Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1913-08-19
CONTINUED from Page One).
Who 10 Who and Why.

So far as the hearings have gone,
the greatest complaints come from
concerns which refused to list their
property. If a small farmer, with,
say fifty chickens, refuses, or neglects,
to list the chickens. the assessor
not only has the right, but is re-
quired by law to make an arbitrary
guess at their number. If he calls
them Is, the little chicken rancher
has no redress before the equaliza-
ton board. He is shown the detail
list, which he failed to make out,
and is pointed to the law. Now, this
law-with which the Herald is by no
means satisfied-makes no distinction
between the rancher and the saw mill
with q million feet Of lumber in the
yard. It lays down the duty of the
assessor absolutely without any power
of discrimination. The law, wise or
unwise, at least intends to play fair.
The Collectors
Thus far the objections have come
largely from those who should be
barred by the rule applied to the
chicken rancher. They failed or re-
fused to give the assessor the nee.
essary information upon which to
base an equitable assessment, and
now complain that it is inequitable.
The writer remembers an old latin
rule in law which says, when you
seek equity in court you must come
with clean hands," How, in the case
under consideration, can those who
refused the assessor the knowledge
upon which to base their valuation
object to the sum placed upon the
rolls? They are barred by every rule
of law and civic honesty. The law
has in direct contemplation this gen.
try when it COMPELS the assessor
to make an arbitrary valuation when
voluntary one is refused It may
not be the construction placed upon
the law in all the courts, but to the
mind of the layman, that's what was
and is meant. Else, why the mandate
to the assessor?
| Timber Values
This article is not going into the
details of the proceedings of the
board. Almost all the objections
come from the timber interests, and
arguments have been made in sup
port Of continued immunity that bor-
der on the humorous. For instance,
a saw mill man said If his concern
had to pay on the assessed valua.
ton they would have to cease op.
erations. Within "a hours a tim
Der owner assured the board, and
under oath, that if timber values
were allowed to stand his concern
would have to proceed at once to log
and cut the timber. Imagine the
quandry Of the board. On one hand
the threat to close the saw mills,
and on the other a threat equally
solemn to quadruple the saw mill
capacity of the county in order to
avoid this ruinous taxation. The
humor of the situation appears when
it is said that both men were abso-
lutely sincere in their statements.
The Possible Benefits
The Herald would not have inau-
gurated the contention for an equal
assessment of ALL property with so
much vigor but for a purpose that
goes deeper into the body polite. In
the opinion of this newspaper, based
upon the statement of the State Tax
Board, and the sworn statements of
two county assessors, the financial
affairs of the county have been
debauched to an extent unpar.
alleled in any county the state.
This debauchery of the county
machinery has not been with the
cognizance or knowledge of many
Of the resident benificaries, yet those
forces have been led into the sup.
port Of men and measures, the sue
ICOcc VI WuOu duu WuiCu udo COSt
Chehalis county at least two millions
Of dollars in the past eight years.
Details Come Later.
It Is useless to 60 into the details
Of this now. The Herald has those
details, and will publish them at the
proper time. The main point now
Mr.. Average Taxpayer, is to keep
your both eyes on the county board
of equalization. To introduce anoth
er topic would only tend to confuse
II every reader of this article would
write, or preferably wire, the board
of equalization, it would aid them
in the biggest fight for square deal
ever pulled off not only in Chehalis
county, but in the state of Washing
ton. II you approve their attitude
hasten to tell them so. They are hui
man. Not one of them is accused Of
being interested to the extent of q
dollar in their decisions. Those who
may save thousands of dollars BY
those decisions at your cost. are rep
resented by able and costly counsel.
What are YOU doing, Mr. and Mrs
, Average Taxpayer? The solution
rests largely with you. Wire your ap
probation at once.
Board Stands Firm.