The Paper Trail That Went Up in Smoke

Yesterday being the last day on which the Board of County Commissioners could legally act as a Board of Equalization, the Assessor's office was crowded all day long with throngs of property holders anxious to have a hearing. During the afternoon, I. A. Lewis, on behalf of himself and H. L. Yesler, attacked the validity of the roll now under consideration. He called a dozen or so witnesses to prove that while improved farms were only taxed from one-fifth to one-tenth their cash value, that city property was taxed for full cash value, and, in many instances, at more than its actual cash value, thus rendering the assessment unequal and illegal. He also attacked the assessment of tide lands, the title to which is vested in the State, and they are, therefore, non-taxable. In the course of the trial, Assessor Quigley was sworn and asked a number of questions, which he answered promptly. Finally, he was asked to produce Mr. Yesler's detailed statement, made under oath and turned over to the Assessor as a list of his property. Mr. Quigley stated that he could not produce the detailed list; that it was the custom, where these lists did not conform to Woodster's Abstract, to throw them on the floor, and that when the boy came around in the morning to clean up, he usually burned the papers on the floor, and that the sworn statements of property holders as to their property passed away in smoke.