Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-28

he'd signed several Of the original eighty.
eight complaints He then laid the foun-
dalton to prove that, notwithstanding the
boards record there had in reality been no
nearing on the eighty-eiEht complaints
Court adjourned for the noon recess.
Debate Not a Hearing.
At the close of the noon recess F. d.
Wead resumed the stand, and Mr.. Mcintosh
took up the cross examination. Now, in
reference to the alleged hearing Of those
eighty-ei complaints" said the attorney
isn't It true that nothing occurred be-
.ore the Board Of Equalization in
that connection except debate be-
tween several members of the Real
Estate exchange, Mr.. w. s. Popple-
ton and Mr.. Mcintosh on one side and sew
eral corporation officers and corporation
lawyers on the other?"
Attorney Morsman objected to this as
not proper cross-examination, and Mr.. Nc
Intosh said:
Your honor. they contend there was a
hearing and that the result OF that hearing
was an adjudication OF our complaints.
Now, we want to show that there was no
hearing and consequently no adjudication"
Attorney Morsman's objection was sus-
tanned
"Mr. wead, Ia IL true that taxpayers
other than members Of the Real Estate
exchange are contributing to the support
Of this litigation?" was the next question
OF Mr.. Mcintosh
Yes, that is true"
About what proportion of members to
nonmembers?"
"oh. there are three or four times as
| nonmembersT'
Mr.. Mcintosh then read over the names
! appearing on the eighty eight complaints,
and asked the witness to tell whether or
not the signers were members Of the ex-
change. II was found that only about one
fourth Of them we're members.
| Authority to sign Complaints.
Attorney Morsman questioned the author
! ity OF the real estate agents to sign com
plants in the names of their principals.
| Several OF the complaints were so signed,
he said. Mr.. wead said he thought none
of the agents signed without authority
Tax Commissioner Fleming was recalled
by the respondents.
"Mr. Fleming, you said the other day that
you sent out blank schedules to taxpayers,
to be filled in by them with items OF their
property and it's value" said Attorney
Morsman. Did you accept these values as
| conclusive?'
II did unless I had some good reason to
question the truth of the returns; then |
had the facts investigated"
But you wouldn't have any good reason
unless you happened to know or suspect
the facts, and this in the nature Of things
could happen only in rare instances. Isn't
that true?"
Mr.. Fleming didn't agree with Mr.. Mors-
man.
Now, your honor" said the attorney
how can there be any basis Of assessment
or any uniformity Of assessment II the tax
commissioner Is going to take the word oi
Tom, Dick and Harry, sent In indiscrim-
ipately, without oath or other check upon
their tendency to prevaricate?"
The referee said he wouldn't go into that
phase Of the case.
webster Calls shriver.
Relator William G. shriver was the next
witness on the stand, to which. much ia
the surprise Of the spectators. he was called
by Attorney Webster OF the respondents
He testified that he had signed twenty ot
the original eighty eight complaints, eight
Of them as an individual and twelve OF
them by the firm name Of Wyman-Shriver
company, In the firms capacity as agent
1 for the owners
"Did the owners authorize you to sign
for them?" was Mr.. Webster's next ques-
t!cn.
! "Yes, sir, have the written permission
Of each OF them to sign for them and tc
represent them In this litigation"
Mr.. Webster said he didn't care to ad-
dress any more questions to this witness
He was cross examined by Attorney McIn-
tosh.
"I notice, Mr.. Shriver." said he, that In
addition to your individual signature
which is written in ink, there Is also or
these complaints the name OF the firm, wy
-Shriver company, in rubber stamp
: why did you put that there?'
80 that when the Board OF EqualEa
tion fixed the time for hearing them a no
tice of the fact could be sent to our ONCE.
well, was there any such notice sent p
Mr. Shriver's negative answer wal
drowned by Attorney Websters objection
That's not REORGANIZATION" b,
shouted. 81 didn't ask the witness any
thing about whether a notice had been sen
him or not"
The referee sustained the objection. Th,
/, hearing adjourned until $3.50 this morning