Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1912-02-19
Plans Adopted May Render
Expensive Cruise Of
Lands Valueless
MAKING REPORTS PUBLIC
Loses a Source of Revenue
--- Much Timber May
Escape Taxation

IN referring TO the drtlcle puDllSneQ
exclusively by the Herald last Mon
day, exposing the fact that the reports
of the timber cruise were being re-
vealed to the Weyerhauser Timber
Co., the Aberdeen World on Tuesday,
contained the following statement
from Assessor Jones:
In justice of the tax payers who
have been spending time and money
coming to this office On a wild goose
chase, | want to deny these stories,
"Scores of timber owners, anxious
to see what the county cruise on their
property is. have been coming here
all week. Scores more have written,
asking that we forward them report.
There are but five or six townships
on which returns have been made.
There yet remain about 40 and no re-
turns on these will be available be-
fore April 1 at least.
'The statement that Mr. Weyer-
hauser received the cruise on the
holdings of his company is not true.
He came here to look up taxes. and
asked to see reports on his property
that we had in our possession. We
had but small part of his holdings
reported to us, and we showed these
to him, but the report did not cover
enough timber to warrant a trip
here"
If Assessor Jones is reported cor
rectly, the Herald is at loss to ac-
count for his statement. There are
about as townships in the county, and
the Herald is informed by County
Cruiser J. A. McGillicuddy that at the
date referred to the reports of %
townships, about one-half the county,
had been turned over to the assessor
by him. They were turned over upon
a verbal order of the county commits
sioners, made on the evening of Feb.
5, and on the morning of Feb 8 Mr..
Marshall, representing the Weyer-
hauser Timber Co., was at the court
house transcribing the reports
The publicity given the matter by
the Herald caused other timber own
ers to take notice, and last week the
Grays Harbor Commercial Co. had a
man at the county seat for a similar
purpose. In what bears the earmarks
of an inspired article, the Montesano
Vidette undertakes to contradict the
statement of the Herald, and in so
doing overshoots the mark. According
to the Vidette there were reports in
from but two townships, and the or
,f ho cio Il
and published some time ago
The Herald always observes the
published reports of the commission
ers, failed to see anything of this or
der, of Feb. 5, in the report as pub
lished in the official paper of Feb. 8,
and we have the statement of the
county cruiser that % township re-
ports had been turned in instead of
the insignificant number alleged to
have been stated by Assessor Jones
and published in the Vidette 1t at
once becomes evident that somebody
is wrong, and the query naturally oc-
ours, what for? If the reports We're
to be considered public, why was not
all owners notified, instead of having
to wait for the information upon the
Herald news item, and why is such
a strenuous effort made to contradict
that item?
The cruise of the county will cost
about $4,000, which would include
blue prints of each township, and
Cruiser McGillicuddy estimates that
if the reports were kept secret, the
sale of those blue prints would have
more than paid for the cruise within
two years, and, with that object in
view he has sedulously guarded them
from the commencement of the cruise.
The cruise is made at the expense
of all property in the county, yet
the attitude now assumed by the au-
thorities is calculated to favor GER
tain land holders at the expense of all
others. The sale of this information
through blue prints--would have
saved the county the cost Of the
cruise, and placed it upon those in
terested-where 1t belongs.
Tho manila NJ Chohalis county clam.