0
TEN MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Sunday, November 6, 1955
Stewart Issues Reply
President of County
to Letter f
Fruit G
rom
rowers
(Editor's note: In an effort
to give full coverage to the
dispute between Jackson coun
ty orchardisti and the State
Tax Commission over the tax
ation of orchard trees, the
Mail Tribune has published
several letters from various
principals in the controversy.
rThe latest is a letter from Slate
Tax Commissioner Sam Stew
art, addressed to the president
of the Fruit Growers League
of Jackson County, in reply
to a lengthy statement over
his signature which was pub
lished on Oct. 23. Pertinent
excerpts from the letter
follow.)
Mr. Paul Culbertson, President
Fruit Growers League of
Jackson County
Medford, Oregon
Dear Mr. Culbertson:
A newspaper article appearing
in the Sunday, October 23, issue
of the Medford Mail-Tribune con
cerning the controversy in Jack
son County has just come to my
attention. That article, according
to the Editor's note, was pre
pared to some extent as a reply
to my letter to Mr. William
Smith, which apparently had
been printed previously in the
newspaper.
In my opinion, no useful pur
pose would be served by answer
ing your allegations point by
point. However, it should be
pointed out that your article
paints the Commission as entire
ly black and yourselves as en
tirely white. An example will
suffice to demonstrate this:
You state that, "The Tax Com
mission offered the fruit growers
'a deal lowering' their assess
ments very materially. The fruit
growers told the Commission
that they would not be a party
to such a deal." The facts are
that on May 31, this Commission
issued an order to the Jackson
County Board of Equalization
which provided that the board
"shall assess the value of orchard
trees at the same percentage of
true cash value as other real
property and include same in the
assessment of real property up
on which such trees are locat
ed." You will note that this order
does not contain any provisions
which could even remotely be
construed as an order to use any
particular values. The minutes
of the Jackson County Board of
Equalization on, July 12 state
in relevant part as follows:
"Board of Equalization re
convened at 10:30 a.m. July
12, 1955 for the purpose of
discussing before the Fruit
Growers, and other interested
parties the results of the
Board's meeting with the State
Tax Commission in Salem on
Monday, July 11, 1955.
"They reported that in addi
tion to conferring with the full
board all morning, they re
turned at 1 p.m. and presented
a counter proposal to deter
mine assessed values of or
chards rather than to accept
figures suggested by the state
appraisers which value was
reported to be $300 and $225
per acre.
"Mr. Keating stated the
counter proposal carried the
following suggestions:
"All producing orchard
trees carry an appraised value
of: pears, $100 per acre; stone
fruit, $75 per acre; apples, $50
per acre; grafted trees up to 7
years, no value; new plantings
up to 12 years, no value; nuts,
no value.
"Mr. Keating stated this or
chard tree value accepted by
the Tax Commission was to be
placed on the 1955-58 tax roll;
but that this value did not re
flect the true value. He said
it will only be through the
efforts of the assessor's office
and orchard owners that a
fair value can eventually ' be
established. The Board recom
mended that a committee be
set up consisting of growers,
real estate men, deputies from
0 the assessor's office, and any
appraisers from the State Tax
Commission whose assistance
might be needed.
"The State Tax Commission
after due consideration, ac
cepted the counter proposal as
submitted by the" Jackson
County Board of Tax Equali-
zation.
"Members of the Board stat
ed that their reason for sug
gesting a counter-proposal as
a basis for arriving at an as
sessed value on orchard trees
was to give local orchardists
a chance to confer with the
assessor on their individual
orchards and thereby arrive
at a fair figure. They had been
ordered to get them on the
rolls this year and their plan
would give the assessor the
authority to correct discrep
ancies and give him a chance
to work out the problems of
each orchardist with the indi
vidul concerned.
. "Mr. Keating emphasized it
was the desire of the Board
that the Jackson County
people work out their own
problems and not require the'
State Tax Commission to
come in and place an arbitrary
assessment on orchard prop
erty. Mr. Cook stated again
that their counter proposal was
designed to give the growers
a chance to sit down with the
assessor and work out a true
cash value, and it was their
feeling that they would far
rather have the orchardist put
a value on than to turn the
job over to the Tax Commis
sion. Mr. Bohnert and Mr.
Cook both pointed out that if
the local officials, with the
cooperation of the orchardists
or without it did not place a
reasonable value on orchard
trees the State Tax Commis
sion would use their own fig
ures which might or might
not reflect true value. Mr.
Cook state the Board felt they
had honestly worked out a
plan to help the orchardists.
"Orchardists finally stated
through agreement with Mr.
Reter that they would not co
operate with any plan until
the Attorney General's opin
ion is determined to be legal."
(See Vol. 39, Pages 669, 670
and 671.)
What conclusions can be val
idly drawn from the foregoing?
(1) The Commission suggested
to the board that compliance
could be had with its order by
accepting the values achieved
by Commission appraisal person
nel; (2) That the board felt that
compliance with the Commis
sion's order could be substantial-
As We Live
Exaggeration Doesn't
Bring Desired Results
By Elizabeth B. Hurlock, Ph.D
A person who exaggerates, us
ually does so to attract attention
and win the favor of others. He
is not inten
tionally lying
to them, all he
is doing is
"e m broider-
ing" the truth
so it will be
more effective.
Like every
thing else, ex
aggerating is
apt to develop
i -I
Dr. Hsrlock
into a habit. In time, the person
will not know he is exaggerat
ing, and like any other habit,
once it reaches habit-level from
constant use it is carried out
without conscious attention.
The exaggerations are likely to
get stronger and stronger. At
first, there is merely a slight dis
tortion of the truth. Once the
person realizes this is effective,
he makes , the exaggeration a
trifle stronger until what he says
is actually out of all proportion
to the real story.
