East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-07-05

After months of litigation Umatilla
county has at last won out in its fight
with the o. r. & N. Co, in regard to
the assessment levied upon the COM
pany's property in 1903 by Assessor c.
p. Strain.
By the decision of the supreme
court given Monday evening, and
which reached Deputy Lee Moorhouse
yesterday, the decision of Circuit
Judge w. r. Ellis has been sustained,
ard the appeal of the railroad COM
pany denied.
The suit of the railroad company
was brought on the ground. not that
the assessment was unjust, but that in
1t the property of the company was
improperly described. and also that
the county court erred in making the
levy upon the company's property.
The following extracts from the
lengthy decision show the points In
volved, and the opinions of the SUI
preme court thereon:
This is a proceeding by writ of
review to annul and declare void an
order of the county court of the de-
NOhhNSf lNNSihb n AoN hPpb
the property of the plaintiff as shown
by the assessment roll for the yea:
1903. The petition for the wrlt con-
tains many averments which are de-
MED by the answer or return, but as
questions Of fact cannot be tried In
this proceeding, they will not be fur
tber noticed"
The manner in which the assess
ment was made and the property de-
scribed is then given, and II is told
how, following the assessors notice
the tax agent OF the company ap-
peared before the county board OF
equalization and without objecting in
any way to the listing of its property
or the description thereof. or claiming
that II had been assessed with prop
erty not its own, filed a petition for
the correction of its assessment, first
by reducing the valuation of its road
bed from $4,000 to $500 per mile,
and also for a reduction of the valua-
tions of its other property. The lat
ter was granted In part by the court,
but the roadbed valuation given by
the assessor was maintained.
Error Not Fatal to Tax.
THE plaintiff contends that by
these sections II is the duty of the
county court before levying tax to
make up an itemized estimate Of the
several amounts of money to be raised
for county purposes, and to enter such
estimates at large upon its records,
and that such entry is jurisdictional,
and a failure to make II viii avoid
the tax. Before levying tax the
county court must necessarily make
an estimate of the amount Of money
10 be raised in order to determine the
rate Of taxation, and 1t is proper that
such estimate should be entered OF
record; but we do not understand
that n failure in that respect is fatal
20 the tax.
Description Was Sufficient.
"The other objections made by the
plaintiff all go to the sufficiency of
the tax roll and in the description of
the plaintiffs property as entered
therein. But, however this may be,
we are OF the opinion that the OBJ
iections made to the assessment or
the plaintiffs property are not sur
ficient to invalidate the entire assess
ment. The initials AMI the word 20.
r. & N. Co., The" as used In the
assessment roll are a sufficient entry
of the name of the taxpayer The
plaintiff is commonly known as such,
and indeed It appears in the tax pro-
ceedings. and so signed petitions for
n reduction in the valuation of its
property
ut is the duty of a taxpayer to fur
nish the assessor a list of his real and
personal property liable to taxation,
and to make oath to such list; B. &
C. Comp. 1910. II the plaintiff fur