lessee. Not a single instance has come down of any act of
leniency on Astor's part in extending the time of tenants in arrears.
Whether sickness was in the tenant's family or not, however dire its
situation might be, out it was summarily thrown into the streets, with
its belongings, if it failed in the slightest in its obligations.

While he was availing himself of the rigors of the law to oust tenants
in arrears, he was constantly violating the law in evading assessments.
But this practice was not by any means peculiar to Astor. Practically
the whole propertied class did it, not merely once, but so continually
that year after year official reports adverted to the fact. An
Aldermanic report on taxation in 1846 showed that thirty million dollars
worth of assessable property escaped taxation every year, and that no
bona fide efforts were made by the officials to remedy that state of
affairs.[135] The state of morality among the propertied classes--those
classes which demanded such harsh laws for the punishment of vagrants
and poor criminals--is clearly revealed by this report made by a
committee of the New York Board of Aldermen in 1847:

For several years past the evasion of taxation on the part of
those engaged in the business of the city, and enjoying the
protection and benefits of its municipal government and its great
public improvements, has engaged the attention of the city
authorities, called forth reports of committees and caused
application to the Legislature for relief, but the demands of
justice and the dictates of sound policy have hitherto been
entirely unheeded.

Necessarily they were unheeded, for the very obvious reason that it was
this same class which controlled the administration of government. This
class distorted the powers of government by calling either for the
drastic enforcement of laws operating for its interests, or for the
partial or entire immunity from other laws militating against its
interests and profit. The report thus continued:

Our rich merchants and heavy capitalists ... find excuses to
remove their families to nearby points and thus escape all
taxation whatever, except for the premises that they occupy. _More
than 2,000 firms engaged in business_ in New York, whose capital
is invested and used in New York, and with an aggregate personal
property of $30,000,000, thus escape taxation.[136]

DEFRAUDING A FINE