The Meeker herald., 1902-02-15

rectificatiOn of the assessments OF the
board Of assessors. Judge Campbell
returned from Europe in order to make
that decision" said he. at would have
been to the eternal credit of the state
II he had remained In Europe. The
purpose Of the decision WAS to permit
Judge Kiner to get his nose In. and he
succeeded. His opinion was not le-
gal but political opinion. Nay, nay,
not that-it was corporation decis-
lon. 1t will go down to pOsterity ms
the greatest monument to disgrace
ever erected In this state. The Judge
went even farther than he was asked.
He not only declared the board Of thir-
teen assessors unconstitutional, but he
announced that the Legislature could
not vest assessing power In the fifty
seven assessors sitting as board. He
said that an assessor had no authority
outside his. own county. We have
ffty-seven sheriffs created by the same
law as the assessors, and no one Ques-
tons their power outside their home
counties. 1t is an inherent power In
the Legislature to confer additional au.
thOrity upon a statutory or constitu-
tiOnal officer so long as that authority
makes for the interests of the state.
cured new class Of lawyers and cor
porations decided to dodge their taxes"
Mr.. Bradley of Arapahoe county has
introduced the following resolution In
relation to the controversy at the State
School of Mines: "Whereas. It 10 man.
ifest by articles which have appeared
in several of the daily papers of the
state that serious condition Of affairs
prevails at the State School OF Mines
mt Golden; and, whereas, 1t IL alleged
that the students of said institution
are In open rebellion against the fac
ulty thereof: and whereas. the students
of said institution ,allege the most
grievous abuses of their rights and
privileges on the part Of the faculty,
and numberless discourtesfes; and,
whereas, the said students declare they
Will cease their attendance at the insd.
tuition unless the abuses alleged are cor
rected; and. whereas. such condition
of affairs and the allegations made on
the part of the students Of the said In
stitution are OF such nature as to de-
mand a most searching Investigation
of the charges made. and also the gen.
eral conduct and management OF said
institution by the faculty and Its trus-
tees; therefore. be 1t resolved by the
House OF Representatives, the Senate
concurring therein, that committee OF
Ave be appointed. three on the part of
the House and two on the part OF the
Senate. to investigate the charges
made against the management and the
faculty of said Institution, and report
back to the General Assembly as early
as practicable; resolved. that the COM
mittee have power to subpoena and
examine witnesses and require them to
testify under oath in order that the
investigation may be full and ef.
fective."
The House spent nearly all Of Mon
day discussing the revenue bill. Judge
Schveigert resumed his speech In Ia
vOr Of the state board Of equalization.
He declared that the board of assess
ors increased the assessments OF the
corporations Us retaliatory measure.
1.-The railroads made a great mistake"
said he, when they ignored the ASSESS
sentntIon of their case, this valuation
would have been materially reduced.
You might as well attempt to pass an
act to bind the Union as to give an MS
SCISSOR power outside his county.
When the Individual assessor meets
with his colleagues lie surrenders his
discretion md nbldes by the will of the
majority. At least that would be the
effect If this law means anything, and
am discussing 1t on the suppOsitlon
that 1t does mean something. 1t will
not he galnsaid that an officer cannot
surrender his discretion. II he does
his act is void. The Legislature could
trust the board Of equalization to make
the assessments for the next year, or
until the constitution might be
changed. He pointed out the political
advantage of going before the people
of Colorado this fall with candidates
who would be members of the bOurd
of equalization. and who would stand
on platform pledging an enforcement
of the revenue law. He concluded with
an appeal to the House to defeat the
amendment, and as he re-
sumed his seat he was warmly APP
ilauded. Mr.. Ballinger argued that the
decisions of Judges Dixon and Rlner
were neither of them the opinion of
court of final resort. Eventually the
Supreme Court of Colorado must de-
termlne the validity Of the law. Judge
Riner held that the constitution did not
authorize the assessors to do anything
outside their county, but he did not
argue that the constitution forbade the
of that power. This Legis-
lature is not possessed of sufficient
power to compel the assessor of Park
county to assess the private property
Of his county at full cash value, while
the board Of equalization Is assessing
corporate property at 20 cents oil the
dollar. He will go to Jail, II necessary,
the county commissioners will go with
him and we will support him. Mr..
Of San Juan delivered IN
eloquent speech in support Of entrusr-
Ing the assessors with the duty Of as
sessing corporate property. He In
sisted that It was not proposed TO ere
ate board Of assessors and he charged
the minority with incorporating the
position of the majority. He believed
the Supreme Court erred when 1t held
that the board Of equalization had as
lea