The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 12, 1896, Page 8

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 1%96. _— ASSESSOR SIEBE TELLS HIS STORY, Denies That the Taxroll Is Several Millions Short. WORK NOT COMPLETE. Defines the Law Governing the Assessment of Foreign and Home Bonds. THINKS BURKE MEDDLESOME The Old Supplementary Taxroll of Badlam’s Time Was Killed in { the Courts. Assessor John D. Siebe is inclined to | treat lightly the statement that the tax- | roll for the current year 1s several millions | short of that of 18 He claims that no one, not excepting himself, can tell at this time the status of the taxroll as compared with that of other years, for the reason that the work is not comnplete, nor will it | was defeated. The next year the assess- ment on the fianchises of the gas and water companies dropped back to the old figure. The valuation on the gas com- pany franchise is the same as it was six- teen years ago. The franchise is not any more valuable to-day than it was then, and my reason for saying this is capable of easy understunding. There are two elec- tric light companies to-day, a fact which of necessity has decreased the business of the gas companies. The franchises of these new institutions are assessed at | $305,000. Then again there are many hotels which formerly bought the gas con- sumed, but now resort to electric lights or gas of their own production. It is safe to assume, therefore, that the assessments on the lighting franchises of San Francisco have increased over half a million dollars | in the last ten years, though the gas com- pany is not valued at one cent more, ‘“Now, as regards bank assessments. This office made the valuation on March 3, and embraces only such property asthe law declares is subject to taxation. I no- tice since this assessment was made that the Bank Commissioners have called for a | statement from January 1to March 28. I| have my expert now examining these statements, and the Assessor’s valuation | will be based on then.. [t is absurd to talk of the banks holding $108,000,000 tax- able property. They may hold securities representing that amount, but it does not ollow by any means that it is all subject 0 assessment as bank property. If this | were true, then the State and County would collect a double tax. In commer- cial banks only bouds of corporations dom- iciled outside of California are subject to | assessments. Bonds of water, gas, rail- | roads or other companies, with the parent office in this State, are not subject to assess- ment. ‘‘The reason for this is simple. Suppose the Bank of California held bonds of a Los Angeles corporation. I have no right to assess them becanse the suppositionis that they have already undergone a similar process in Los Angeles. “I am not inclined to believe that the Grand Jury has any fault to find with this otfice. The investigating committee has, of course, called here, but instead of con- demning have praised the system em- pressed the opinion that the Assessor would reach this year much property that had hitherto escaped assessment, and would place a fair valuation on much that had been undervalued. This juror said: “We have not ordered a special investiga- tion of the Assessor's methods of fixing valuations, nor have we directed a special investigation of nis office. Assurances have been received frorm Mr. Siebe that he is desirous of conforming with the law in every particular.” e BURKE AFTER SIEBE. The Claim Is Boldly Made That the Tax Roll Is Millions Short. According to John H. Burke of Minne- apolis, but temporanly residing in this City, there is a screw loose somewhere in the Assessor’s office. On Friday last Mr. Burke appeared be- fore the Grand Jury and in fifteen minutes | told them enough to warrant a request | that the gentleman from across the Rock- ies call some other day and finish his story. Mr. Burke alleged in a general way cisco were allowed to make just such re- turns to the Assessor as decency would ad- mit. In those instances where Mr. Siebe was called upon to place an assessment value | on franchises or property he did so with a | leniency most remarkable. *“I am glad to see the people waking up to the seriousness of the situation,” said | Mr. Burke last night. “The fact that I am not now a citizen or taxpayer of San | Francisco should not weigh in the minds of those who want to see frand exposed. | It took me justtwo days to find out that | there were millions of dollars’ worth of | property not on the tax-roll, and yet other | millions assessed at practically nothing. | ‘“For instance the Pacific | made a sworn statement last year and were assessed on $298,000 worth of prop- | erty. The California Railroad is not on | the books at ail. The same is true of the ployed. There is always a