Rio Grande Farmer (Newspaper) - May 10, 1923, Las Cruces, New Mexico OFFICIAL PAPER OF ANA COUNTY An Independent W t of 12 COLUMNS IAS CRUCES THURSDAY MAY 10 1923 Taxpayers Win First Round Mechem in District Coart Aside ree in 1920 tax May Also Attack 1919 Case taxpayers the and Farm com- won the first round of Ik or equal Sta in Dona Ana county B Thompson attorney lor ttt SUte filed m with the district court n regard the Santo Tomas suit and today the motion m and the decree has been means that the taxes now isj is originally levied until i a and and i MW decision entered amount of taxes to be paid if books when they come into his hands Errors appearing there on which work Injustice are to be corrected but the power of the treasurer and the courts under this statute does not extend to the over turning correcting or modifying every action or step taken by the taxing authorities in the and collection of taxes and ting Uie judgment of the courts for that of the taxing authorities in all questions of fact law and policy regard to taxation In the case of the First State Bank of Bernalillo vs State 27 N M 78 the Supreme Court of Ibi is sustained If the Injustice Is used in will be approximately j its ordinary sense the taxpayer could instead of as set by presenting his petition to the decree of April 20 last court and satisfying the judge that an to Uie county state and arid an Injustice had been done him set District of approximately at naught the whole system of Without doubt the of the Santo Tomas com will the cade Tke Farm Bureau and n ire confident of tor on the merits or point of law may require i of testimony has been which it is not deemed to present to the public at to time Ruling of Court Tke Supreme Court of the State rf Mexico h several times de- the are Jurisdiction incases of over- Ion or in the of fraud or illegality It in this only point would give district court would be the lack of gf ait by Commissioners a Board of Equalization Tk original schedule of the Santo for 1920 shows a notation on the face of the f at mailed June Moreover Van L White who was at this time has sent the Representative of Santo KU company not present when fixed value but notice sent by letter and carton files Signed sept in U 1919 in Doubt B Is considered probable that Dis- Attorney J Benson i motion to set the 1619 on the grounds that It is a mle and presumption of law compromise is based upon There is a rule in that the money admitted M Au must be paid or tendered the court will consider these In the 1919 case the Santo u tendered the amount in its petition but after the v as of no payment whatever hos teen to with these cases the of our Supreme Court in the Iton company vs MaLion N M 86 is interesting as R cannot be successfully Legislature after ind the ascertainment upon property by this statute to leave tnt of the district and Courts the final or not an injustice sense of the term had s and to grant f the court should find had been done The the taxpayer is not an injustice ot of the m on his property he has had notice and on the question of the de- of the value of said w taxpayer is entitled on proper injustice for which the mended to give relief is such injustice as is of other kinds the clerical di e cleri by the treasurer or 1 contemplate such a gro The statut over tl md for te is r and the as except as they may Ku 13 ment and collection of taxes and place in the hands of the courts the determination of all questions of fact law and policy regarding taxation We do not believe that the Legislature by this section ed to thus turn over to the courts the power and authority to pass upon all these questions These two decisions were followed in Raabe Mauger vs Tax Com- mission 27 N M 279 The general principles involved nnd jurisdiction of the courU in matters of this kind tax ments are stated by Cooley as lows The courts either of common law or of equity are powerless to give re- lief against erroneous judgments of assessing bodies pm do so This principle is applicable to statutory boards of equalization which are only assessing boards with certain appellate powers but where action if they keep within their jurisdiction is conclusive except ai otherwise provided by law Cooley on taxation 3d Ed vol 2 p 1382 Tims For Action Now These decisions of the Supreme Court would Indicate that all four of these Santo Tomas tax reductions were made possible by real or illegalities in procedure right nnd they were made by fair and competent men the county and state s ind to lose exclusive of penalties by these four cases The general opinion is that it is high lime for the public to arouse itself to pre- vent these technical errors in if in fact they exist or if not that the public's rights under the law be sustained i own Board Discusses Street Paving Project Paving Las avenue from Main street to the Fe station Main street north from the end of the present paving to the end of the street at Lucero avenue and Miranda avenue from the end of the on Griggs street north to Las ces avenue was discussed by the town board at its regular meeting in the clerk's office Tuesday Herbert W Yeo city engineer was instructed to a survey of streets and submit of the probable cost of paving them to the council The next step in the ing program will be the catling of a mass meeting to consider the mates and vote on the Butterfly Party Amid Choice Spring