Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1913-05-06
Long Struggle OF ChehaIiS County Taxpayers
For Square Deal in Taxation Is
Almost Won
TIMBER BARONS ARE LAST TO SURRENDER
Taxing Officials Chosen by the Taxpayers League
Are Doing their Duty---ASSeSSOr and
EQUALIZATION Board in Harmony

capped back taxes more than one
year.
Timber 6arons at Armageddon
Truly the Ancient Order of Tax
Dodgers, who have given Chehalis.
county such an unsavory reputation
throughout the state, is backed up
at Armageddon. BY political manipu-
lation and otherwise they have,
thwarted the demand of the people
for a cruise and equitable assess~
ment of timber for more than 10
years, and rumor has it that taxing
officials engaged in numbering have :.
waxed rich in that time, while othero
were barely holding even. When the
cruise could be STAYED off no longer,
and the cruise is as honestly made
as is possible for such work, MOTH
ing is left for them but an appeal
to the courts in forlorn hope Of ,
finding a technical knothole through
which they may again be permitted
to saddle their share of taxes upon
TIE OLuor IellOW.
Was it a Plant?
It will be remembered that Chief
McGillicuddy, when the cruise was
completed. had selected a number Of
sections, with the reports from which
he was Lot satisfied, owing to his
knowledge Of the lands, that he in.
fondod IN ohn11r This <1A
ty commissioners refused to permit
him to do-that is majority of the,
board, w. G. Hopkins and Geo. L.
Davis. Nor did they allow him To-
equalization, where his knowledge Of
the cruise would have been valuable
to the county at large.
With this fact in mind, note the.
testimony of Hopkins and Davis, who
are credited with having delayed the
cruise for years, in which they say
they agreed at the meeting of tho,
equalization board to have this land
checked over, and they had it check
ed by man who received one-halt
his pay from company who did
lots of business in his line of work.
In noting this, the conclusion is IRE.
sistible that they wanted this partfcu-.
lar land cruised by somebody else =
than Mr.. McGillicuddy, whom they
both testified that his reputation and
standing as cruiser were good. A..
cepting this conclusion-and its ac.s
ceptance is forced when their attf
tude on the board of equalization IN.
recalled-the suspicion that those
eight sections were deliberately ae-x
lected as the ground upon which n
hope to discredit the entire cruise,
might be planted is forced.
Board Now With People
To the astonishment of our tax
lodging friends, the board of equali-
zation of Chehalis county for perhaps.
the first time in twenty-five years,
is in harmony with an assessor who,
is trying to do his sworn duty, and.
the Herald looks for the most equit-
able assessment roll this year that
the county has had in that period.
The timber barons are the last OF
the favored to be asked to step up.
to the captains Office and settle, and
they might as well accept the newt.
able and do it gracefully just as the
mills and the loggers did this year.
1t is plain now that the ChehaIis
county taxpayers league made no mis- :,
take last summer when they select
ed Robert A. Wiley for assessor,
Jerry A. McGillicuddy, Jr., for treaa-
urer and Phil S. Locke for commits.
sioner. They constitute a majority
of the equalization board, and ara
cordially supported by Commissioners
c. N. Wilson, recognized as the faith,
er of the timber cruise, and Com =.
missioner Fishel, making the board
unanimous for an absolutely squars
deal in the matter of the valuation
of property for taxation purposes.