The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-23
LEGALITY OF ENTIRE
 REPORT OF BOARD OF
 RELIEF IS QUESTIONED
Union Typewriter Co, And Other Concerns
 Looking Into Tax Scandal

Questioning the legality of the en- tire report of the board of Relief, as finally submitted to the assessors, rep resentatives of the Union Typewriter Co. and other concerns dissatisfied with the tax list began an investiga- ton today into the tax scandal in volving Mayor Wilson.
 The claim is made that the board of Beliefs original report, signed by all four members of the board or Re- lief and given to Mayor Wilson ana the assessors is the legal report of the board
 If this is the legal report, then the final report, which contained mum first report, will have no standing, 1t is claimed Acting along this line, representatives of the concern began an investigation today.
 The original report of the board of relief made to Mayor Wilson was completed several days in advance of the time required by law. The pre- mature completion of the report, how ever, resulted in activity that brought the report back to the board of re- lief for revision.
 This report has got to be changed" is the statement credited to Mayor Wilson, in connection with the work of tine members of the board. Their original report was therefore revised, with reference to the big manufac~ turing plants.
 Thomas F. White, a member of the board of relief, was the principal op- ponent of Mayor Wilson's orders.
 MT. White said today that he did not threaten Mayor Wilson nor did he hold over the mayor any warn ing that he planned to tell about the activities in the mayors office of the lawyers representing these corpora tions whose tax reductions were made still larger.
 What I did so," said MT. White. was to tell the mayor that I ob- jected to the whole proceedings. objected to making over the list, l objected to granting further -reduc- tions to the factories that had al> ready been taken care of, and I ob- Union Typewriter Co. and from Cur tis & Curtis, the reductions we had seen fit to make.
 q told Mayor Wilson objected, and I stated what my objections were. l did this so that if the matter ever came into court the mayor would know just where I stood on the pro- position
 Disclosure in the Farmer of the un- usual circumstances surrounding the completion of the work of the board of Relief has resulted in searching in vestigation into the procedure of the
 Naturally the board of Relief has not cared about the position Mayor Wilson placed them in, of being di- rected to do over work that they had presumably completed in keeping with the results of their investigations.
 The board of Relief had planned to say nothing about their first report, but to present the report, amended with the generous allowances to the factories designated by the Mayor, as their original report.
 The printing of the original report, with the signatures of the board of Relief. disturbed the plans of the ad ministration to such an extent that the various members of the board are working overtime assuring the Mayor that it was not through their fault that the scandal leaked out.
 It appears that the first report of the Board of Relief was given to the Mayor early last week. and that the subsequent changes were not wholly agreed upon until cary this week. The work of the assessors, who are looked to by the Board of Apportion- ment for a net grand list, for the purpose of estimat ting the tax rate, | was considerably delayed through the double reports and it was not until the eleventh hour that the final fig ures were ready for the Board of Ap- portionmerit son the Board of Relief granted about $120,O0O more than they had original | ly planned to give to four factories. | The chief beneficiaries were the Bridgeport Brass CO, Bridgeport Nal l leable Iron Co., the A. & B. Mfg. Go l and A. T. & s. Co None of these | has any kick coming. But the Union Typewriter Go. which received over S32 .OOO reduction on the first report. | then were placed back at the original | figure of the assessors on the second l