remedy, how- Northern Railway, though they have sev- STANFORD MEN'S VICTORY Tennis Championship Wrested From Berkeley After Two Years. A LONG CONTEST AND CLOSE. Freeman and Picher Win From Magee and Gage in Singles anl Doubles. Stanford University won the Pacific Coast intercollegiate tennis championship that the great corporations of San Fran- | yesterday from the University of Cali- | #Warded to the best of six speakers has fornia, which had held it for the last two years. The match was played on the California Tennis Club’s court, corner of Bush and Scott streets, in this City. Each university was represented by only | two men, who were to play both the first | The estate issaid to be worth $100,000. In and the second class singles and the dou- bles. California’s representatives were Magee and Gage, the two men who successfully defended the championship last year. Stanford, for the first time, relied upon two men to play both matches and entered Freeman and Picher, Pasadena boys, who have long played the game together, and olimg-mill | Who are at present doubles champions of Southern California, having won the title at the Santa Monica tournament last sum- mer. Freeman, Stanford’s best player, was Gage was said to be not quite in his usual form yesterday, but he played a cool, steady game, his long, low drives at the net being a feature as noticeable as Pich- er’s fine backhand stroke. |, The weather was warm and well suited to tennis, but a high breeze that sweot over the fence bothered the players a little, particularly those of the second team. It was not generally known when and where the match was to be played, and in ConssqteEnce very, few spectators were pres- en | q is makes the first intercollegiate | tennis match that Stanford has won since 1892, when the Lwo colleges first met on the asphaltum courts. In 1893 Berkeley declined to meet the Palo Alto players, but since then the intercollegiate tennis | match has been an annual affair. i The intercollegate contests up to date now stand as follows: ‘umr‘;m 1A STANFORD. -..Football . i | | | | In addition, orrEr al > Carnot gold medal een won once by each university, and the | Berkeley freshmnen have twice defeated | their Stanford opponents at football. Abraham Bloch’s Will. | The will of Abraham Bloch, leaving all of his | estate to his widow, has been filed for probate. | the will it is announced that no provision is made for the children of the testator, because | he is convinced his widow will care for them | properly. | GERMANY TO GET SAMOA W. Ahrens Says the Next Move Will Be to Annex the Islands. WE WON'T GET PANGO PANGO. No American Warship Kept at Apia for Three Years—The Berlin Treaty Violated. Among the arrivals at the Occidental from Samoa is W. Ahrens, whose firm in Apia are agents of the Oceanic Steamship Company. He brings interesting and im- portant news from that part of the world. “Chief Justice Ide,”” said Mr. Ahrens last night, ‘‘has gone from Apia to meet his daughter at Sydney. He will return with them, and then bend all his energies to completing his work on the land claims. He hopes to have the work all done by early in December, and will then sail for his home in America to remain perma- | W. Ahrens, Who Has Arrived From Samoa, and Says Germanmy Will Annex the Samoan lslands. [Sketched by a “Call” artist.] — N nently. The Chief Justice has worked very hard ever since he went over there. ‘‘Another mmportant piece of news is that President Ernst Schmidt of Samoa, who is also adviser to King Malietoa, has | forwarded his resignation to the German Foreign Office. He was appointed for three years, and his term does not expire till January 1, but he hopes to have the resignation accepted so he can go back in November. Of course England and Amer- ica will be requested to concur in the resig- nation. He has been criticized very barshly, but 1 don’t think he deserved it. “The Samoans are very quiet, although Tamassese, the opponent of King Mal- ietoa, collects the taxes in the districts of Aana ana Atua. The President and ad- viser of Malietoa has not been able to pre- vent this. “By the terms of the Berlin treaty America, England and Germany agreed to keep warships there all the time, but America has not had a warship there for | three years. **No interest has been shown by America in the islands during that time. The im- pression there is that America no longer cares, as she did prior to three years ago. | This being the case, it is hard for President | Smith to make Tamassese quit collecting taxes. He can't do it. He does the best he can. ““Yes, America has had the coaling sta- | ticn of Pango Pango, but I don’t think she will get it the way things now are. When Germany annexes the islands, as I am sure she will, she will take the whole thing. | “America