Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1913-08-22

The members of the county board
of equalization are nearing the close
of their duties, the sessions closing
at midnight tomorrow, and a more
narrowing time has never been equal
ed in the equalization of any county
in this state. From almost the be-
ginning, Attorneys ]. c. Hogan and
w. H. Abel have played the game of
delay, occupying the time of the board
frequently by the hour reading OBJ
jections into the record when they
should have filed them in writing The
result is a mass of objections that
remain to be considered, the proper
consideration of which would require
week or ten days, yet the board
ends tomorrow according to law.
AS predicted at the beginning by
the Herald, the tax dodgers will not
give up their old time immunity with.
out fight. 1t is a matter of dollars
and business with them. The two
attorneys named represent a major.
ity of the most astute T. DIS, and have
worked assiduously from the start 10
pave the way for numberless law suits
in case they failed to secure the con-
sent of the board to permit their
clients to continue to saddle their
just proportion Of the cost of gov
ernment on the other people.
Locke Target Of Abuse
Along this line, they have so cum
bered the record that it Is a physi-
cal impossibility for the board to give
each objection the consideration it
should receive. When these cases get
into court. it will remain to be seen
If the law courts will interfere with
the rolls by reason of the lack of
consideration, when that lack was
caused by the complainants in court.
Commissioner Locke was early rec
ognized by the T. DIS as the best post
ed man on the board on the subject
of taxation, and the attorneys made
him the target for all the abuse they
could pour upon him, with the re-
suit that Mr.. Locke, whose health,
is not good at present, is almost all
in. He was not in physical condi-
tion to bear the strain, nor should
such tactics have been permitted.
The Boards Position
When the board met this morning,
the Grays Harbor mills were taken
up, and it was decided to hear no
more oral testimony after noon today.
1t is predicted here by those who have
followed the proceedings, that the
mill assessments will be allowed to
stand practically as made by Assessor
Wiley, and that the land values will
be given all the attention possible
prior to adjournment at midnight to-
morrow.
The three members comprising the
board of county commissioners find
themselves in this position: If they
adopt the assessment rolls against the
objections of the tax dodgers and fix
a reduced levy, and the large tax
payers fight the payment in the courts
and obtain a reduction upon techni-
calities or errors, the levy will be
to carry on the county,
with the improvements that are con-
and admitted to be neces-
sary. In this event, the thoughtless
will place the blame upon the COM
missioners, and in this they will find
assistance at the hands of the tax
dodgers who caused the trouble.
The contest is and will be put
squarely between the tax dodgers and
taxpayers. Should the courts hold
with the dodgers, and the public
blame the assessor and commission
ers with the shortage of funds that
will ensue, our lodging friends will
see to it that at the elections next
year a more AMIABLE set of taxing
officials are elected. The Herald ven-
lures the prediction now, that the
question of equitable taxation will
be the paramount issue in the 1914
elections in Chehelis county in any
event. The revenue law appears
lame in many respects, and whether