The record-union., 1892-08-27
Over Property Valuation in San Ber-
nardino.
An AlI-Day Contest Between the State
Tax EquaIizers and OfficiaIs of
That County.

%alCCl DeIHS SNOIu, the REPRESENTATIVES, eS
OF the county Of oranges, coyotes, cac-
fuses, wild mustard, jack rabbits and
other vegetation, arranged themselves in
line of battle and proceeded to show by
process of reasoning that they knew
about as much about what property was
worth down there as anybody.
Mr.. Johnson, the Assessor, opened mp
the attack by stacking up pile of maps
sketched on vellum and neatly bound
and indexed. There was all sorts Of in
formation in these maps, and they
HAD PICTURES ON THEM
representing houses and lots, towns,
turnpikes, canals, orchards and other
property that humanity is constantly ac-
quiring and trying to make valuable to
every eye except the Assessors.
Whenever one of the State Board
wanted to know" Mr.. johnson referred
TO his index, and then proceeded to fill
that member up with concentrated in
formation until he got him speechIess.
After Mr.. Johnson had, figuratively
speaking, laid out his man, the heavy
weight Supervisors Of San Bernardino
jumped on him and filled him as full of
statistics and instances as a porcupine is
full Of quilts.
The board, however, handled its forces
very well and knew enough about tact
and tactics TO hold a portion Of its force
IN reserve, to give ground, and then flank
and attack again in new and unguarded
quarter.
So, while Mr.. Morehouse and Mr..
Beamer were engaged with the enemy,
Mr.. Swan would be resting on his arms
SSetching the group, and Mr.. Hebron
would be liking up some kind of plot to
make any ordinary Assessor think the
world was full of pitfalls and snares.
A fffaH. /,
tlon OF a piece of land had been thor
oughly explained to Mr.. Morehouse, MIR.
Beamer would
SUDDENLY WANT TO KNOW
What telephones were assessed at. or Mr..
Swan would ask in a casual way why an
orchard was worth 80 per cent more last
year than this; and Mr.. Hebron would
suddenly loom up and inquire as to why
outside property had deprecated during
the year in a thrifty region Outside
property in the county had, in some To-
calltles, fallen short % per cent. on the
assessment rolls, Notwithstanding the
TACT that Improvement was constantly 90
ing on. This would be explained in some
cases by showing that crops had failed,
trees been damaged by frosts, fogs or
hoods; and sometimes the inquisitive
member of the State Board would be
knocked out in the first round by fog or
flood, or have his entire argument up
set by hitherto unheard of drought.
TEMEsCAL TIN MINES.
What's the matter with your mines ?''
inquired Mr.. Beamer. "In 1891 you had
double the amount Of money invested in
mines that shows up in this years assess
ment. How about your tin mine? What's
the matter with Calico and Daggett dis
tricts %
The tin mine was a lively topic, and it
G9nJured up the tariff question, the Nc
kinney bill, the Weaver campaign, the
Sullivan-Corbett fight. and various other
topics. The Chairman had to sit down
upon what threatened to be a political
discussion, although the gentlemen from
the south seemed perfectly willing to
change subjects occasionally.
Mr.. Beamer wanted to know, however.
about the tin mine. If there was tin
mine there, there ought to be tin. If they
were mining for tin there, where was the
Sl,0O0,OO0 plant that certain San Francisco
papers had been using in theiraillustra-
lions of the effect of the Mckinley bill?
WE'LL" explained two of the Super
visors, ''ifthey invested that much money
IN the tin mine it was put into SURVEYS.
bitches and reservoirs, which have been
since abandoned"
1t isn't in sight," added the Assessor.
did anybody ever find any tin there?''
queried Mr.. Beamer.
''Dh, yes," replied Mr.. Lord. 81 think
Tin? oh, yes; of course" said Mr..
White.
However, a silence fell, and the tin
topic curled up and slept.
The fact is,' said Mr.. Lord, ''the
mines are not doing well. They are clos
ing down for some reason. There is only
one mill running"
Y es," chimed in a voice, ''only one.
and that's gin mill"
ON ANOTHER TACK.
Then the discussion waxed warmer
over land values. Mr.. Lord of Lords
burg, who owns lands in both Los An
geles and San Bernardino, and talks of
acres as glibly as some men can of apples.
had some very firm opinions. Being a
supervisor OF the latter county he should,
he believed, know something on the sub
ject. He owned more land in Los An
geles County than in San BernardinO
but he did not hesitate to say that land
was assessed twenty-five per cent. higher
in San Bernardino than in Los ANGELES
In the latter they assessed the land and
water together, and IN San Bernardino
they were segregated. In discussing the
valuations OF land Mr.. Lord stated thati
was valued too high in San Bernardino-
comparatively" The qualifying word
was picked up by Mr.. Morehouse, and
resulted In
A COMBINED ATTACK
on the San Bernardino representative.
MIR. Hebron seized tomahawk, Mr..
Beamer a scalping- Mr. Morehouse
got bludgeon, and Mr.. Swan grasped
his paint-brush, and regular war-dance
ensued, in which the LORD of Lordsburg
was the central figure. He was taken in
ambush, surrounded by the enemy and
cut off from his comrades.
He was tied up to a post and made to
define what he meant by Compare
lively" He was asked what land was
worth from Siskiyou to San Diego, and
what 1t was worth particularly in Los
Angeles and San Bernardino. He was
almost made to say that land worth from
500 TO S4UO an acre was assessed at Yalua-
ti0ns of from $40 to $50 or $50. He finally
gasped that lands in San Bernardino
were, perhaps, sheld too high higher
than elsewhere IN the State: but, on be-
ing shown that lands in various other
counties, in orchards, and under similar
conditions, were rated at almost donble
the values in San Bernardino or Los An
geles, he let the board take his scalp and
lay him out, as he murmured that he
'DIDN'r KNOW 1T WAS LOADED"
The next subject taken up was that of
the assessment of banks. There didn't
seem to be much money on hand in San
Bernardino. In fact, when the Assessor
went 10 the banks there they had all just
been drawn upon heavily by the Los An
geleS banks.
"Yes," said Mr.. Morehouse, land
when the Los Angeles Assessor was here
he said he found all the money had been
sent to San Bernardino. The banks
down there seem to be on the verge of
failure. Where are the Commissioners"
Messrs. Hebron and Lord thought it
was singular that banks should be out of
money. They thought if they had a bank
1t would be different.
- don't KNOW" said Mr. Morehouse,
m director in two banks and I can't