How, you may ask, can a per
son know if he is exaggerating
or not? The answer is by being
more critical about everything
he says. If he stops to think what
he is planning to say or has just
said and then checks it against
the truth, he will quickly dis
cover whether it is distorted or
not.
Worth Time and Effort
This is well worth the time
and effort of anyone who sus
pects he is subject to exaggerat
ing. Exaggerations may have
greater attention value and may
serve to win more favorable im
pressions, but there is always
the possibility they will be rec
ognized for what they are dis
tortions of the truth.
Most people are not kindly
disposed toward those who ex
aggerate the truth. Without real
izing that it is often an uninten-
By ELIZABETH HURLOCK, PH.D.
tional fault, they thing the per
son has little regard for truth.
In this way, exaggeration defeats
its own purpose and loses the
good impression the person, was
so anxious to create.
LETTERS FROM READERS
Stuffiness: "What do people
mean when they refer to some
one as 'stuffy' and what causes
a person to be 'stuffy'?" Curious.
(A) "Stuffiness," when applied
to people, means much the same
as "self-righteousness." A stuffy
person is usually so impressed
with himself, or tries to make
others believe he is, that he an
noys them by his critical attitude
of superiority. Strange as it may
seem, "stuffiness" is usually a
defensive reaction, used by peo
ple who feel insecure.
Interest in business: "My wife
has absolutely no interest in busi
ness. Whenever I try to talk over
with her something that happens
in the office, she tells me I
should leave my business in the
office. I feel that wives should
share their husbands' business
problems just as husbands should
share their wives' home prob
lems." A Husband.
(A) I agree with you, but many
wives do not see it this way.
They want their husbands to ad
vise and help them when prob
lems arise in the home but they,
in turn, turn a -deaf ear when the
nusband wants to talk about his
business problems. If your wife
is not interested in your busi
ness, she will not be of much
help to you in that way. You
will do well to find a co-worker
who can be your confidante.
Absorption in Children: "Don't
you think a wife makes a great
mistake when she becomes more
absorbed in her children than in
her husband?" Critical.
(A) A woman who becomes so
absorbed in her children that she
scarcely knows her husband
exists has a good chance of losing
him. Such a wife is very foolish.
(COPYRIGHT 1955,
GENERAL FEATURES CORP.)
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Marion Man Fatally
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Salem (U.R) Peter Paris
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ly achieved by using different
values;
(3) That the Commission
agreed that the board was free
to use those values IF they
thought the , values were more
correct than this Commission's
values;
(4) That the orchardists re
fused to cooperate with the
board.
It follows that no deal was
offered by this Commission, and
no refusal to accept a deal was
made by the orchardists to this
Commission.
Why do you not mention in
your article that at the Jackson
County Board of Equalization
meeting of July 17, two days
after the meeting above men
tioned, Mr. Reter of your group
suggested, "that the board at
tempt to bargain with the State
Tax Commission." (See Vol. 39,
Page 673, of Minutes of Jackson
County Board of Equalization)
You represent that we, as a
Commission, made an offer of
a deal which you and your or
ganization refused to counten
ance, yet here, in the minutes
of the Board of Equalization,
was advice by a spokesman of
your organization to the board
to try again to bargain with this
Commission.
You have attempted to create
in the minds of the public of
Jackson County sympathy for
your position. This Commission
is proud of the fact that it has
not been willing to suborn truth
for falsity in order to insure
that our position in this matter
prevails, either with the courts
or with the public of Jackson
County.
Very truly yours,
Samuel B. Stewart
Commissioner.
cc: Medford Mail-Tribune
Rt-TURN TO DUTY Princess Margaret makes her first
appearance since her decision not to wed Group Capt.
Peter Townsend as she enters St Paul's Cathedral in Lon
don to attend a rededication service. She is accompanied
by Robert Mathews, dean of St. Paul's. The service was
held on the 50th anniversary of the death of Dr. Thomas
John Barnardo, who founded a group of homes for British
foundlings.
Long Distance Phone
Equipment Installed
Portland (U.R) Pacific Tel
ephone and Telegraph Company
announced a new development
in long distance switching equip
ment, costing $2,000,000 "went
into operation here Saturday.
The electronic equipment, cap
able of handling 12,000 calls an
hour, is part of a program in
tended ultimately to permit cus
tomers to dial any point in the
United States or Canada.
PICTURE TUBES
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VEGETABLE, MEAT LOAF
New York U.R) Give added
flavor and food value to meat
loaf by adding vegetables. The
average-sized meat loaf calls
for IV2 pounds of ground lean
beef. To this amount, add M-cup
each of finely chopped celery,
green pepper, onion ,and fresh
tomato, 23 cup of fine dry bread
crumbs, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1
teaspoon of dry mustard, Vi tea
spoon of ground black pepper,
and 2 lightly beaten eggs. Shape
in a greased 9x5x3-inch loaf
pan. Bake in a preheated moder
ate oven (350 degrees) 1 hour, or
until done. Yield 10 servings.
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Beyond the Re aim o rgument !
This is the season when conversations turn
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And, in almost any gathering, you're
likely to find a wide difference of opinion
about the relative merits of the year's
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Until the talk turns to Cadillac!
Here is one car concerning which most
motorists have a meeting of minds. And
never before has Cadillac left so Utile room
for argument as in 1956!
Certainly no one could behold the new
Cadillac without recognizing it as the
"car of cars". Its beautiful, graceful lines
and its regal bearing on the highway are
simply too significant to misunderstand.
Surely no one could ride in a new
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You!H agree, we're certain, that Cadillac
for 1956 is beyond the realm of argumentl
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