The record-union., 1896-06-06
JUDGE WALLACE'S TAXES.
How They Compare With Those Of Judge
Beatty.
The Call" Uses Some Plain Language
About the Return Made by
Judge Wallace.

(frOm the San francisco CALI
There is now proceeding in our courts
before Democratic Judge an action
brought by a Democratic politician
charging a Republican Assessor with
perjury in having sworn to an under
valuation in the assessment of the
Market-street Railway Company, and
in another court there is similar &C
ton against the same official charging
him with perjury for having sworn to
an differentiation in the assessment
of the Judge who presides in the case
first named.
This peculiar condition of affairs not
5nly invites comment but compels it.
Men look to our courts as fountains of
justice and expect to see In the Judges
who preside over them examples Of in
tegrity and honor. How can Judge
preside with fairness or even with de-
cency in the trial of a man charged
with particular offense when the
Judge is himself before another court
accused Of being party to similar
offense? That is the position in which
Judge Wallace now stands before the
people Of San Francisco, and very nat
urally those who have respect for
courts, for Judges and for law regard
his attitude with amazement.
Whatever may be the merits of the
charge against Assessor Siebe, it is
Judge Wallace who is on trial at the
bar Of public opinion. In a case Of
such importance the people have a
right to inquire into the facts involved
in the controversy and to learn what
is the truth of the charge that the
property of the Judge has been under
valued and misrepresented to the As
SCISSOR.
Judge Wallace is known to be a man
OF wealth. By general repute he is
rated as a millionaire. His property in
various parts Of the city is assessed at
about S25O,000. He lives on the corner
Of Van Ness and Eddy, in a stately
mansion, for which he says he paid
$4,000. A man of his known habits
and his wealth may reasonably be as
sumed to have his home furnished and
adorned in a manner commensurate
with it's size and with his social posi-
ton. Nevertheless, in his statement to
the Assessor, Judge Wallace rated the
whole of his household goods at 81 800.
The items and the amounts of the
and deserve notice. They stand in his
statement to the Assessor thus: Fur
niture, 81 400; one piano, 500; two
watches, 500; jewelry and plate, S10O;
library, S100. Total, $500. 1t is a
most suggestive coincidence that the
Judge should have exactly S10O worth
of watches, 500 worth Of books in his
library, $1O0 worth Of plate and jew
elry, and a. piano tuned to such har-
mony with the rest Of the household
that 1t also strikes exactly the S10O
note.
We can best estimate the nature Of
Judge Wallace's statement and best
comprehend how characteristic it Is of
the man by contrasting it with another
tax statement which is also character
istic of the man who made it. The
Chief Justice Of the Supreme Court Of
California, w. H. Beatty, has no in
come apart from his salary, and lives
in a modest house the quiet life Of
stud1ous and unostentatious man. In
his tax statement, however, according
to the Post" of last evening, he re-
turns nearly 90 per cent. more of per-
sonal property than Judge Wallace
His inventory declares it's honesty in
the very items which are thus given:
furniture, $1,000; one piano, $3.50; one
sewing machine, $50; one watch, SIS:
jewelry and plate, $500; firearms, S1OO;
library, $500; wines, $40, and solvent
credits, S2O5. Total, 81 400.
The contrast presented in the two
statements is impressive 1t cannot
fail to deeply affect the public mind.
| a far fsP
Germ. There may be some leniency in
the popular judgment toward the
average man who seeks to escape
taxes by lying in regard to the value
of his property, but of the Judges of
our courts we have a right to expect a
Ffaithful Keeping of the law. It falls
upon our Judges to determine equities
involved in the very question of as
sessment as in this case. and If the
Judges be false how can the courts he
fair?
Justice Beatty's tax statement re-
fleets the character of the 1pright
magistrate, the faithful citizen and the
honorable man he is reputed to be.
That of Judge Wallace, to say the least
of 1t, suggests the tax-shirker. the
trickster, the evader of law and some
thing close akin to the perjurer Ger
tainiy the subject having now been
opened should be thoroughly investi-
gated. The people have a right to de-
mand that Assessor Siebe shall inouire
fully into the truth Of Judge Wallace's
statements. If such inquiry should re-
suit in establishing the accusation of
perjury it would be a wholesome les
son not only to Judge Wallace. but to
every tax-shirker and demagogue.
whether on the bench or off it.