The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1899-10-31
TIE TAX LIST.
Its Preparation an Immense Task and Its
Accuracy Of Great Pecunlary Value.

Its Preparation an Immense Task and Its
Accuracy Of Gteat Pecuniary Value.
Few who look over the sheriff's notice
Of tax sale, which goes with this issue Of
THE Journal, will have any idea Of the
amount Of work that has been expended
in getting up the list, which occupies
over % columns Of fine type.
II has been found heretofore, in at
tempting TO sell property for delinquent
taxes, that there we're lew bidders, and
very few pieces Of property would be bid
in for the amount of the taxes conse-
quently the taxes have not been paid.
The reason has been attributed TO faulty
descriptions in the published notice of
sale, which would not agree with the
recorked descriptions Of the property.
In the last delinquent tax sale there
were about 1900 different pieces of
property advertised. OF these, only
about 100 could be recommended as safe
investments, on account of defects in
the descriptions, and as matter Of
fact, only about l75 pieces were actually
sold, for that reason.
This year the officers Of the county de
termiDed that they would not fall down
on this point, and Frank Waters and A.
A. Lee, of the Salem Abstract Com
pany, we're employed to prepare cor
rect list of the property on which taxes
we're delinquent.
The work was commenced on June
Il, and has been steadily prosecuted
ever since, az many as four and five peo-
pie being sometimes employed on it, and
it was finished just before THE Journal
went to press last Thursday.
IL has been necessary 10 do this work
mostly during the night, in order to
get the use of the tax rolls while not
needed by the sheriff for tax collection.
This has greatly increased.the amoint of
labor involved and made the work more
difficult and trying.
The description Of every piece Of prop
erty on the list has been corrected
and verified from the records and the
deeds themselves, and the published
description Is verbatim ct literatim,
word for word and letter for letter, like
the deed which last conveyed the prop
erty.
This has heen an immense task, as
can be readily seen by examination of
the list, Not the slightest deviation
from an absolute copy has been allowed
to creep in; and the result is that a sale
ne this publication will be lawful and
valid.
This absolute accuracy and elimina-
ton Of error has been rendered possible
only by the set OF abstracts belonging TO
the gentlemen who have done the work +,
taken in conjunction with their long ex
perience in the abstract business and
their familiarity with the title and own
ership of nearly every piece of land in
Marion county.
Sheriff Durbin is highly pleased with
the position in which he finds himself
in his ability to enforce the collection of
these taxes.
The expense Of the work will be repaid
many fold by the money that will be
paid in on taxes which otherwise would
never have been paid. No ought-to-b
tax payers will this year sit back and
laugh in his sleeve because his property
can not be sold on defective published
description. And every honest taxpayer
will find his burden lightened by the
enforcement of all collections