has not compiied with the | terms of the treaty, and can ysay any- ; thing. What about England? Well, I don’t think she will have anything to say about it either. The fact is the interests there are pretty near all German, and Ger- many by right ought to have Samoa. I think she will soon take the whole thing. “The way England has acted recently in the Jameson raid matter in South Africa, for the dissatistied. If any one | eral hundred thousand dollars’ worth of | Pitted against Magee, the Berkeley cham- be for nearly sixty days vet. | ever, The entire list must be gone carefully over and such additions made as the re- ports of his experts seem to warrant. The apparent depreciation in the valuation of the gasand water company franchises is explained by Mr. Siebe in his own pleas- ing way and on its face is thoroughly plausible. The same is true of banks assess- thinks the assessment on any particular | piece of property or franchise is too low or | high the remeay is found in the County | Company, builders and contractors of the | was urusually close, Freeman winning Board of Egualization. They have the power to undo all my work if it so pleases them. Burke is a meddlesome fellow who is probably endeavoring to secure the same | | cheap notoriety he did during Badlam's | | term of office. "Further than this I have | | nothing to say about him.” ments. The Assessor tells why these in- ol stitutio asked to taxes on only $¢ worth of property, ASSESSMENT ROLL. when the claim is made that the proper valuation would be much nearer the $100,- | Property Hitherto Undervalued | 000,000 mark. In this connection John H. Burke, prominent in Badlam’s time, some sixteen years ago,and who hasrecently again interested himself in the affairs of the Assessor's office, comes in for a rap. “Iam glad tosee you; ves, very glad,” said Assessor Siebe to a CALL representa- tive yesterday. “l suppose you want to know something about the Tax Assessor’s office, and how it is that the taxroll is so many millions short. Well, it is just this | way: There is not one word of truth in it. As’a matter of fact the valuation is higher | vear than ever before. | i this man John H. Burke cast himself breach and es his purpose to sea | to it that the nd other corporations are assessed for what they really have. | Relerence is made to the supplement assessment of $90,000,000, which this caused to be Jevied during Radlam’s ministration. At t.is time the valuation of the gas company’s franchise was in- creased from $1,000,000 to $5000000, The | water company was subjected to the same | inflation. | It may be interesting to know that the | tax on this $90,000,000 supplementary as- | gessment was never paid. The case was | carried to the into the | | day before the eme Court, and then it | May Be Assessed for Its Actual Value. | Members of the Grand Jury are exceed- | | ingly reticent concerning the proposed in | vestigation of the Assessor’s office. It is-| acknowledged that Mr. Siebe, the Assessor, has in the service of his department many capable and experienced men, and it is also hinted that “‘there are others.” A con- sensus of interviews with jurors is to the effect that the Assessor is performing his duty and has invited the assistance of the Grand Jury to point out methods by which a fair valuatior ot all taxable property may be reached. The Grand Jury regrets that any news- | paper comment about affairs of the As- sessor’s oftice should have been made. One of the jurors said: ‘It istrue that we are in possession of certain data or in- formation regarding assessments, but the fact still remains that a capitalist can, the essor comes to assess his money on hand, put that money into a draft on New York and thus escape taxa- tion. This is done right along, and there seems to be no law to prevent it.”’ Another member of the Grand Jury e: assessable property. | ‘‘Then there is the Pacific Improvement | various lines of Pacific roads and owning | many millions’ worth of property, down or $12,000. Exclusive oi steamers the Pacitic Mail Steamship Company is as- sessed at §18, The South Pacific | Coast road makes a sworn statement of | $100, while the Southern Development |ing 7—5, 6—4, 4—6, 6—4. Company, another ‘octopus’ concern, is | down for $300. | “The Southern Pacific with many mill- | ions of personal property labors under an | assessment of §45,300. The San Francisco | Gas Company is assessed on franchise | $1,000,000, and on other assessments $454,- | . This, too, on a capital stock of $8,500,000 and heayy bonded indebtedness. | In 1881 the franchise of this company was assessed by Badlam at $5000. 