deduct the balance of such debts in like manner as the Assessor might have done in case the said statement had been duly delivered to him; and in case any Assessor or Commissioner of Appeals shall make any such deduction without having first delivered to him as aforesaid such statement under oath or affirmation, the said Assessor and Commissioner of Appeals shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars; and all written statements and oaths and affirmations authorized and required by this act shall be forthwith delivered to the Clerk of the township wherein the Assessor or person making the same resides, to be by him filed and preserved."

And by the act approved March 29th, 1878 (Pamphlet Laws 1878, page 213; Supplement to Revision, page 982, section 4), it is provided "that in making the valuation and assessment of personal estate within this State, for State, county, township and municipal taxes, no deduction of amount of any personal indebtedness shall be made therefrom, unless the individual claiming such deduction shall sign a statement in writing, under oath or affirmation, of the truth and justice thereof, and of the several debts owing by such individual which he desires to have deducted, to whom owing and where the creditor resides, and also of the total amount of personal property of such individual, including debts due and owing to such individual from solvent debtors; and also that no part of such indebtedness was created for the purpose of reducing the taxes of such individual; and that the stated actual value of the personal property of such individual includes not only that to which such individual holds title or possession, but also that to which any other person or persons hold the title or possession for such individual, whether the same be held in trust or not."

Section 5-that any person guilty of willful and corrupt false swearing or affirming in taking any oath or affirmation required by this act shall be guilty of perjury and punishable accordingly.

And by the act approved February 23d, 1885 (Pamphlet Laws 1885, page 40; Supplement to Revision, page 982, section 6), it is further provided "that in all cases in which deductions shall be hereafter claimed or allowed, either for indebtedness or for property claimed to be exempt from taxation, from the total values of the property or estate of any person or corporation to be assessed for taxes in this State, such person or corporation shall, in addition to the require

ments now imposed by law, furnish to the Assessor or other taxing officer or authority a statement under oath or affirmation, showing when the indebtedness for which said deduction is claimed was incurred, and a detailed list of the securities or property claimed to be exempt from taxation, and of the dates at which said securities or other property were purchased, together with a declaration under oath that said indebtedness was not incurred, nor said securities or property purchased with the intent to escape taxation, but in good faith." Section 7-that no deduction shall be made, either for indebtedness or for property or securities claimed to be exempt from taxation, unless the statement and deduction herein before required shall be furnished at the time and in the manner now or hereafter directed by law for furnishing statements of taxable property and schedules of indebtedness, and that any person who shall in such statement make a false return, in whole or in part, of his or her taxable property, or of his or her indebtedness, or of the indebtedness or taxable property of the corporation of which he may be an officer, or of such property or security claimed to be exempt from taxation, shall be deemed guilty of perjury and subject to the penalty now or hereafter prescribed by law for that offense.

Section 8-that the statements and declarations herein required to to be furnished, when made by or in behalf of any corporation, shall be subscribed and sworn to by the President or principal officer of such corporation.

Section 9—that the Assessor, taxing officer or other taxing authority, to whom such statements and declarations shall be made, shall have power to examine, under oath, any person or officer of any corporation as to the truth of the matter contained in the statement or return made by such person or officer, and shall have authority to compel the attendance of such person or persons, and other witnesses, and the production of books and papers, at such time and place as they may designate, giving notice to such person or persons, or such additional witnesses, to attend at a time and place in said notice designated, and to produce such books and papers; which notice shall be served at least two days before the time therein designated by leaving it at the residence of such person or witness, or at the office of such corporation; and such Assessor or taxing officer, or any member of any taxing board, is hereby authorized to administer

oaths or affirmations to all persons examined before him or them, as aforesaid.

Section 10-that in case any person so notified to attend before said Assessor or taxing officer or authority shall refuse or neglect to appear at the time and place so designated, such Assessor or taxing officer or authority may adjourn such examination to a subsequent day, and apply to the Circuit Court of the county, and the said court shall award process of subpoena to compel the attendance of such person or persons so neglecting or refusing to attend before such Assessor or taxing officer or authority, and said court shall have power, as in cases pending in said court, to punish as for contempt any person disobeying or disregarding such process.

And by the act approved March 19th, 1891 (Pamphlet Laws 1891, page 193, section 6), it is provided "that whenever the owner of personal property in two or more taxing districts is entitled to a reduction for debts in excess of the assessed value of his personal estate in the taxing district where he resides, he shall be entitled to have such further deduction as is or may be allowed by law, made from the assessed value of his personal estate in the other taxing districts wherein he may own personal estate; it shall be the duty of the board hereby created to prescribe, by rule, the manner in which such deduction shall be claimed and allowed."

MORTGAGES.

