as herein provided for, shall be elected and shall qualify. The legislature shall have power to redistrict the state into four districts, as nearly equal in population as practicable, and to provide for the elections of members of said board of equalization. [Ratification declared Feb. 12, 1885.]

[ORIGINAL SECTION.]

SECTION 9. A state board of equalization, consisting of one member from each congressional district in this state, shall be elected by the qualified electors of their respective districts at the general election to be held in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, whose term of office after those first elected shall be four years, whose duty it shall be to equalize the valuation of the taxable property of the several counties in the state for the purposes of taxation, The controller

of state shall be ex officio a member of the board. The boards of supervisors of the several counties of the state shall constitute boards of equalization for their respective counties, whose duty it shall be to equalize the valuation of the taxable property in the county for the purpose of taxation; provided, such state and county boards of equalization are hereby authorized and empowered, under such rules of notice as the county boards may prescribe as to the county assessments, and under such rules of notice the state board may prescribe, as to the action the state board, to increase or lower the entire assessment roll, or any assessment contained therein, so as to equalize the assessment of the property contained in said assessment roll, and make the assessment conform to the true value in money of the property contained in said roll.

as

of

The amendment to this section of 1884 was properly adopted. People v. Strother, 67 Cal. 624.

The power of the state board of equalization is not confined to adjustment of assessments for state purposes, but in raising or lowering assessments it may affect the assessment for county as well as for state purposes. Baldwin v. Ellis, 68 Cal. 495.

The tax payer is entitled to notice of the meetings of the county board at which his taxes may be increased. But the ninth section of the act of 1874, (Stats. p. 477) attempts to provide for an assessment, in San Francisco, which is arbitrary and absolute, without the possibility of equalization by the board of supervisors, as it provides for an assessment to be made after the time in which such board can act. The legislature has no power to deprive the tax payer of an opportunity of appearing before the board for the purpose of contesting the amount assessed against

him. (Neither City and County of S. F. v. Flood, 64 Cal. 504, nor Oreña v. Sherman, 61 Cal. 101 conflict with these views.) People v. Pittsburg R. R. Co., 67 Cal. 625.

A raise in the assessment of a county, by the state board operates upon assessments of mortgages. Schroeder v. Grady, 66 Cal. 213, affirming People v. Dunn, 59 Cal. 328, Ross J. dissenting.

So far as relates to the state board the section has reference to equalization between counties, and if sections 3692, 3693 of Political. Code as amended in 1880, attempt to provide for equalization of individual assessments, they are void. S. F. & N. P. R. R. v. State Board of Equalization, 60 Cal. 12. This section has no relation to the assessment of the property of railroads operated in more than one county. C. P. R. R. Co. v. State Board of Equalization, 60 Cal. 35.

This section is referred to in F. & M. Bank v. Board, 97 Cal. 324, where many of the former cases relating to assessments and equalization are commented upon and distinguished, which see.

The "proviso" in this section is to be read distributively, reddendo singula singulis, and the power of the state board is to equalize the assessment rolls of the various counties, by comparing the assessment roll of each county with the roll of each and all others, and thus to make the assessment conform to the true value in money of the property contained in the respective rolls. Wells, Fargo & Co. v. State Board, 56 Cal. 194; affirmed in People v. Dunn, 59 Cal. 328. The true value of money in money is money. The court takes judicial notice that a dollar in money cannot be assessed at more than a dollar; to assess it at more cannot make it conform to its true value in money. The state board cannot cause it to be assessed at more than its nominal value by ordering the assessment roll of a county raised. An order of the state board raising the entire assessment roll of the city and county of San Francisco is not void, but in obeying the order, the auditor is not authorized to add to the assessment for money which has been assessed at so many dollars. If ten dollars

had been assessed at less than ten dollars the auditor could be compelled to change the valuation. The court cannot say as matter of law what the true value of a mortgage, deed of trust, etc., is. The constitution does not prohibit an increase of all other property so as to make it conform to its true value in money. The "true value in money" of such securities depends upon various circumstances, and they may be worth more than their face value, and the general raise ordered by the state board may work injustice in particular cases, but if so the fault is in the system. Sharpstein, J. held that the order of the state board raised all assessments including money. People v. Dunn, 59 Cal. 328. [Since this decision the section was amended to read as above.]