Flowers One of the prettiest affairs of the season was given last Friday after- noon at Community house by Mrs Frank French Mrs R P Porter and Mrs Tom C Campbell when they entertained a large number of their friends at bridge The house was beautifully decorated with spring and flowers were hundreds of butterflies The butterfly scheme was carried out in the score cards and refreshments There were seventeen tables Mrs R L Faulkner won f prize Mrs R F Hare was next high Mrs Bertha Paxton won lew with Mrs second low A served Among those present Mesdames Uil Lane John Lemon Gus Manasse Sam masse B F Stu Spring Flower Bower at May Day Reception was the motif of the re- option given last Thursday after- loon nt Community by Mmes David W Morgan Thomas Graham W if Speers May baskets filled with roses and weei peas turned the rooms into a bower of spring flowers The pink and white color scheme was carried out in the refreshments of ce cream cakes and mints Four hundred invitations were sent to of Las Cruces and ill of them attended the delightful larty The hostesses were assisted n receiving and their by Mmes C T Seaie C F Knight f W Lowe A D Saunders M E and the Misses Mary Sue Coila Mae Freeman and Dorothy art H Willi ler Sag Joh L St Sea gom M M U Thatcher Geo J C Ida Anderson tua- jer Stevens Hare Dyne ones Fleming Jones Ascarate Campbell p p Campbell Buan Dean M Bowman W A E C Wade T C Sex- avid Bronson Oscar C Snow Knight Fred Hess Eugene Headland Eckert Johnson Saunders J Sweet L A Broaddus H H Branigan f George M Clark W C Field Strand c: W Gerber R L James H Paxton V B Annie Miller C B Thompson Louise Morrison G M iams Peter P R C J Winkler C L Hill A B c Eccles M 0 Llewellyn E T ns Grace Day R L Young H tent O H H J T C Crosson Bertha Miller H Ted Misses Ascarate ipy Price and and the hostesses H B Dave Frank C T C T Johnson Ceo Ta Thos ylor Faulkn May Pa oe Twr Act on behalf of Homann of Mjl has filed suit against the Butto tion District Scale county treasurer Courted o Bennett assessor and Lawson project of the Grande project U 3 alleging the of the tion District that the cnn Grande project by the was unlawful illegal and Hie relief on count of the defendants refusing to furnish for due for water taxes for 1921 and other relief Mark B Thompson attorney for the U S Reclamation Service this morning filed a motion nnd bond with the district court here to remove the case to federal court n Santa Fe Every Minute Carnival That's the way members of the Kollege refer to the program for tomorrow's festivities in Lac Cruces and at State College The features 10 n Parade forms nt Loretto Academy and moves north in Main street 12 m Luncheon on grounds Progress club will serve meals 1 p m Carnival concessions open it the college and remain open for remainder of day with exception of time during tho nageant 2 p m Baseball game between college team arid from El Paso 4 p m Pageant of the carnival and coronation ceremonies 6 p m Band concert p m Start of Jitney Dance The procession of floats will be headed by the Queen of May and her attendants They will be ied by a guard of honor selected rom officers of the college cadot battalion Attractive floats have also been entered by the college snd business houses An El Paso orchestra will furnish the music for the jitney which will bring the festivities to n close Road Race Committee Oat for Large Prizes K C Hyland of the committee in charge of tho Fourth of July Ford announces the conditions as must be paid and application filed before S o'clock p m July I No entrance fees will bo returned after that time The course Is 10 laps over same course as last year a distance of SO miles Entries are limited to standard stock Ford cars with the following exceptions which may be used if de- Timers of other makes but Ford mast bo used piston rings dius rod braces shock oversized steering wheels braces and any size or type of tires may be used All cars arc subject to examination before and after the race and the following must be Exhaust must not be turned toward ground car a hood strapped no water or oiling or than standard cylinder may be used The committee hopes to make this year's race a greater success than Mr Hylund said By limiting entries strictly to stock cars and cutting out the expense of the extra parts used in the ast we IQ have n large list of cti trants arc making a big to secure enough contributions from public spirited citizens to make the prizes particularly attractive Our goal is for the first prize and other prizes in proportion It looks now as though we would get it Park at Mesilla Dam a Mesilla Dam Amusement Park opened its gates for the 1023 son last Saturday evening The opening was attended by n large crowd of Las Cruces and valley ple and ninny El Poso John C Robbins Jr manager en- his guests with an excellent program including speeches by C F Knight chairman of the board of M B Stevens Fountain jr of Members of the Fountain orchestra gave some of their Spanish songs nnd dances which were heartily plauded Sunday afternoon was another big Speedy Action Is Necessary If Districts Are to Organize Consolidated High School By N C FRENGER Representative of Dona Ana County in the Legislature of New Mexico Editor Rio Grande Conforming with your request for an explanation of the law and the for the speedy formation of a Union Hieh school district I submit the By the