Los Angeles herald., 1891-10-24

Yesterday morning Judge Wade, in
department three OF the superior court,
rendered decision in the important
cases of the Los Angeles Savings bank,
Main Street Savings bank and Security
Savings Bank and Trust company
against J. w. Hinton, city assessor, at
tacking the validity of his assessment
OF the banks. The decision was upon
denurrers made by the defendant, and
Judge Wade, after quite long discus
sion of the cases, sustains it. The court
says in part;
TfIn each of the complaints it is al
legged that the assessor proceeded under
the charter of the city of Los Angeles,
and plaintiff in his brief in order ID at
tack the validity of the assessments,
maintains that the city OF Los Angeles
has no constitutional power to levy
taxes, hence has no legally qualified as
SCISSOR. 1t is not doubted but that the
city is chartered by a constitutional
method; butt is claimed that there is no
general law-no statute enacted by the
Notwithstanding corporations or
ganized under freeholders' charters to
assess for taxes. 1t would be
indeed very strange if the con-
stitution under the provisions of
which the inhabitants of the city OBJ
tanned it's charter, and which declares
that such charter shall become the
charter of such city, and the organic law
thereof, and shall supersede any exist
ing charter, and any amendments there
OF, and all laws inconsistent with such
charter could be construed as contem-
plating the legal existence of a body
corporate and polite possessing import
ant police powers, and the power of in
curing great expenses for municipal
purposes, but with no power to collect
revenues with which all this could be
accomplished.
The court further says ''It is also
maintained by plaintiff thatsectio 36l7,
political code, which provides that the
deposits of savings and loan corporations
shall not be assessed to the creditors or
owners thereof, does not say that they
shall be assessed to such corporations.
Nevertheless, the section does say that for
the purpose OF taxation such deposits
shall be deemed and treated as an in
terest in the property of such corpora
tions, and it would be difficult to con-
strue the meaning of this provision as
anything more or less than declaration
that they should be assessed to the cor
poration.
'The point upon which plaintiffs
strongest argument is based is, briefly
stated, that this section of the political
code is intended to apply only to depos
it's which in fact still belong to the
depositor, and the corporation only acts
as his agent in caring for, investing and
loaning them. However, if it were at
tempted to assess these deposits to the
depositors, he would very promptly re-
ply that they were deposited
with a savings and loan corpor-
alton, and could not be assessed
to him. To plaintiffs argument
he would reply that the law makes no
exception as to deposits which drew in
terest or were subject to his check, and
as all statutes and proceedings for the
collection of taxes are subject to strict
construction, he was clearly exempt,
and the court would be compelled to
hold with him. The law was not in
tended to be so framed as to make de-
posits with these corporations assessable
either to the individual depositors, or to
the corporation, in the alternative, ac-
cording to the manner in which the cor
poration carried on its business. If the
corporation has accepted deposits upon
terms that leave it no opportunity to
secure indemnity for the burden legally
assumed ON behalf of the depositor, it
must endure the consequences. In
constituting the statute, the court
cannot assume that any particu-
lar corporation previously organ
lied was the only kind OF saw
ings and loan corporation to be affected,
but must take the act of the legisl ature
as expressing its plainest and most OBJ
vious meaning, and as applicable to all
corporations incorporated for the pur-
pose in whole or in part, OF doing the
business of savings and loan institu-
tons.
1.-THE demurrers are each sustained,
with ten days leave to plaintiff to
amend"
CANNED AND DRIED FRUIT.