Smith v. Northern Pacific Railway Co.

Two actions were brought in the superior court to determine whether certain personal property owned and held by defendant railroad company should be assessed as “operating property” or as “non-operating property,” as those two descriptive terms are defined by chapter 123, Laws of 1935, p. 356 (Rem. Rev. Stat. (Sup.), § 11156-1 [P. C. § 7088-31] etseq.), which provides a method for the assessment and taxation of property of transportation and other utility companies. One of the actions was brought by the assessor of Pierce county against the Northern Pacific Railway Company and the members of…