Page:North Dakota Reports (vol. 1).pdf/408

 what does not belong to the exempt classes. It is true that if the law expressly exempts certain described property, then there is no question of exemption left for the assessor to decide, and he is without jurisdiction to assess the property so described. State v. Shacklett, 37 Mo. 280, was a case of that kind. For the full facts in that case it is necessary to consult Railroad Co. v. Shacklett, 30 Mo. 550. The capital stock of the railroad company was exempt, but had been assessed by the assessor, and the collection of the tax enforced by Shacklett, and an action was brought against the collector and his bondsmen to recover the amount, and the court says: “The officer is bound to know the law; and if he executes process which is void, emanating from a court or officer having no jurisdiction, he acts at his peril, and will not be protected where the assessment was illegal. Its illegality was apparent on the very face of the tax-books placed in the collector’s hands, as much so as if it had purported to have been made on the court-house or other property which the law expressly exempts from taxation.” The language of the learned court, as applied to the case before it, has our full approval. Itis no doubt true that, if an assessor should return a tract of land as belonging to and assessed against the United States, such assessment would be a nullity; and the assessor, and all acting after him in the collection or enforcement of such tax, would be trespassers. The same would be true should an assessor assess a schoolhouse and grounds against a school township; and the reason would be, in each case, that on the face of the proceedings the officer would be attempting to do what the law positively declared should not be done. But should the same officer in good faith, and relying upon the record as it appears to him, assess property against private parties in possession, but which in fact belonged to the United States or to a school township, such act would not be without jurisdiction, nor would the officer be a trespasser, because upon the face of the record he would be doing only what he had full authority to do. Of course, a tax-sale following such assessment would pass no title; but that event always follows an illegal sale, and does not prove that the assessor was without jurisdiction.