1 went to | | the Board of Supervisors and had it raised 00, | to ¢ 3 **Since that time it has been gradually reduced until it now stands at the figure | named. The franchise of the Spring | Valley Water Company is assessed at | | $1,500,000, other property $974,000. Yet | | this institution hasa bonded indebtedness | of $9,000,000 and was stated some time ago | to be worth $15,600,000. Badlam had this company assessed at $5000, which on com- plaint was raised to $35,000,000. ““In both these cases a contest was made and finally carried to the Supreme Court, | and the tax upheld. The Crocker Estate | Company refused to make a sworn state- ment, and was arbitrarily assessed at $150. The California Sugar Refinery Company |is down ior $81,500, and the Union Iron | Works for $197,000. | “‘The assessments on the banks in this | | City are away below all reason. I have | all the figures, and when they are told to the Grand Jury I rather imagine some- | body will be greatly surpri i pion, and the contest that resulted, com- bining two very different styles of play, three sets to Magee's two, the scores of the games composing the sets standing 3—6, 4—6, 6—4, 6—1, 7—5. | In the second-class singles Picher and Gage were matched. Picher won three sets to his opponent’s one, the score result- At the conclusion of the singles in Stan- ford’s favor the Berkeley team decided to concede a victory in the doubles, and that match went to Stanford by default. | It was then 1 o’clock. The men had | been playing constantly for two and a hali | hours, and Magee felt indisposed, although | the other players were com paratively fresh aiter their long exertions. Freeman and Magee had played forty-six games; eigh- teen were long deuce contests and but four | were love, Freeman taking three of them. | Picher and Gage had played forty-two and nine love, Picher games, twelve deu ve of the nine to his credit. same time on adjoining courts. The first few games between Freeman and Magee seemed 1o go to the Berkeley man, partly through the Stanford fresh- man's apparent easy indifference in his re- turn strokes, but closer observation showed that tobe his way of plaving, deal more. player and resorts to smashing strokes. At the net he seemed quicker. But Free- man took everything ash wildly. @ vle of game. the net and neither does much smas;i single matches were played at the for Free- man, though oniy'17 years of ace, isa big muscular_six-footer who easily covers a large territory and lurches out over a good Magee is the more briiliant the same with a silent coolness that seemed at times to ex- asperate his opponent and cause him to | Picher and Gage play about the same | Both keep far back from | and in its general opposition to President Kruger, has widened the breach between Germany and England. I don’t think the Germans would care what England might say. She would take Samoa anyway. By the way,'Dr. Rose, the new German Consul-General for Samoa, has arrived at Apia. He was previously Governor of German New Guinea. He is the successor of Dr. Schmidt-Leda, who has returned to Yokohama as Consul-General, to look out for the German interests there. He was very much liked among all the people of Samoa.” Mr. Ahrens expects to remain for two years in this country. Before he went to Samoa he was for several years in different parts of New Guinea. Benicia Presbytery. The semi-annual meeting of the Benicia | ded jcated. Th | dedicatory sermon was Presbytery, held in San Rafael, closed last evening after a three-days’ sessiom. Rev. Arthur Hicks of Point Arena was made moder- ator and Rey. William Dondin of Petaluma cierk, with Rev, S, M. Adsit of Eureka and Elder Reynolds as assistants. During the meeting of the Presbytery the elegant new stone church where the meeting was held was tructure costnearly $40,000, donated by Mrs. Parks. The preached by a former The x half of wnich wa pastor, Dr. McDonald, financial historical address was given by Dr. Crosb the San Rafael Institute, and the dedicatory prayer was offered by Dr. Noble, pastor of the church. Five from th S licentiates, two of who Reynolds, were ordal Thursday evening, befo preached by Rev. M the address to the cla A Solid Block But We Will Cut It Up And 37 people may each secure a piece of it— ior there will be just that many building lots. SEE WHERE THEY ARE— BAKER ST. McALLISTER ST. LYON ST. GOLDEN GATE AVE. And they will ALL be sold next Thursday, April 16th, To the highest bidder— At Auction. “Never let your chances, like sunbeams, pass you by.” BALDWIN & Stand not upon the order of your going, but go at once and inspect this property. Take McAllister=street cars, get off at Baker street. This is the last of the McCreery Blocks and it is your last chance to secure a home lot in this growing locality. We sold the adjoining Block at Auction two years ago. Everybody who purchased a lot at that sale made money. YOUR chance has come NOW. HAMMOND, Auctioneers, 10 Montgomery St.