The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1906-04-20

ShatPS OF stocks aud these bonds
and evidences of debt are valued
or assessed by the assessors an
/ pointed 10y the Governor and the
/ County Commissioners they will
not hc assessed "iR accordance
! lctth' the General Laws relating
/ to revenue and taxes. You can
not say that in order To assess
! the stock domestic corporations
I and local national banks ..lu
accordance with" the General
/ Law, the State Tax Commits
sloner must make the valuation,
without at the same time also
saying that in order 10 assess the
stock of foreign corporations and
bonds and evidenc, of debt "in
accordance with" the General
Laws relating to revenue and
taxes, the assessors appointed by
the Governor and by the County
Commissioners must make the
+ valuation. If these last named
assessors must make the assess
ment, then the assessors appoint
ed by the city cannot make an
assessment of the stock of foreign
corporations, or of bonds or of
evidences of debt. This conSe
| Quence follows from the express
terms of the provisO. Stocks
which the State Tax Commits
I Sloner alone can assess are
coupled i'll the proviSO with stocks
and bonds to which assessors ap-
/ pointed under the General Law
alone can assess. and if he assess
ment of the one 10 he lin accord
ance with" the General Law. can
not be made by the ely as
seSSorS-aS it has been distinctly
i decided by the Court of Appeals
in 50 Maryland that it could not
be-then it is obvious that the
! assessments of the other named
| securities to be sin accordance
! with" the General Laws. cannot
be made by the city assessors
either. There is no canon of
construction which will Justify
he splitting up of the proviso
I into fragments and the applica-
ton of the General Laws to
portion of its terms and the de
NAL of their application to the
residue of those terms. The con
clusion is therefore irresistible
that the city assessors have no
power to assess dRy stocks, bonds
or evidences of debt, and they
OF course, therefore. have no
power to require the residents of
he city to list such securities at
all. Additional legislation is
the only remedy for the situation
in which the city finds itself.
There is another prime p e
which should not be lost sight of
i'll aScertaining the meaning aud
III determining the scope of the
above quoted proyiso. That prln.
ciple is thus stated by Judge Dill
Ion in his work of municipal cor
porationS at Section 6l0-"As
the authority to levy taxes or to
make local assessments does NOT,
as we have just seen, exist unless
unequivocally conferred, so it
can be exercised no further than
1t is clearly giren, and il the
mode in which the authority shall
be exercised is prescribed, that
mode must be purSued." The mode
constitutes the measure of the
power. The mode prescribed in
the provisO is the mode fixed in
the general revenue laws of the
State, and it is, therefore, exclus-
i've of any other mode, and con,
sequently precludes the city as
SCISSORS from making any valua-
ton of, or making any inquiries
concerning any shares Of stock,
any bonds or evidences of debt,
owned by citizens of Frederick.
Now a word or two as to the
valuation of the real estate within
the city. 1t Is true the Act of
1904 declares that the assessment
'shall not be eUidence of valua,
ton for purposes of State or
county taXation," but it does not
repeal or in any way modify Sec
tions IA and 10 of Article 81 of
the Code. Suppose an inflated
valuation should be put on the
real estate located i'll the city,
the County Commissioners could,
under the sections just referred
to, summon before them every
person whose assessment had
been increased by the city AS
SCISSORS and could place upon the
county books the amount of that
inc! ease. No one in the posses
sion of his normal mental facul-
ties can deny this statement.
Not only could the County Com
miSsionerS make the increase for
State and county taxes, but they
would be Obliged to do so, be
cause Section ii expressly declares
that the County Commissioners
"ShGU correct and alter the as
SeSSment so as to con.