Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1898-01-20
Secretary Kincaid
Writes a Hot Letter to the County
Court
In Reply to a Letter Charging That He
Sent Out Books Of Poor Quality.

The delay in getting out the Ma.
rion county tax rolls will probably re-
suit in litigation multiplying the
work Of the state board of eQualiZa-
| tiOn. The following letter on the
subject OF who is to blame was signed
| by Judge Terrell and Commissioners
Watson and Davis:
THE COURTS LETTER.
"Hon. H. r. Kincaid, secretary OF
state. Salem Or
"DEAR SIR:-Your attention is re-
spectfully called 10 the fact that the
bank assessment rolls heretofore sent
out by you are so Imperfectly bound
aud papers so inferior 10 quality, that
they are useless for auy practical pur-
poses, and OF no value TO the county.
Unless, an improvement in quality OF
paper and binding is had in the rolls
for 1898, the state should be saved
that expense. These useless rolls
heretofore sent out are what have
caused the assessor of this county to
have other rolls printed aud caused
the muddle in this and last years
work Of the state board OF equaliza-
tiOn."
This letter was given TO the press
and published, but Secretary Kincaid
did not receive copy addressed to
him, Hence he does not ad-
dress letter to the court but gives
out following statement:
KINCAID'S REPLY.
The statement of the Marion county
court concerning the assessment rolls
is an impertinent falsehood. The
county judge gave it out for publica-
tiOn a day before he sent a copy OF il
TO me. This indicates plainly that it
was not intended for my information
but was sent out 10 excuse or draw
attention from the extraordinary per-
fOrmances of his August court in
permitting Marion county, for two
years in succession, tn use, at extra
and worse than useless expense to the
taxpayers, a special form Of assessment
rolls Instead of the regular, uniform
rolls required by law and furnished
alike by the state to each county.
That resulted in litigation and un-
necessary expense to citizens and in
jury TO the state. After making nu-
merOus other attempts to justify or
excuse the failure OF Marion county
to comply with the law in transcrib-
ing and furnishing the assessment re-
turns in the time and manner pre-
scribed, the county judge now assigns
a new reason which was not thought
Of before and With is wholly false, as
the following statement Of Assessor
ID. d. Cotfey, published in the Salem
Dec. 10. 1897, proves: lyy
"NOw l wish to state most emphat
ically that | arranged the assessment
roll for 1896 according To my own ideas
without consulting any one concern
Ing the matter, and am wholly re-
Sponsible for the manner in which it
IS arranged and | did so because l felt
that l was right and L feel so yet, and
I'M ready to defend my position, it
matters not what clique or combina-
lion opposes me-"
Mr.. COtfey originated the special
'Orm in Marion county, as he emphat-
cally states, not because the paper OF |
he binding OF the books furnished by |
he state did not suit him, but for the |
ole reason that he wanted different |
Orm. Ills successor in office, Assessor |
!, w. Hobart, used the same form for |
he same reason last year, because he
IL was more convenient. The |
county court sanctioned or permitted |
Assessors COffey & HJbart to use this
peclal form instead Of the form rec
lll ulcuucu OJ Tue OUdJe DOdTu OI
and majority of the
SCISSORS OF the state and adopted and
ent out by the secretary OF state, in
ooks ruled, printed and bound alike,
o every county excepting Multnomah
lhich requires books of different
haracter. Neither the assessors nor
he county court were influenced in
he slightest degree by the quality of
he paper or the binding Of the books
lrnished by the state or pretended TO
e so influenced when they adopted
different form.
BY permitting that special form to
e used the court aud perhaps In fact
he judge is responsible for all the
lwSuits, expense and trouble that
as resulted FROM IL up TO this time
+ may result from IL hereafter in
litS now pending.
When the disgraceful proceedings
the county court in several matters
recalled matters which greatly af-
,ct the integrity aud competency OF
udge Terrell-it perhaps will create
D wonder that Judge Terrell allows |
imSelf TO be made stool-plgeOn and
'els no compunctiOn at making "A
atement he knows To be false.
EAp HTrN,TER A man who ra. |