings 
 pertaining exclusively to literary, scientific, benevolent and ecclesiastical 
 societies, are by the statutes of Connecticut exempt from taxation." By a 
 technical interpretation of those statutes, however, which has been recog- 
 nised by their highest Courts, cities claim and exercise the right of assess- 
 ing all such property for sjiecial local improvements, but not for general 
 municipal taxation. The taxation of Parsonages was an open question 
 until 1871, when the legislature exempted them, to the amount of $5,000 
 
12 
 
 each. By a Colonial Statute of 1702, a considerable amount of other kinds 
 of property, given for religious uses, had been exempted from taxation ; 
 but that exemption became inoperative by a State law of 1830. 
 
 Massachusetts. — Edward S. Rand, Esq., an eminent lawyer, and a Vestry- 
 man of EmrrMnuel Church, Boston, has politely favored us, at the suggestion 
 of the Rev. Dr. Alexander H. Vinton, Rector of that Church, with various 
 decisions of the legal tribunals of that State, involving the extent of the 
 immunity from taxation to which Edifices for Divine Worship, for Educa- 
 tional, literary and charitable purposes, &c., are entitled. From all which, 
 it appears that property of that class, though "exempt from taxation for 
 general public purposes of government," is, nevertheless, held "liable to 
 taxation for local improvements of a public nature." And this seems to 
 have been the uniform decision in all cases litigated by the literary and 
 benevolent Institutions of Massachusetts, and which are equally applicable 
 to all Religious Associations. 
 
 Rhode Island. — To Roger Williams, Wm. Penn and Lord Baltimore, his- 
 tory awards the honor of founding the first governments on this continent 
 that fully recognized the broad principles of religious toleration. And from 
 accredited chronicles we know that the Rev. Roger . Williams had to flee 
 from his native land some two hundred and forty years ago, to escape per- 
 secution as a non-conformist Church of England Clergyman, and that he 
 took refuge among the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, in America. But the 
 ill-omened star of his earthly destiny seems to have followed him in his 
 material transition to a new world. For, presumably imagining that he 
 had then reached a " land of the free and a home of the brave," he intrep- 
 idly and eloquently advocated the rights of conscience and of civil liberty, 
 on all fitting occasions; whereby, however, he ere long aroused the bigotry 
 and intolerance of the settlers at Plymouth Rock; who, with an olficial 
 haste as summary as it was merciless, promulgated a decree of banishment 
 against him, never to return there on pain of death ! And this bloody 
 edict was hurled against a brother Pilgrim by the Colonial authorities of 
 those very Puritans who had themselves not long anterior been refugees 
 from the tyranny of their mother country ! Thus was he a second time 
 impelled to flee from the despotism of his fellow-countrymen, and to seek 
 an asylum, this time among the untutored Aborigines on Narraganset Bay. 
 And it was only there, beyond the reach of "man's inhumanity to man," 
 that he appears at last to have found the gaol of his worldly hopes and 
 long cherished ambition. Thenceforward a marked success attended the 
 far-seeing and benevolent plans of his life. He first conciliated, then sub- 
 dued and proselyted the " Narragansets." In good time gathering in and 
 establishing a religious organization that now pervades all the States of the 
 Union, he eventually laid the foundations of a Commonwealth, endowing 
 it with the attributes of religion, liberty and law. In view of a historic 
 record'so eventful, and of a heritage thus enriched by ennobling examples 
 of manly virtue, of difEusive piety and of heroic action and endurance, be- 
 queathed to his followers and after generations by the renowned " Pioneer 
 Parson," Roger Williams;— it would have been a marvel indeed, had the 
 latter-day patriots of " Rhode Island and Providence Plantations," become 
 80 deeply immersed in the piling up of worldly gain, as to surrender their 
 Houses of Worship, and the Cemeteries consecrated to their dead, to the 
 tender mercies of the tax-gatherer, and thus mingle with the promiscuous 
 world in paying tribute to mammon ! Accordingly, it is gratifying to know, 
 as we do by communications from the Rev. Dr. Isaac P. White, of New- 
 port, and Rev. W. N. Ackley and Hon. Geo. Lewis Cook, of Warren, that 
 Rhode Island early passed laws for shielding the Houses of God within her 
 borders from desecration by tax warrants ! 
 
 But have the sons of " Providence Plantations" ever rescued the fame of 
 their great prototype from the ostracism and attainder cast upon it by the 
 over-righteous Colonists of Plymouth Rock ? Does not that despotic edict 
 
13 
 
 for Roger Williams' banishment thence, with a death penalty against Lis 
 return, remain to this day unexpunged from the records of the ancient 
 Colony of " Massachusett's Bay ?" 
 
 Kentucky.— Hey. Wm. M. Pettis, Rector of Grace Church, Paducah, in- 
 forms us, that by statute in Kentucky, Church Buildings, with five acres of 
 land to each, are exempt from taxation, as well within as without the cor- 
 porate limits of cities and towns; but that the exemption is construed not to 
 apply to Parsonages, unless built on the same lot with an exempted Church 
 edifice. 
 