provisions of the recently enacted School Code school districts rural or municipal provided hey are one with ber may unite Into the formation of a district for the purpose of lining a high school The procedure or purpose is as The governing authorities of the different school districts desiring to unite and consolidate for the f forming a high school district are required to so petition the Board of County Commissioners nets proposing to unite A further petition is required to be presented or the same purpose to the Board of bounty Commissioners signed by qualified electors in number of not ess than 15 per cent of the total vote cast in each school district for office of Governor at the ng election that is to say Id per cent of the electors of each of the districts must join in such petition which should filed and they ought to refer one to the The petitions should also set forth that there are not less grade graduates enrolled for high school work within the proposed ted high school district and that the combined average daily attendance of within the districts is 200 or more in number as these arc re- for the formation of the high school district Upon the tions being presented before it the Soard of County Commissioners should satisfy itself that all legal re have been complied with and the districts are qualified to unite whereupon the board is re- quired to call an election to be held not earlier than thirty days after the call within the area comprising the proposed Union Hieh School upon the question of forming the high school district Details as to the call conducting canvassing and proclaiming the tion need not be gone into as this is clearly outlined for the guidance of the county commissioners Fn order that the consolidation may carry and effective a majority of the legal voters voting on the Question must vote in favor thereof in each of the several districts Within 10 days after the election the county are to vas the results nnd if the vote is they should five days publish resolution ing the result of the election As between the same districts not more than cne election may be held in any two years For instance if the election tu carry in one of the districts out of say five districts is five districts an election could not again be held for two years This would not however prevent the other four districts or such four and some additional dis- starting over again within the two years When a Union High school shall have completed its formation it be- comes effective on the first day of the election succeeding the election The governing authority of a Un- ion High school district composed of municipal and rural districts consists of one member to be selected of each of governing authorities of the different districts and the board so has the powers of a municipal school district in the matter of high schools A movement is now on foot in our community to consolidate Las ces a municipal district nnd districts Nos 1 Dona 12 Mesilla the Picacho 21 East and 28 Mesilla Park If the proposed high school composed of the foregoing is to I be effective by July 1 nert the most speed Is requisite If Wie should not be completed by Joly 1 then before ing effective we would hare to wait until July 1 1924 Therefore interested and the committees working on Uili matter should lose no time If possible the petitions should be in the hands of the county commissioners by about 20 next The main purpose of forming the proposed Union high school district being to provide adequate means to erect a high school building with ample grounds the question of a bond presents itself i Union Hish school district to issue bonds is not dearly set out in the statute nor is the ner of procedure if it has the power Indeed to satisfy a bonding house a court may borrme necessary possibly the supreme coun Bet if on this question the statute were clear the question has arisen in the minds of some as to whether at the time we are forming the Union High school district we could also be proceeding with the bond issue This in my opinion cannot be done The district must first be formed before it can have an election to its bonds The procedure regarding is very complicated and though the dis- were formed at this time there would not be time to start the on the bond issue in order to have the election for such n pose over all details ready by July 1 next More detail and more time ia re- quired in getting out a bond the time to a high school district The statute is peculiar in proceeding to start a bond issue commences not earlier than March 1 of any one year and must he ted before the succeeding 1st day of July The wording of the statute on this point is that bonds dcr not he issued or sold after July 1 in any calendar year Under all the circumstances fore it tn me to he wisp to proceed to try to organize the Union High In to be by July next so that we may be in position to go ahead with the for a bond issue by March 1 1024 by which time it is to be hoped that ample and effective of the statute on bond matters may obtain Chamber ef Commerce and W I to Entertain at deception and dam More than two thousand men women and children drove out to enjoy the fun ing in the swimming in tho river fishing boating and were a few of the diversions in which Everyone scorned to bo pleased with the progress we have made in remodeling tho Mr said The new dance floor