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Show " HELENA,' MONT. If the :-demurrer to 'the complaint in the action brought' by the .Montana Catholic missions against Missoula county, which was argued recently before be-fore Judge Knowles in the United states .court, is sustained,! the- action will be dismissed for "want of jurisdiction. jurisdic-tion. The demurrer alleges that the federal court is without jurisdiction, 1 and that the suit should have been J commenced , in the' state courts. Judge John M. Evans of Missoula, represented the defendant, and T. J. Walsh of Helena, the plaintiff. Judge Knowles took the. Liestion under advisement. The, suit brought by the - Montana Catholic missions, 'an incorporated concern, con-cern, raises a question that -has never been passed upon. in a United States court. . The . action was brought to recover re-cover '$3,500 - collected by:- Missoula county from: the' St. Ignatius mission, on the Flathead Indian, reservation, as taxes, between the years 1897 and 1901. The mission claims' that it is a charitable char-itable institution, and that as such it is exempt from taxation. The plaintiff, in its complaint, acknowledges ac-knowledges that it has a large number num-ber of cattle, and that it markets them annually in the east. It contends, however, how-ever, that the proceeds from its sales of livestock are expended in educating Indians and in maintaining the institution. institu-tion. The county claims that the mission mis-sion is not a charitable institution in the eyes of the- law and that it is not exempt from taxation. Should the case be transferred to the state courts, the only question to be determined will be one of fact. The issue will then be whether or not the mission is a charitable institution. If it is, it is.: ewtitled to be exempt from taxation under the laws of the state. |