PARK AND CEMETERY 
and LANDSCAPE GARDENING 
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V’ol. XX\'II. No. 11. 
CEMIiTiiRY TAX 
liXEMPTIOXS. 
When question is raised in a court as 
to whether certain property owned 1iy a 
cemetery company or association is ex- 
empt from taxation, tlie solution usually 
turns upon an interpretation of some 
statute or charter provision. If the lan- 
guage of the statute or charter he clear 
on the point of legislative intention, that 
virtually ends the controversy, whether 
the manifest intention he for or against 
exemption. 
But it is not always by any means an 
easy matter to apply the legislative in- 
tent to some particular situation not 
speciticalh- contemplated by the state's 
solons. When the intention of the legis- 
lature in enacting any law is left some- 
what in doubt, it is the province of the 
courts to place a judicial interpretation 
upon the act, and such interpretation 
stands as a part of the law until the 
legislature may choose to make some con- 
flicting amendment. And when a court 
is called upon to apply a statute some- 
what doubtful in meaning, it is a well 
settled rule of statutory construction 
that the interpretation should he made 
in the light of established public policy. 
Usually public policy will be found to 
point one way. But it is interesting to 
note that when a question of cemetery 
tax exemption arises public polic\' itself 
points in opposite directions. Public 
policy disfavors exemptions from taxa- 
tion because that tends to inequality in 
the bearing of the burden of paying the 
running expense of government. And 
public police’ calls for a jealous safe- 
guarding of the sacred ground in wliich 
our dead are buried. As between these 
conflicting policies, the judicial leaning 
is strongly against any step which seeks 
to enforce a tax lien against a grave, 
but in favor of the taxation of property 
not actually and intimately linked with 
burials. 
In addition to the numerous court 
decisions on this subject heretofore 
mentioned in Park and Cemetery, 
the decision in German Evangelical 
Protestant Cemetery vs. Brooks, 8 Ohio 
Cir. Ct. Rep. 439, is worthy of note. The 
Ohio statute involved in that case ex- 
empted from taxation lands of certain 
cemetery associations held “for the sole 
and exclusive use of a cemetery,’’ and 
another statute declared that all lands 
EDITORIAL 
used "exclusively'' as graveyards. The 
association in (piestion bought land in 
one year for future use for cemetery 
])urposes. The platting was not com- 
pleted until the middle of the third \ear, 
and the !irst interment in the land was 
made at the end of that year. During 
the second year the i)roperty was rented 
for pasturage and until the grounds were 
platted a house on the premises was 
rented to the cemetery employees. Un- 
der these circumstances, it was decided 
1)}’ the court that the land was taxable 
in the third, as well as the second year 
IVAR WORK OE 
FOREST SERVICE 
How the work of the Forest Service 
was realigned to meet war conditions is 
described in the Annual Report of the 
Forester, which in the absence of the 
head of the service is made by Acting- 
Forester A. F. Potter. The report also 
states that practically every form of use 
of the forests was greater than ever 
before, that the receipts again touched 
a new high level with a total of $3,457,- 
028.41, and that the increase in receipts 
over the previous year was $633,487.70. 
“When the grazing charge has been ad- 
vanced to cover the full value of the 
grazing privilege,” says the report, “the 
income from the national forests will be 
close to the cost of operation. The 
present annual cost is about $4,000,000.'' 
An increase equal to that of the last 
fiscal year “would close the gap.” 
The Forester, Henry S. Graves, is now 
serving with the American Expedition- 
ary forces in France, with a commis- 
sion as Lieutenant-Colonel, in connec- 
tion with the forest work for the sup- 
ply of the needs of our overseas troops 
and those of the Allies. A number of 
other members of the Forest Service re- 
ceived commissions in the Tenth Engi- 
neers (Forest), while many more en- 
tered the ranks. 
Wood and other forest products have 
almost innumerable uses in modern war- 
fare, it is pointed out. Never before 
has the demand for exact knowledge 
been so urgent. “In the work relating 
forest utilization and forest products 
the resources of the service have been 
employed to the limit of their capacity 
since the war began in rendering as- 
sistance to the War and Navy depart- 
ments, the Emergency Fleet Corporation, 
JANUARY, 1918. 
various committees of the Council of 
National Defense, and manufacturers of 
war orders. The peace-time program 
has been largely discontinued. The force 
and the work have been centered in 
Washington and Madison. Every effort 
has been made to firing available knowl- 
edge to the attention of the organiza- 
tions which have need for it and to 
assist in anticipating their problem.” 
Aluch of the work has concerned air- 
craft material. It has included also 
problems connected with the construc- 
tion of wooden ships and of vehicles. 
Assistance has been given to hardwood 
distillation plants in order to increase 
the production of acetone and other 
products needed for munition making. 
commercial demonstration has shown 
that costs of producing ethyl alcohol 
from wood waste can be materially re 
duced. iMethods have been developed 
by wliich walnut and birch can be kiln- 
dried in a much reduced time with com- 
paratively little loss. In general, the re- 
port says, -much assistance has been 
given on a great variety of war prob- 
lems relating to forest resources and the 
manufacture, purchase and most efficient 
use of wood and other forest products.” 
In spite of the many new demands 
upon the service and the entrance upon 
military duties of a considerable num- 
ber of its men, the administrative and 
protective work on the National For- 
ests was continued without disorganiza- 
tion. In the latter part of the summer 
a fire season of extreme danger, made 
worse in some localities by an unusual 
prevalence of incendiarism, was passed 
through w'ith relatively small loss of 
property and with no reported loss of 
life.” 
EDITORIAL NOTES. 
As an interesting example of the 
problems wdiich a forester has to w'ork 
out, it is said that forest officials in 
India have undertaken to girdle unde- 
sirable trees in order to kill them off 
and gi\ e more room to the Deodar and 
other valuable species. Himalayan bears, 
however, have discovered that the sap 
from these girdled trees is sw'eet and 
toothsome and have undertaken some 
girdling on their own hook. They have 
caused a good deal of trouble because 
they do not confine their operations to 
undesirable trees. 