the improved facilities for bathing and our new light plant all re- favorable comment It is our Intention to make this a real playground for everybody in the district nnd as we nre going to keep it clean and pleasant we nre dent It will attract lookup for n cool place to go to n good time Next Saturday evening will be a select dance nt the sterling at o'clock Tho Fountain chestra augmented six members will provide music Admission in- war tax is CAPTAIN WILKINSON TO TEACH RIFLE SHOOTING Dr S T president of Las Cruces Rifle club announced at ing in the Chamber of Commerce rooms Tuesday evening that ar- have been made by which Capt Reading Wilkinson will conduct a class in the theory and mechanical practice of the army rifle The will meet at 0 o'clock Sunday mornings at the Armory Members of the class nnd others in- nre invited to attend tho The first class meeting is for u o'clock next morning nt the Armory la addition tn Dr thE officers of the club who will hold over to December 31 1923 Executive officer Hugh Sawyers treasurer Nathan I Roller tary Fred Lemon WORK BEGINS ON The Porter Lumber company in with the Orndorff Con- struction company of Kl hus begun work building three bungalows on the Pork Wotk It that thuse houses will bo com- within 00 days when they will bo sold through the Porter company on the installment plan purchasers paying Tor them as they would pay rent If the plan proven successful more houses will be in the near future uma is AT CHURCH NIGHT PARTY May Church night nt Finit erian church was a highly successful affair The was large After a brief devotional service led by the pastor Miss Gertrude Smith presided for the following Helen Stewart piano solo Mr a reading Tom Sawyer encoring with A Similar Prof D S reading Games wero then under tho of Mr G Cormany nnd refreshments were served by the remainder of tho Mrs E L Mrs J F Mrs Johns nnd M The party farewell to Mrs 13 soon Shu was presented with a gold pencil Rev Mr made the speech and Mrs Roymond responded with a few fitting POST STARTS DRIVE Toe Tost No of j he Legion has it to funds to for hc craves of American in ranee A committee consisting of chairman and John Alexander and Eckert was to handle the drive at the meeting Monday evening B L Holt commander and F f Luccro lost adjutant reported their uf trie state meeting and National Commander Alvin P in Thursday and The regular bi-weekly dance of the Hull at was by many members and Several of the ladies rought pics which were with hot coffee by Mr and Mrs C C Lee and Mr and Mrs M B Stevens The Fountain provided music for the MRS KATIE REYMOND AND TO BE HON ORED AT ANNUAL MEETING IN COMMUNITY HOUSE NEXT MONDAY EVENING Officers and members of the Women's association and Las Cruces Chamber of Com- merce will give a and dance in honor of Mrs Katie mond nnd the at the Chamber nt Community house and grounds next Monday evening gross club and Club and their husbands have been invited to participate Husbands of bers of the W I A and friends of Mrs nre invited to be present Tho Joint committee in charge of arrangements consists of Pat F Campbell chairman Charles S Capt E L Barrows Dr S T and D H Lewis E J Stem Herbert W Yeo J H George M Clark J H B C Wade B B ami I The reception committee for the W I A consists of Frank D A E C Wade and L C Woodson The committee for the Chamber of tho IB directory as George M Clark F M Hayner J M Bowman C F Knight George W W H Fred S fleas N C Frenger Gustave B Frank jor J C Waterman A I Kolso S Bean Percy W Barker and L E The reception begin nt B o'clock and continue an hour Music be furnished by the Main orchestra nnd Mme nnd Mrs Thomas Branigan will sinf groups of songs Fred Ruiz chestra will play for tho dance on tho court beginning at 0 o'clock The rooms and porches of com- munity house nnd the bs decorated nnd Illuminated This feature is under the direction of Charles S Loomin Dr is head of the refreshment committee Announcement that no personal invitations have nor will be Issued Tho desire is not to over- look anyone In a letter to members of the Chamber George M Clark president of the organization says among other Important factor in tho work of the Chamber of Commerce nnd In the development of the town Every member and his wife sweetheart ler or daughter should be present to show his interest in women's work and to encourage its Directors of Chamber Approve Yearly Report Directors of Chamber of Com- merce received nnd approved the certified financial statement ing receipts and disbursements for the 13 months ended April 30 1028 nt evening's The audit of the books was made iiy n special committee consisting of I chairman and Frank A and V red S commended M 3 Stevens nn his custodianship of tha records The report in abstract shows these Total collections from April 1 1022 to April 30 Balance Cash April I Less 30 per cent Dividends T Co Lewi 30 per cent charged off IJ K T Co 001.27 lo April 30 1923 Publicity Fund General Fund I 190.95 20.83 Civic Fur nnd fixt 65.00 Notes 477.81 Nat Guard Day 147.65 PROGRAM THURSDAY FRIDAY in NEVER WEAKEN Wallace Reid and Gloria Swanson in DON'T TELL EVERYTHING TOM MIX in TRAILING SUNDAY MONDAY Bebe Daniels and Anna Q in PINK GODS TUESDAY WEDNESDAY DESTINY'S ISLE disbursements Bnl shown by Treas statements Probable further Bowman B T 2 C 0.79 represents 70 per cent of tha deposits remaining in bank continued on but page
