Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-22
NNTOSH CHARGES FORGERY
Says Board Of Equalization Record Was
Fraudulently Altered.
REFEREE WILL HEAR THE EVIDENCE
Judge Ryan Informally Announces
that He VIII Consider Testi-
mSny on Valuation of Cor
poratiOn Properties.

m5ny on Valuation OF Cor 1
pOratiOn Properties.
Two new points cropped out in the tar
mandamus hearing yesterday morning. One
was an admission by the referee that be
had decided to override Mr.. Connell's mo-
tion and hear evidence in the case. The
other was a direct charge by Attorney Nc
Intosh OF forgery in the preparation Of the
record Of the Board Of Equalization.
The charge made by Mt. Mcintosh was
evoked by the statement from Mr.. Webster
that the record Of the board showed that
the corporations had had q hearing.
Yes" said Mr.. Mcintosh. but that part
OF the record is a forgery. When the record
is introduced in evidence your honor will
be able to see that an erasure has been
made; something has been rubbed out, and
these words have been substituted: In ae>
cordance with the request Of F. d. Wead
the hearing Of all complaints against the
franchise corporations was hxed for Friday,
January II, at ? p. m, and the clerk was
instructed to so notify the corporations
These words were added after the iniunc-
ton had been granted by Judge Dickinson,
and when It was seen that they were going
to be needed. This constitutes a clear case
Of forgery. and when the time comes It can
be proved"
Mr.. Webster denied this only in general
terms.
Judge Ryan Drops n Hint.
The announcement By the referee that he
had decided to admit evidence was made
informally in the course Of a private con-
versation with the attorneys. Heretofore
he has always employed the word "ir'
while speaking Of this phase OF the case.
but yesterday he dropped It and referred
to the admission OF evidence as a foregone
conclusion. las 1 have said BEFORE he
resumed. "the trend OF the inquiry will be
very narrow and perhaps you will think
that some OF my rulings as TO the sdmis-
sion and exclusion Of testimony will be
somewhat arbitrary. but by the time we
reach that part Of the inquiry ! shall have
made up my mind pretty thoroughly as to
what lines l wish to hear evidence on"
Mr.. Webster manifested not . little ran
cor yesterday while discussing the case.
During the course Of his argument. MI.
Mcintosh was constantly plying him with
questions, and these irritAted him Sew
eral times he seemed goaded almost to the,
point OF personal violence. During All
this the referee appeared to somewhat
favor Mr.. Webster. mr.. Webster has the
floor" and We'll hear from Mr.. Webster
now" were the remarks he used often by
way OF gently calling Mr.. McIntosh to
order.
webster Defends Record.
Counsel has attacked the correctness Of
the record made by the Board Of Equaliza-
ton" said Attorney Webster. "As a mat
ter Of fact. your honor, that record was
absolutely correct. absolutely formal and
regular in every way. and unless the coun-
sci can break this down in some way his
case must fall to the ground. Here is a
record made by a quasi-judicial body,
clothed with judicial authority. and no
court will permit that record to be attacked
collaterally by issuing a. writ Of mandamus.
this court can do Is to inquire. Was
tAere a hearing?' Was there a Judgment
entered after the hearing?' I don't care
how irregular 1t was. II II was irregular
! or inadequate In any way the remedy was
In q writ Of error. not in a writ OF man
, damus."
. The speaker devoted the greater part Of
\ the forenoon to discussing this phase Of the
case and in citing authorities in support Of
his contention.
. you can't get a court TO issue a writ Of
mandamus to interfere with judicial discre-
q tion." was the keynote Of his argument.
r But when they act arbitrarily, capri
ciously and fraudulently they don't exercise
e judicial discretion" objected Mr.. Mcintosh.
That IN the exercise OF mere will, not OF
judgment"
8 This seemed to nettle Mr.. Webster. He
a walked around the table to where Mr.. Nc
e Intosh was sitting. shook his fist at him and
talked with such frenzy that his nose
a glasses fell on "Tn get at this capricious-
ness OF yours in due time. Mr.. Mcintosh
a he shouted. I'm not attacking this struc-
d ture you've built up here by tearing the
. after II. taking out stone by stone in their
order, and when I'm through there won't
be a stone left. You waitI"
: Takes Up Chicago Case.
Mr.. Webster then took up the Chicago
!, mandamus case. from which Mr.. Mcintosh
|, had drawn extensively.
There is a vast distinction between tn,
Chicago case and the case we have here
A.. he said. II want to show your honor thal
Mr.. Mcintosh doesn't know anything abou'
that Chicago case. He hasn't read 1t Al
read Il. He's been dreaming about 4
n and imAgines it means something that 4
doesn't mean. Now. in the Chicago cas-,
the relator says thirteen OF the corpora.
' tions weren't assessed at all and that the
other seven were assessed so low a., tc
amount, in . legal sense, to no assess
ment. But here in Omaha relator AYERS
nothing OF the kind He admits the cor
pOrations were assessed. and were
assessed high enough. but that
their franchises, which he seems
to regard as q distinct species Of property,
separate from the corporations themselves,
we're not assessed at all. Here is another
difference: The Chicago board against
which the writ was directed was an original
assessing board. within whose prerogatives
lay the right to aSsess the corporations
which had been omitted from the tax rolls.
But here in Omaha the Board OF EqualiEa-
tion Is not an assessing board. but an equal
king board. Mr.. Mcintosh said 50 a half
dozen times, and he was right. You can't
lrequire an equAlizing board to assess prop
erty. because the statutes give 1t no such
power"
M ..id NJ MrIntnsh asnnnnsa TIA.