6. At such meeting to equalize the valuation of the Same. property of the several counties in the State, and fix the rate of State taxation;

7. To visit as a Board, or by the individual members thereof, the several counties of the State, for the purpose of inspecting the property and learning the value thereof;

8. To call before it or any member thereof on such visit, any officers of the county, and to require them to produce any public records in their custody;

9. To issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses, or the production of books before the Board or any member thereof-which subpoenas must be signed by a member of the Board and may be served by any person;

10. To appoint a clerk, prescribe and enforce his duties;

11. To report to the Governor annually a statement showing:

First-The acreage of each county in the State that is assessed;

Second-The amount assessed per acre;

Third-The aggregate value of all town and city

lots;

Fourth-The aggregate value of all real estate in the State;

Fifth-The kinds of personal property in each county, and the value of each kind;

Sixth-The aggregate value of all personal property in the State;

Seventh-Any information relative to the assessment of property and the collection of revenue;

Eighth-Such further suggestions as it shall deem

proper;

12. To keep a record of all its proceedings.

NOTE.-Under the authority of this section the following rules and regulations were adopted by the State Board of Equalization, March 18th, 1872:

To the County Board of Supervisors and County Assessor of County: By authority of the thirtysix hundred and ninety-second section of the "Political Code of the State of California," approved March twelfth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, the following rules and regulations are prescribed by the State Board of Equalization for the government of County Boards of Supervisors sitting as a Board of Equalization, and County Assessors:

I. In addition to the affidavit required by section thirty-six hundred and thirty of the Act above mentioned, and before taking from any person the statement required by section thirty-six hundred and twentynine of said Act, the Assessor shall administer to such person an oath that he or she will true answer make to all questions put to him or her concerning all matters contained in said last mentioned section.

II. All property must be assessed at its "full cash value." By the term "full cash value" is meant "the amount at which the property would be appraised if taken in payment of a just debt due from a solvent debtor."

III. Assessors must not assess the property of any person in "gross," but must require from each person assessed a specific statement, setting forth in detail and in accordance with the assessment lists, the quantity, number, or kind of each class of property assessed, and the value of the same.

IV. Assessors are hereby instructed to use the form of statement or assessment list adopted and furnished by the State Board of Equalization; and in all cases to take statements (sworn to before filing), signed by the person assessed, which should be carefully preserved in the archives of the office of the Assessor.

V. In the assessment of real estate the lands must be classified on the lists according to quality, if the same be practicable. A classification according to the respective values of different portions of the land, if the same be not all of the same quality, is always practicable, and must be made and so returned to this Board. (See section thirty-six hundred and fifty-five of said Act.)

VI. Great care and diligence should be used in the description of real estate. Where United States surveys have been made they should be followed; but in other cases the metes and bounds should be carefully given; and where patents, as in case of Spanish ranchos, have issued, the description contained in such patent

may be safely adopted; and Assessors should be heedful, where sales of any portion of a tract have taken place, to exclude such portions by definite description.

VII. The copy of the assessment roll for the year eighteen hundred and seventy-two, which the State Board of Equalization requires for its use (the books for which will be prepared and forwarded by said Board), should be made contemporaneously with the original assessment roll, or sooner if that be possible, in order that the State Board of Equalization' may be advised at the earliest practicable moment of the value of the properties assessed in each county. In this copy it will not be necessary to enter a minute description of the real estate, but only the number of acres and special designation, if (as in the case of Spanish ranchos) the tract had any, and in other cases by United States divisions and subdivisions. For personal property the entire roll need not be copied, but only so many examples of assessment-say forty or fifty-as shall clearly show the different species of property and the price at which it is valued. It should be full enough to enable the Board to see how each class of property is assessed in a particular county. The aggregate amount of personal property assessed to each person should be carried out. Have the amounts added up and the totals carried out, so that the Board can ascertain the "total value" of the assessment, and the "total full cash value" of all property.

