Arizona republican., 1903-10-18
A THREATENED SUIT
A Tax Payer Wants an Extra Session
 of the Board of Equalization.

Territorial Auditor Nichols yester- day received fCrmidable locking and startling document. He ct first thought he had been arrested. When his trepi- datio,1 had been somewhat overcome he found that there were other persons. companions of his in the coming mis- cry. They were A z. Donau. George A. OmeY. F. II. Parker and F. w. Nel- son.
 On closer cNamihati0n the document appeared to 5e a bin of some sort in an action against the territorial board of equalization of which Judge Nichols is the chairman and of which his fellow cu!prits sare members. The apparent plaintiff in the threatened action was H. !. Bennett. On still closer examina- ton il was found that it was no bill at all but notice of one. The news was broken to the defenda ants gently. They were informed that on October 2S of the current month application would be made in the district court for an alternative writ of mandamus compell- ing the defendants to meet in eXtraor- dinary session and complete their la bors of last June in the matter of the assessment of the Santa Fe Prescott 2 Phoenix railroad. Bissell Thomas appears to be the attorney fo, Mir. Bennett.
 Mr. Bennett is not unknown in Phoe- nix but Mir. Thomas is almost wholly SC. Mr. Bennett is q carpenter and is said to be q most sEiIlful one. He is tEe possessor of fine sense. or at least of an active sense of humOr as all his fellow members. of the Bismarck cluh well know. He has though never until TOW taken an active interest in public affairs. Mir. Thomas may also be q humorist. but it is unexpected that MT. Bennett, eiferVescent as he is should involve the courts and the territorial government in practical joke.
 It is set forth in the first place that the plaintiff to be is voter and q tax payer: that the railroad is a corpora tion and that it was in operation before the meeting of the territorial board of equalization last held for the purpose of assessing the railroads of the ter r;tory: that in the confusion of busi- ness the aforementioned railroad was utterly and entirely overlooked that the court of this district will he called upon for the correction of this ovar- sight.
 1t is true as alleged that the plain tiff is q taxpayer but his taxes ;sr. not
 
 joking ha is acting purely upon prin- ciple for the pecuniaiy gain that would accrue to hin if the road were com pelled to pay taxes would he almost infinitesmal: if the road should be compelled to assist in the bearing of the burden Of the territorial govern mert MT. Bennett when he next pays . his taxes would not realize that any part Of his load had been removed.
 MT. Thomas is a recent arrival in the city and in the territory. He was ad- mitted to the bar in the early part of last week. He came here from St. ] Louis where his father is an eminent corporation lawyer
 Sometime before the arrival of Mr. i Thomas in Arizona certain laws were ! passed known as exemption laws. per ] hitting persons to engage in indus tries of a semi-public nature for cer, | tain periods oi years without the pay ment of taxes. Legislatures which ] passed such laws believed that in doing l so they were working in the interest ! of the territory by the encoura cement i of the development of it's resources It was thought that it would be more ! equitable to offer this kind of en- { coura cement than to cfer straight 1 subsidies
 MT. Thomas may not know of the existence of such laws, or if he does he may have project up his sleeve for l rendering them void and of no effect
 Anyhow it is to be asked that an ex- { traordinary session of the board be held, the road put on the tax roll and , proper return be made to the boards i of supervisors Of the various counties There is another problem. but per haps AIr. Thomas has solution for it. If the alternative writ should be grant ed and if the board of equalization should be dragged into court to show why it should not hold another ses- sion and assess the railroad. and if it should then be ordered that such an extraordinary meeting should be held and the wishes of the plaintiff carried cut. it might be asked when the board should convene. The law fixes the time for that. The time for equalizine CT assessing the values of railroad: is during the month of June and at Il, other time of the year. It is difficult to sec how an order oi the court could change the time Of meeting but per- hans Mir Thomas knows h ,U