By the act approved April 17th, 1876 (Pamphlet Laws 1876, page 160; Revision of New Jersey, page 1163, section 109), it is provided "that hereafter no mortgage or debt secured thereby shall be assessed for taxation unless a deduction therefor shall have been claimed by the owner of the land and allowed by the Assessor."

Section 110-that hereafter such mortgages or debts secured thereby as shall be subject to taxation, shall be assessed for taxation by the Assessor making the deduction on account thereof, and the tax thereon shall be collected by the Collector of Taxes in and for the township or city wherein the lands in the mortgage are situate.

And by the act approved April 17th, 1876 (Pamphlet Laws 1876, page 159; Revision of New Jersey, page 1174, section 153), it is provided "that hereafter it shall be lawful for the owners of lands situated in the counties of Hudson, Essex, Union, Bergen and Passaic,

and in the cities of Trenton, New Brunswick and Camden, to agree for themselves and their heirs and assigns with the holder of any mortgage now in existence or hereafter to be made, which binds or may bind lands in said counties or cities, not to apply for any deduction, by reason of any mortgage, from the taxable value of such lands embraced in such mortgage." This is known as the Five Counties Act.

And by the act approved March 14th, 1879 (Pamphlet Laws 1879, page 228; Supplement to Revision, page 983, section 11), it is provided "that all debts due to the State of New Jersey and secured by mortgages to the school fund and sinking fund shall be deducted from the taxable property of the debtor claiming such deduction; provided, that this act shall not apply to any county or counties in this State where, by virtue of any public or private act, the mortgagor or mortgagors are not permitted to deduct from their taxable property the amount due on such mortgage or mortgages."

And by the act approved February 28th, 1881 (Pamphlet Laws 1881, page 46; Supplement to Revision, page 983, section 12), it is provided "that all debts due to the Boards of Chosen Freeholders of the respective counties of this State for moneys heretofore loaned or hereafter to be loaned by them from the surplus revenue of the general government, heretofore apportioned among said counties, and secured by mortgages to the said respective Boards of Chosen Freeholders, shall be deducted from the taxable property of the debtor claiming such deduction."

And by the act approved March 17th, 1882 (Pamphlet Laws 1882, page 120; Supplement to Revision, page 983, section 13), it is provided "that it shall be lawful for the Assessor, or for the Commissioners of Appeals in Cases of Taxation, to deduct from the valuation of the taxable property for which any person shall be assessed, any debt or debts due and owing from such person upon any mortgage. made to the Chancellor in his official capacity or to the State of New Jersey, for the investment of money in the Court of Chancery, upon claim for such deduction being made according to law."

ADJACENT FARMS OR TRACTS-WHERE TO BE ASSESSED.

This point in the Tax laws has been changed and modified so many times by the Legislature, necessitating judicial construction and interpretation so often, that it is almost an impossibility to determine with

accuracy what the law is, the result of which is that each Assessor and township attorney construes the law in most cases to suit his own convenience.

By the act approved April 11th, 1866 (Pamphlet Laws 1866, page 1078; Revision of New Jersey, page 1152, section 55), it is provided "that all lands shall be assessed in the township or ward in which they are situate, and every person shall be assessed in the township or ward where he resides, for all lands then owned or possessed by him within said township or ward, either occupied or unoccupied; and when the line between two townships or wards divides a farm or a lot owned or possessed by the person taxed, the same shall be taxed, if occupied, in the township or ward in which the occupant resides; and if unoccupied, each part shall be assessed to the owner thereof in the township or ward in which the same may be, and this whether such division line be a township, ward or county line."

And by the act passed May 11th, 1886 (Pamphlet Laws 1886, page 348; Supplement to Revision, page 981, section 2), it is provided "that where a farm or tract of land lying adjacent to land upon which the owner resides, shall be, or may heretofore, since 1881, have been, acquired by such owner, by transfer separate from the transfer by which he acquired the land on which he resides, such farm or tract so acquired shall not, by reason of the change of ownership, be assessed in the township where such owner resides, but shall be assessed in the township where the same is situate." This modifies, to some extent, the law as stated in the previous section-that is, the law of 1866.

And by the act approved March 19th, 1891 (Pamphlet Laws 1891, page 192, section 6), it is provided "that all real estate shall be assessed in the township, ward or taxing district in which the same may be situated; where the line between two taxing districts divides a farm or lot owned or possessed by the person taxed, the same shall be taxed, if occupied, in the taxing district in which the occupant resides, and, if unoccupied, each part thereof shall be assessed to the owner thereof in the taxing district in which the same may be, and this, whether such division line be a township, ward or county line."

And by the act approved March 30th, 1892 (Pamphlet Laws 1892, page 378), it was enacted "that where a farm or tract of land lying adjacent to lands upon which the owner resides shall be, or may heretofore, since 1881, have been acquired by such owner, by transfer