The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1923-08-10
BIG CORPORATION UNCOvERs GUNS ON EVE OF
STRAINING ORDER ISSUED.
ANOTHER TECHNICAbITY USEDT
DEFEAT WILL OF THE PEOPLE

The Montana Power company un-
covered its guns, aad turned them
loose upon the peoples state tax COM
mission this afternoon. The Martien
suit heretofore FLED was merely q
smoke screen; the power trust now has
come out in the open Three actions
were filed in the local district court
one by the Montana PCwer. COMPANY
and the other two by its subsidiaries
the Great Falls Power company and
the Thompson Falls Power COMPANY
The Montana state tax commission
had notified the Montana Power COM
pany to appear before it tomorrow.
Wednesday the eighth, to show cause
why the assessment value of the com
pany should not be raised from S45.-
100000 to SCI 100000 and these suits.
asking the court to perpetually eniOin
the tax commission from assessing
and equalizing any Of the power COM
pany's property, were the answer.
HEARING AUGUST 10.
Besides the perpetual injunction to
paralyze the state tax commission and
prevent it from assessing and equal
izing the Montana Power companv's
property, the three plaintiffs in these
suits asked and secured from Judge
Poorman three temporary restraining
order and three orders compelling
the Montana state tax commission to
appear in court next Monday, August
H., at 10 P NJ, and there show cOuse
why the injunction orders should not
be made permanent. The attorneys
for the three plaintiffs, the power
hierarchy, are Messrs. L. o. Evans.
RnIoro,.e n
are permanent legal counsel for the
power company and the Anaconda
Copper Mining company.
The suits are directed against the
three members of the state tax COM
mission, Messrs. j. w. Walker, A. o.
Bergeson and A. J. Violette. The
power combine wants the tax com
mission annihilated on the same flimsy
ground put forward by Martien in his
words of legal verbiage, the plaintiffs
allege that the con1missionkhas no ex-
istence in law because some clerk
failed to inscribe the text of the tax
commission amendment to the state
constitution in the senate journal.
That is the only ground
The rest fof the voluminous tyne
written complaints are given over to
jurisdictional allegations, reciting that
the power lines are continuous thru
more than one county, that if assess
ments and equalizations were made
the power companies would have to
pay taxes in all the counties in ac-
cordance with these, that a multiple
ity Of suits would be required to re-
cover the money, that there is an old
board of equalization in existence and
the county assessors would be misled
into thinking that it was that official
body that had acted, and that the
power companies would be put to
great expense.
HOLDS UP WORK
The temporary restraining orders
will prevent the state tax commission
from assessing or eQualizing any of
the power trusts property until the
suits are ended. They viii stop the
tax commission from raising the pow
er company's assessment tomorrow,
Wednesday, from S45,000,000 to S61,-
000, 600, and enjoin them from doing
anything to fix the Montana Power
cOmp9ny's assessed valuation, includ-
ing those of the subsidiary companies,
until the court acts on the complaints,
and that viii not be till Monday next
or later.
If the power trust succeeds in max
ing its contention, that the failure Of
the senate journal clerk to write the
amendment into the journal invali-
@tes the vote Of the people authoriz-
ing the amendment, and nullifes the
act of the legislature, based Epon that
amendment, stand up in court, and
succeeds in getting thev perpetual in
Junction then it will have succeeded
in destroying the peoples state tax
commission.
That matter viii be decided when
the courts, trial and appellate, pass
upon the validity of the laws.