Page:North Dakota Reports (vol. 3).pdf/96

 proper officials is essential to a tax. Cooley, Tax’n, 339; 1 Desty, pp. 106, 515. Where the authority to levy is given, and the mode also prescribed, the mode must be pursued. 2 Dill. Mun. Corp. § 769.

Turning to the county tax, the respondent contends that such tax was wholly void, first, because the description of the property as found in the assessment roll for the year in question is insufficient to meet the requirements of the law. Certain pages of. the roll were put in evidence, and, among others, the printed heading at the top of the page on which the lots are described, which heading is as follows: “Assessment Return of Taxable Property in Cass County, Dakota, for the year 1886. Real Property. Keeney & Dewitt’s Add'n.” Below this was a Proper description of the lots as lots 12 and 13 of block 9. Respondent criticisescriticizes [sic] the return, for the reason that it does not appear on the page where the lots are described in the return where they are located. It is true that such page does not disclose whether the lots are situated within the limits of Fargo or not, nor does this page indicate or state that Keeney & Dewitt’s addition is an addition to Fargo. But another printed heading of a preceedingproceeding [sic] page of the same return was put in evidence by the appellant as follows: ‘“Assessment Return of Taxable Property in Cass County, Dakota. Real Property. Fargo. Original Addition.” This was the heading on page 3 of the return and descriptions of real estate continued under this head to page 11 of the return, and on page 12 the return was as follows: “Keeney & Dewitt’s Addition; and under the last mentioned heading the descriptions continued until page 19, and embraced the property in question. From all of these pages of the return, when read together and fairly construed, we are compelled to hold that the description of the property, though not to be commended, is yet a substantial description, and one which fulfills the requirements of the law. We arrive at this conclusion without reference to parol evidence, which showed that the only Keeney & Dewitt's addition in Cass County was an addition to Fargo. We therefore rule that the property was sufficiently