Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-10-27
Mr. / ,lillir> Def n>e.

Section > 30 of the Code. Which tUi
the ILr o-a Of lie eIence Ne repro
as follows:
The larson h Idirg The Iirr %: Can
" Auditor or icpujN. or PERFORMING ~
Huii.'- snail not Practice - an attorney
nor r'pr' sent any Iti>"u nitniii- .'''\
c!tI,u against the t'.ii!f'N. ~ 80 ~ Z"
Ir,r.i.l,. any lr-i>i;stINo OF ulh.-' .,-;lrn -
>aiu county hoard A,.d ti, amy a.
djtnr dht!nG his lrr'u at ";ilr-. tist :,ftN
driutN ~ hin al.'"nit' 4. i hti'hE IT.
IutiI!i'i from yer .'rinin. thu Hr'.r> -.
amy ot!"r county oi!", ~ d'':In- - 'i''l g!
tur any ether trpHii'N officer. y 3" = 3
any ".h"r county 't!ircr - las deputy 49,
as ariiItnr 60 t!"illt> "r perform ANY ''i
tn" iui'~ -aiH olii'c.
Then fo.lowei number OF quo
tions addressed to- Mi Phillips, III.
County Auditor. nnd the favor Of Il
lepiv was c1rr. u>l> urged up III
him. IA the Transcript of the eek
sr,c diny. hat 3 Il lie nan Ell, " ors
to mee: the " aScus .tiOrs' he ale1e:,
We're made, and admits, every point
nateriul to tie matter at issue; but
lest We should be accused IF nis
gu / ES HE zen l. III We hail cory
his exact languaye. Here it is:
Nov with re-a Il to tn. charge. that
acted a. AT. ru,y for Tie. X. X. 60. Ih,
facts S.luniy III, So: la ADJUST, ioe1,
p White the EoJrI OF commissioners Were,
sitting as Il EoArd of Equalization. for the
tXtfcss :pnse OF hearing OIL icc:InIis to,
ar IN, tt. ..ttf
! roll OF that year, there were macy prop
trty owners throughout the county that
requested me To lay their applications
before the board, for correction OF their
respective assessments, on account OF
membranes which by law they were
then entitled TO; among others was the X.
X. Co.
These applications, whether coming
! from the poorest or wtalthicSt ritZpn of
! the county. were entitled To consider alton
| from the Board at that time. These ap-
| plicationS invariably presented upon re-
quest of the parties interested, and fur
ni>hed the Board such information AS the
records of NV office afforded relative to
the nature and character of such incuni-
ORANGES. Inthi> matter have done moth
ing to regret OF apologize for. Had done
less, should have deserved censure.
1t will be readily seen that Mr..
Phillips lodges the issue. Nobody
disputes the right of any individual
or corporation to ask for the cor
rection Of any error made in assess
ment, when the Commissioners sit as
a Board Of Equalization, nor their
privilege of filing with the Auditor.
acting as Clerk of the Board, their
grounds for a reduction, but the law
does explicitly debar him from act
ing as agent of any person whatso-
ever. Section 2,S76 makes it the
duty of the Assessor, when required
to attend the sessions of the Board
. and give such information as may be
: required regarding assessments, and
Section 1873 allows "any person,
or his attorney or agent" to attend
and apply for the correction of any
error in assessment, but (Sec. q
722,) the person holding tie office
of county Auditor shall not rep
= resent any person making any claim
against the county, or seeking to
procure any legislative or other &C.
ton by the said county Board. q"
MIR. Phillips, by his own admission
did this, for the railroad company,
> and attempts to justify it by the
affirmation that did similar service
for others. While this statement,
if true. by no means justifes the act,
the fact be carefully ignores is that
. he was tie paid agent Of the railroad
company at The time he asked aud re-
ceiced the reduction on The raluation
Of the railroad property. The assess
lnent bad been made by the Assessor,
!. the legally authorized officer, who
had quite as full information of the
nature of the claims as Mr.. Phillips.
He refused to allow item. The COM
pany then applies through their Sec
rotary (who is likewise Auditory for an
lowance rejected by the Assessor,
and SO potent is his influence with
8 the Board that not only sundry
mortgages held by the stockholders
aye credited on the roll, but some
1000 besides, doubtless for good
measure"
But Mr.. Phillips seems to have
realized that his defense was a weak
, one for in the second paragraph of
the published letter, he says:
In reply to this charge, have only 10
state that the STANDARDS eagerness to
, strike at q political opponent mas exposed
ITS ignorance o: the law so readily quoted
/, Sec. 2, 722, of which l am accused of viul-
ating in August, 1881 tras ma rnact,yf n,ifiU
TIE November foiiO,cng.
In this statement Mr.. Phillips be.
trays either ignorance or desire to
wilifully misrepresent facts. All of
Section 1922, prohibiting the Au.
ditor from acting as attorney before
the Commissioners, is taken from
the Statues of 1869. The law has
been in existence ever since that
gentleman has been in office. We
will not under-rate his boosted
ability" so much as TO assume
that be was ignorant of its exis-
tence. A popular axiom says, at
is better to be knave than fool"
and we greatly fear that MIR. Phil
lips, has been SO closely pressed
that be has seized upon a horn of
the dilemma, which only this heret.
ical doctrine will justify.
The portion of Section 1922 re-
lating to the employment of other
county officers as deputy by the Au-
| 6ai0r xroo ,occol