75 Pa. 461 | Pa. | 1874
The opinion of the court was delivered, May 11th 1874, by
We think it very apparent, as well from the title as the whole scope of the enacting words of the act entitled “ An Act to repeal all laws exempting real estate from taxation,” approved April 8th 1873, Pamph. L. 64, that its object was not to change the course of judicial decisions upon the construction of the general tax laws, but to repeal the large number of special acts upon the statute book exempting particular properties. These special, laws had become a great evil. In the city of Philadelphia, houses and lots producing large revenues to the institutions to whom they belonged, to the extent in value of more than a million of dollars, were thus by special law relieved from their share of the local taxes,'and the burden proportionally increaséd on the residue. It is admitted by the learned counsel of the plaintiffs in error, that it had been settled in several cases in this court that the words “real estate” in the Act of April 15th 1834, Pamph. L. 512,
Judgment affirmed.