 Indiana— Wc learn from one of the Wardens of Christ Church, Mad- 
 ison, that by the laws of Indiana, Houses of Public Worship, while exclus- 
 ively used as such, with ten acres of land to each, are exempt from taxa- 
 tion. Rectories or Parsonages, however, are taxed by the State and the 
 counties; while the city authority of Madison exempts them, as well as the 
 Churches, from all municipal assessments and taxation. 
 
 DOMINION OF CANADA. 
 
 We have received polite responses to the Circular and accompanying let- 
 ters we addressed to the Rectors and Lay Officers of several Churches in 
 the cities of Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, &c., in the neighboring Do- 
 minion of Canada. The Crown prerogative that blends Church and State 
 under the British Home Government, is inoperative in her Colonies; so that 
 the civil and ecclesiastical polity that prevails in the latter is assimilated to 
 that in our own country. And we find that the usage of exempting 
 Churches, educational and charitable institutions, cemeteries, &c., from 
 municipal taxation, is, if anything, more unsettled there than in the United 
 States. And there appears to be no statute at all in the Province of Que- 
 bec on the subject. For example: Dr. Dart, TJ. S. Consul General at Mon- 
 treal, and Robert Evans, Esq.. a Church Warden there, write us, that up 
 to 1867-68, their Churches had been regularly assessed as other property, 
 and the taxes collected; but when their city corporation last year assessed 
 all religious Institutions for civil purposes, very few of them responded to 
 such assessment by paying the tax, a majority refusing or neglecting to do 
 so. Under these circumstances the city council, by a large majority, re- 
 solved to apply to the Quebec Legislature for an Act exempting all Churches 
 and Religious Institutions from taxation. And the question being now be- 
 fore the Provincial Legislature, our correspondents have reason to believe 
 it will be definitively settled by hereafter exempting Church property from 
 taxation throughout the Province of Quebec. 
 
 Kingston.— From this city, the Rev. Dr. Edward J. Boswell, D. C. L., 
 writes us a friendly note, stating, among other facts, that " Churches and 
 Parsonages (to the value of $3,000 each) and Church yards, are by Provin- 
 cial statute quite exempt from taxation." Also, that the income of all 
 Ministers, up to $3,000 each, is exempt. " But here, in Kingston," he re- 
 marks, " a Synod Hall, built on the Church lot, has to pay the regular tax." 
 But he has " never heard of any attempt to assess Churches for local im- 
 provements in that city, as it would not be successful if made." He re- 
 marks, however, that these exemptions are unpopular, for the reason that 
 there are those who claim exemption on unreasonable quantities of real 
 estate, under the cover of Church ownership. 
 
 Toronto.— We are favored with an obliging communication from the Rev 
 Dr. William Jones, Professor in Trinity College, Toronto; in which he suc- 
 cinctly but clearly classifies the various objects and methods of taxation 
 under the financial system of the Province of Ontario. From this interest- 
 ing exposition we learn that the government there has pursued a most be 
 neficent policy towards Religious Institutions of all kinds. By a Provincial 
 statute places of worship are exempted from every class of taxation gen- 
 
14 
 
 eral and local; and as the "expense of constructing and repairing streets 
 and sidewalks comes out of a general municipal fund, any special tax is 
 most rare in Toronto, tliere being only one case within my recollection. 
 The Cathedral in this city stands on a street laid down with an expensive 
 Nicholson block pavement, and a frontage tax was levied on all conterminous 
 property, including the Cathedral lot. And although the special tax war- 
 rant was served on the Church Warden of that Parish, he has never paid 
 that frontage tax, nor have the municipal officials ever attempted to enforce 
 payment from the Cathedral property." This question of Church exemp- 
 tion from local and special taxation, however, was generally unsatisfactory 
 to that community; and the Rev. Mr. Jones is of opinion that there will ere 
 long be a legislative amendment of the Provincial statute on the subject, 
 restricting the exemption to Houses of Worship alone, with a reasonable 
 plot of ground for each to stand on. To that extent, he thinks, it would 
 meet the approbation of the people there at large. 
 
 CONCLUDING BEMABKS. 
 
 In presenting the foregoing resume, or summing up of facts and points 
 touching Church exemption from taxation, as the result of the Committee's 
 twelve months' assiduous correspondence on the subject, they may here be 
 pardoned for adverting to what was well known at the last year's Conven- 
 tion, but which may not be so fully understood by all the delegates now 
 present, that the main object sought by instituting this inquiry, was not so 
 much to complain of the law, as to inquire into, and ascertain as near as 
 practicable, what the most current interpretation of the law was, and the 
 general usage under it, as applicable to that provision of it which exempts 
 Churches and Church property within the limits of cities and incorporated 
 villages from taxation. And it has been the endeavor of the Committee to 
 exercise a careful scrutiny, during this investigation, as to the widely vari- 
 ant interpretations of the law, which seem to have guided the revenue olR- 
 cers in different localities in carrying it into effect. 
 
 The teachings and admonitions of the Church have ever been dissuasive 
 of dissensions and unseemly strife in a community; and it is esteemed a 
 cardinal virtue with them, loyally to conform to all legal requirements, and 
 gracefully to bow in obedience to all ordinances of municipal authorities 
 dominant for the time being, when they can be assured precisely what those 
 requirements are. 
 