The following other rules and regulations were adopted by the State Board of Equalization March twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and seventy-two:

By authority of an Act of the Legislature, approved March sixteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, entitled "An Act to put into immediate effect certain parts of the Political and Penal Codes," the following rules and regulations are prescribed by the State Board of Equalization for the government of County Assessors, and County Boards of Supervisors sitting as Boards of Equalization:

RULE I.-The design of the Code in the matter of assessing and collecting the public revenue is to carry into effect the constitutional requisition that all property in this State shall be taxed in proportion to its value, and that taxation shall be equal and uniform. To this end the Code requires the assessment of all taxable property in the State to be first completed before the rate of State or county taxation is determined. The assessment must be completed on or before the first Monday of July of each year, and the equalization

by the County Boards of Equalization must be completed on or before the first Monday in August. All property must be assessed at its "full cash value," and the Code does not permit any deduction from such "full cash value" on account of any indebtedness of the owner, or on any account whatever.

RULE II.-What is known as a SPECIAL DEPOSIT of money, or other valuables, in a bank, or with a banker, or other person-that is to say, a deposit by the terms of which the custodian of the deposit has no right to the use of the same, but is merely charged with the duty of safely keeping it for the benefit of the depositor is not to be assessed to such bank, banker, or other person; but such deposit must be assessed to the depositor. In case such depositor resides in another county, the Assessor must immediately, by mail or express, inform the Assessor of the proper county of the nature, amount, and place of such deposit, and of the name of the depositor. In case such depositor is absent from the State the deposit must be assessed to the bank, banker, or other person in whose keeping the same remains, specifying in the assessment that said bank, banker, or other person is assessed for such deposit as the agent of the owner, naming such owner.

RULE III.-Banking corporations, and all banks and banking firms or associations, or persons doing a banking business, must be assessed for the full amount of money, gold dust or bullion on hand (except the special deposits mentioned in Rule No. II); and in addition thereto, under the head of solvent debts, all their loans, and all solvent debts due them must be assessed at the several "full cash values" thereof, without any deduction on account of any indebtedness, and notwithstanding the depositors and creditors of such corporations, banks, banking firms, associations, or persons may have been or may be liable to be assessed for their said deposits or credits, as solvent debts due them.

RULE IV. The term "SOLVENT DEBTS," includes all money deposited with or owing by any such institution, or person mentioned in Rule No. III, and such debts must be severally assessed at their full cash value, as solvent debts, to the depositors, or such other persons as at the time of assessment may be the owners or holders of such debts.

RULE V. In assessing any debts due any person, association, or corporation, the present cash value of the debt is to be ascertained, as near as may be, by taking into consideration the nature of the indebtedness, the ability of the debtor to pay the same, in whole

or in part, the character and sufficiency of the security, if any there be, the times when payable, and such other circumstances as have a present and direct effect upon the value. Care should be taken so as not to assess a deposit in a bank, or money loaned to the depositor or person loaning the money as money, but such property must be assessed at its value as a solvent debt.

RULE VI-If there be any difficulty in ascertaining the "full cash value," of any property, real or personal, resort must be had to the rule of interpretation prescribed by the Code, which is, "the amount at which the property would be appraised if taken in payment of a just debt due from a solvent debtor."

RULE VII.-Assessors must not assess the property of any person in "gross," but after demanding and receiving from each person to be assessed a specific statement, setting forth in detail and in accordance with the assessment lists the quantity, number, or kind of each class of property assessed, the Assessor will then fix the proper values at which the several properties are to be assessed according to his own judgment, governed and guided by the requirements of the Code and these Rules. If the person being assessed make any statement of the value of the property, or any portion thereof, whether under oath or not, the Assessor may consider the same, but will not be bound thereby, but must assess such property at its "full cash value."

RULE VIII.-Assessors must not accept returns or statements from agents for persons when the persons themselves can be found in the county.

RULE IX.-The name of every person subject to taxation must be entered in the Assessor's day book, whether such person has any assessable property or not.

RULE X.-The duplicate assessment book required by Section 3732 of the Political Code must in all cases be prepared as in said section required, and this Board will not in any case exercise the power given it to dispense with said duplicate. Provision has been made for the proper compensation of the Auditor for preparing said duplicate.

RULE XI.-Assessors are requested carefully to study all the sections of the Political Code relative to the assessment of property, numbered from 3627 to 3651, inclusive, found upon pages 22 to 27, inclusive, of the volume entitled "Provisions of the Codes relative to Revenue," which will be provided them. By consulting Sections 3632, 3633, 3634, 3648, and 3649, above mentioned, and Sections 429, 430, and 19 of the Penal Code, contained in the same volume, Assessors will