The record-union., 1892-09-02

Mr.. Ellert said they had nothing
further to show, only the Assessors rec
OrdS and rolls.
At this point Mr.. Beamer opened up
hitherto concealed battery and the met
ropolitan ranks were riddled. he read
from his little list that 5.3I8 mortgages
showed an excess above the assessments
on them, and 495 mortgages were not
assessed at all; S5,17l ,54I escaped taxa
ton on these mortgages alone; 81, ,525
of this amount was OF mortgages held by
the Hibernia Bank and the German
Savings and Loan Society.
He showed that banks were only loan
ing 90 per cent. on the value of property,
while the assessment of it was only 40
per cent. of the real value. Property on
the best streets in the city showed reduc-
ton Of 10 per cent. in valuation-that on
Kearny. Sutter and Market.
Volleys of hot shot like these came in
from all quarters on the taX-evaders
from San Francisco, and the best of them
began to hunt cover.
Then came up a list of "arbitrary as
sessments."
These arbitrary assessments were those
levied by the Assessor, where the prop
erty-holders refused to give in statements
Of the value of their property. The list
contained large portion of the leading
firms, banks and houses of the city.
AluOIS GlSlll "CIG LuS iOl1ONAhS' 1DoIlh
of California, Daniel Meyer, Bucking
ham 81 Hecht, Anglo-California Bank.
Levison Bros, London, Paris and Ameri-
can Bank, Timothy Paige, San Francisco
Gas Light Company, George c. Shreve,
Spring Valley Water Company, Levi
Strauss &; Co., w. w. Montague Il Co.,
H. Levi q Co., Livingston Il Co., Whit
tier, Fuller & Co., SAKE Bros. IL Co., w.
J. Sloane IL Co., and others.
This was a remarkable showing, and
was accounted for by the statement that
San Francisco merchants, bankers and
others swore they could not give correct
statements Of their property, and there
fore declined giving any at all, and left it
for the Assessor to levy an arbitrary as
sessment upon them.
There were 9,081 of these arbitrary as
sessments in San Francisco, and Mr..
Burling said these people invariably said
they could not swear to stock on hand,
nor the value of their possessions.
"Did you believe them ?" queried Mr..
Morehouse. "In case of fire it has been
shown they get down to dollars and
cents"
All Mr.. Ellert and Mr.. Burling could
reply was that they had to believe sworn
statements of responsible, reputable
and leading citizens.
Mr.. Splitter, the Assessor of Santa
Clara County, was present and Mr.. More
nOuSC dShSu dlIll W
assessments"
Mr.. Splitter said they were made when
persons refused to give statements of
their property after being served with
notice.
Very WELL" said Mr.. Morehouse.
"How many individual assessments have
you this year, Mr.. Spitzer?"
about 1900"
"How many of them were arbitrary ?''
None this year," said Santa Clara's
Assessor.
The Assessor of Alameda was also
present, and stated that 10000 separate
assessments were levied in Alameda.
"How many of these were arbitrary ?"
asked Morehouse.
''Only one out of the 10000" said the
Assessor"
The situation was trif1e embarrassing
to the San Francisco delegation, and
there was remarkable amount of mod
esty discernible in the room just about
that time.
Mayor Sanderson made a brief speech,
defining his position, saying he was kept
very busy and was not able to follow all
the doings of the Board of Supervisors.
He was on seven commissions and
obliged to be here, there and elsewhere,
and he had only a limited knowledge of
the transactions OF the board.
Mr.. Morehouse thought there was
something wrong generally in San Fran
cisco. Last year the Board of Supervis-
ors struck property off the roll with the
advice of the attorney, and this year he
refused to advise them, and they did it
without him.
AS final shot Mr.. Beamer asked Mr..
Ellert If he knew any reason why the
savings banks, for instance, should avoid
paying taxes on over S5,000,0O0 in mort
cages? He would like to know it if there
was reason.
Mr.. Ellert couldn't answer. He re-
ferred Mr.. Beamer to the Assessor.
The Assessor kept quiet.
1t was late hour when the board ad-
journed till this morning