 To the consideration of this point the Committee's attention has been 
 especially devoted. And it may be learned from their foregoing summary 
 or digest of cases, that the statute of our State on the subject is apparently 
 couched in terms readily understood; but it will be seen from these cases, 
 that there is a wonderful contrariety of practice in carrying out the pro • 
 visions of that statute within the jurisdiction of the municipal authorities 
 of cities and villages.— while outside their corporate limits, no tax has ever 
 been levied on Churches proper; and among the rural Parishes throughout 
 the State, there has never been any difference of opinion as to the law's ex- 
 empting all Churches from taxation. 
 
 Hence it appears that the whole difficulty is narrowed down to the ques- 
 tion, whether municipal prerogative is paramount to the plain utterances 
 of organic law and of statutory enactment, so far as local tax assessments 
 are concerned. For it will be seen, from the points we have embodied, 
 that judicial action and rulings preponderate in favor of the municipalities, 
 especially where the charters of the latter bear more recent date than the 
 statute -mth whose provisions they seem to come in conflict. We may cite 
 one instance in particular, where Gov. Garland, of Arkansas, who is as 
 eminent for his legal attainments as for his personal probity, has given us 
 liis individual opinion, that notwithstanding the new Constitution of his 
 State itself provides in explicit terms for the exemption of Houses of Wor- 
 ship, &c., from taxation in general, this and every other class of property 
 can be taxed by municipal ordinance for local improvements. The gener- 
 
15 
 
 ality of tlieae rulings in so many extremely doubtful cases, is quite a mar- 
 vel to unteclinical minds. This point, then, would seem to be definitively 
 settled, — that municipal councils of cities and villages are constructively 
 endowed, by some occult " right of eminent domain," and otherwise, with 
 the prerogative of taxing Churches within their corporate limits, for such 
 " localimprovements " as may tend to enhance the value of the property 
 in a secular sense, — any constitutional provision, or legislative enactment, 
 to the contrary notwithstanding ! 
 
 This is rather an uncomforting aspect of our case; and it is with exceed- 
 ing regret the Committee are constrained to acknowledge, that their length- 
 ened and diligent investigation has eventuated in nothing more consolatory to 
 those feeble Parishes whose wail is heard for relief, than a patient and 
 Christian-like submission to the tender mercies of those corporate entities, 
 who are conscienceless because soulless, — whose proclivity for prerogative 
 is insatiable, and whose appetite for debt and taxation is equally inap- 
 peasable, — being imbued, as they seem to be, with a kind of morbidness of 
 appetite which, by some inexplicable inversion of the law of dietetics, the 
 more you feed it the hungrier it grows ! 
 
 We have high authority (the Governor of our own State) for viewing 
 with alarm the pretentious claims of municipal power, the potentiality of 
 whose assumptions of prerogative have well nigh absorbed all organic and 
 statutory law, within their corporate limits ! And it needs not the pre- 
 science of a Shakespeare to tell " whose meat they feed upon," that these 
 corporate bodies should have attained a growth so abnormal in its propor- 
 tions ! The subtleties of judicial rulings, as shown in our digest, may indi- 
 cate, in part at least, the sustenance upon which municipal power has 
 increased to such an unseemly magnitude! 
 
 Houses of Worship are mostly located in cities and villages; and although 
 they may be exempt from State, county, and general taxation, yet the 
 special assessments to which they are subjected by their local councils, are, 
 according to Governor Tilden's estimate, three or four times larger and 
 more oppressive, than the aggregate of all other taxes for the support of 
 the government. 
 
 The Committee are at a loss to suggest a remedy for these hardships. 
 Judicious men and safe counselors, however, are of opinion that the most 
 effective and surest reform would be found in a vigilant exercise of the right 
 of suffrage, and a harmonious and unpartizau union of all the best citizens, 
 at each recurrence of these civic elections. By a rigid adherence to such a 
 course, we think the municipal councils of cities and villages might be con- 
 stituted of pure and energetic men, — citizens of honor and honesty, of 
 property and probity, — in whose good character and capacity, society would 
 have a guarantee that their official acts and ordinances would tend to pro- 
 mote morality and economy, encourage education and enterprise, and gen- 
 erally to advance the best interests of religion, liberty and law, within their 
 sphere. 
 
 A course of policy thus harmonious, practical, judicious and philanthropic 
 could not fail, it seems to us, to work out in good time a great muni- 
 cipal reform in these " Home " Primary Governments. And as the readi- 
 est relief we now see, is attainable through the beneficent agency of these 
 reformed local tribunals, we cherish a hope that equal and exact justice 
 would, under a new era, be meted to all classes of people within their juris- 
 diction, whether immediately connected with Church or State ; and a uni- 
 form rule of interpreting and administering the law, and dispensing its 
 blessings, be made more certain in all the cities and incorporated villages 
 of our Diocese, and throughout the State. 
 
 EespectfuUy submitted, 
 
 PHILO WHITE, ) 
 
 JOSIAH T. MILLER, )■ Committee. 
 
 J. V. H. SCOVILL, )