The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1907-08-21
ILLEGAL TAXES.

. - SSASO
approval Of Havre newspapers. They
object to any such proceeding, and
resent the action of a committee OF
citizens in seeking to ascertain the
wishes of Chouteau county taxpayers
in reg ard to the matter. The Plain.
dealer, especially. appears to be suf-
fering from another very bad attack
of what has been defined as "a con-
stipation Of thought and diarrhea OF
Words The members of the commit
tee are utterly Indifferent to newspa.
per abuse and misrepresentation, and
have nothing but contempt for such
childish manifestations OF malice,
spleen and petulsnce.
Who will deny the right of any
Montana citizen to test the validity OF
any law to which he may be subject?
1t is one OF the privileges of citizen.
ship to seek protection from injustice
10 the manner prescribed by law. and
the exercise of that right may be in.
voked al any time desired. 1t is a
after of record in Chouteau county
tn at the validity of q school ensus in
the Havre district was at one time q
subject OF dispute, and was taken
into court for determin alton. On an
other occasion, the election of q
school trustee in the Havre district
resulted in an appeal to the courts to
ascertain the legal status Of the ques.
ton. The proper Interpretation of
the law is one Of the purposes for
which courts are created and main.
tanned.
A large proportion OF the laws en-.
acted by legislative assemblies have
to run the gantlet of the courts, and
there is nothing wrong or reprehensi-
BILE in submitting them to such q test.
1t is to the advantage of the com.
munity that such is the case. In the
event that no method Of defense from
unjust or defective laws was available
to citizens subject to their provisions,
we would be in q most unfortunat
condition.
No fair-minded person a take ex.
ception to the exercise of his rights by
any citizen to ascertain the validity Of
any law he is required to obey, or the
legality Of any tax that is levied upon
his property. His right to defend
himself from whatever he believes to
be unjust or illegal will be conceded.
A denial Of such right is q confession
Of blind prejudice or imbecility.
1t is not an unusual occurrence for
a Montana legislature to enact a de.
~fective law. A recent instance Of leg
islation that could not stand a test in
the courts is the estrsy law. which has
been declared unconstitutional, and it
is quite possible that other en- actments
will be found to belong to the same
class.
In the matter of revising or making
additions to Montana tax laws, the
state legislature occasionally makes
mistakes. 1t will be remembered that
a state tax levy was made for the fish
and game warden fund, and was COL
lected for several years. 1t was of
comparatively small Importance, and
its validity was not questioned by an
appeal to the courts. Some eastern
Montana taxpayers finally refused 10
pay this imposition, claiming it a.
illegsl, and no effort was made by
public officials to enforce its collection
in that part Of the state. The obnoxi.
Gus and illegal tax was eventually
abolished by the ninth assembly.
Other instances Of defective tax laws
were the imposition OF special levies
upon livestock for inspection and in.
demnity purposes, and to supply rev.
enue to the wolf bounty fund. The
validity Of these tax levies was never
challenged, and the livestock interests
subject to them paid hundreds OF
thousands of dollars into the public
treasury during the time they we're
operative. The attorney general hav-
ing given an opinion that these special
taxes upon livestock were illegal they
were repealed by the tenth assembly
last winter.
The validity Of q county high school
tax. under the circumstances that OBJ.
tain in Chouteau county, has never
yet been established in the courts.
II it is legal it will mean, under the
most prudent and economical admin.
istration, annual contri buttons from
each taxpayer that will soon aggre-
gate more thar a ten mill levy upon
his property. If it shall be found to
be an illegal imposition, all the a X
payers of the county will be relieved
OF the proposed additional burden.