SECTION 10. All property, except as hereinafter in this section provided, shall be assessed in the county, city, city and county, town, township or district in which it is situated, in the manner prescribed by law. The franchise, road-way, roadbed, rails and rolling stock of all railroads operated in more than one county in this state, shall be assessed by the state board of equalization, at their actual value, and the same shall be apportioned to the counties, cities and counties, cities, towns, townships, and districts in which such railroads are located, in proportion to the number of miles of railway laid in such counties, cities and counties, cities, towns, townships and districts.

Property not specified in this section is to be assessed by the local assessors, and the steamers used by the C. P. R. R. Co. in transporting its cars across the bay of San Francisco are not included therein. Road-bed, roadway, rails and rolling stock nor franchise, do not embrace steamers. San Francisco v. C. P. R. R. Co., 63 Cal. 467. The constitution does not require that the assessed value of each item should be apportioned, nor do the provisions of Political Code, (Sec. 3650). The road-bed is the foundation on which the superstructure of a roadway rests; the roadway is the right of way-which property is liable to taxation; the rails in place constitute the superstructure. An assessment of these items sepa

rately, does not constitute double taxation. It is not required that the apportionment to cities and to towns and to counties should be one act. Section 3666, Political Code, as it originally read, was declared unconstitutional in Houghton v. Austin, 47 Cal. 646, in so far as it delegated to the board the power to fix the rate of taxation because it was a delegation of legislative power, but the section at present does not contain such delegation of power. The franchise of a railroad is property, and is not exempt from taxation by reason of its being an instrumentality employed by congress to carry into operation the powers of the general government. S. F. & N. P. R. R. v. State Board of Equalization, 60 Cal. 12. C. P. R. R. v. same, Ib. 34. În Pac. Coast Ry. Co. v. Ramage, Tax Collector, No. 19,343, opinion filed Sept. 1, 1894, it is held that a wharf upon which a railroad company has laid its track and constructed buildings, the wharf having been acquired by the company from a private individual and not having been included in the franchise under which the company constructed its general line of road, is not property subject to be assessed by the state board, although the length of road described in the state assessment may be sufficient to include the wharf property, and that said wharf, etc., is properly asesssed by the county assessor.

All property except railroads operated in more than one county, must be assessed in the county in which it is situated. The situs of personal property is not changed by the death of the owner, and money belonging to the estate of the deceased is to be assessed in the county of his residence at the time of his death. City and County of San Francisco v. Lux, 64 Cal. 481.

The section is referred to in connection with sections 3665, 3670, Political Code, relating to pleadings in actions to recover taxes assessed against railroads operated in more than one county, in People v. C. P. R. R. Co., 83 Cal. 393, 413. See the same case also as to this section not being in violation of U. S. constitution. And as to removal of such actions to federal

courts, see S. P. R. R. Co. v. Superior Court, 63 Cal. 607. The district attorney of a county has no authority to consent to entering judgment for less than the full amount of state and county tax sued for. The attorney general can appeal from order refusing to set aside such judgment. County of Sacramento v. C. P. R. R. Co., 61 Cal. 250. See the last three cases to the effect that railroads operated in more than one county is the only property that can be assessed by the state board, and that no board or officer, except possibly the state board of equalization, could raise or lower such assessment. See also the cases collected under section 9 for various references to this section.

SECTION 11. Income taxes may be assessed to and collected from persons, corporations, joint-stock associations, or companies resident or doing business in this state, or any one or more of them, in such cases and amounts, and in such manner, as shall be prescribed by law.

SECTION 12. The legislature shall provide for the levy and collection of an annual poll tax of not less than two dollars on every male inhabitant of this state, over twenty-one and under sixty years of age, except paupers, idiots, insane persons and Indians, not taxed. Said tax shall be paid into the state school fund.

SECTION 13. The legislature shall pass all laws necessary to carry out the provisions of this article.

Article XIII contains all the constitutional provisions relative to assessment of property for taxation, and by the last section of the article the whole subject is relegated to the legislature as to the mode of carrying the system into effect. But this power of the legislature is governed by other provisions of the constitution, prohibiting special legislation, etc. The provisions of sections 3665, 3670, of Political Code, relative to assessment of railroad property and complaints in suits for collection of same, are special and discriminating. An obnoxious "special" provision may be contained in a "general" law. Citing Earle