stock of railroad companies; "to participate in any proceeding in any
court wherein any assessment or taxation question is involved."

The Commission appoints for each of the counties a Supervisor of
Assessments who has the status of chief assessor in the county, with
power also to appeal to the Commission from any assessments or rul-
ings made by the County Commissioners. The, supervisors are appointed
from a list of five nominees submitted by the County Commissioners.
They serve during good behavior and are removable by the State Tax
Commission "for incompetency or other cause." Their salaries are paid
by the respective counties and are graded according to the aggregate
value of property assessed in the county. A supervisor is also appointed
for Baltimore City with important duties of investigation. The Com-
mission may order the appointment of local assessors to be made by
the County Commissioners and may dismiss such assessors for cause,
and, in its discretion, may fill any vacancy thus created.

The State Tax Commission has charge of the qualification and/or
registration of foreign corporations doing business in Maryland.
In. addition to determining the amount of the annual franchise tax,
which is based on the amount of capital employed by them as of
January 1st, Chapter 387 of the Acts of 1939 requires the Commission,
beginning with the year 1940, to assess the tangible personal property
of foreign corporations and distribute the assessment to, the local-
ities in which the property is located. This law transfers the juris-
diction to tax such property from the local taxing authorities to
the State Tax Commission. Charters and amendments to charters
of domestic corporations are filed with, and recorded and approved
by, the Commission, In its jurisdiction over foreign corporations
the Commission succeeds the Secretary of State; while in passing
on. appeals from assessments locally made, and on certificates of incor-
poration, it exercises functions formerly performed by the courts.

Under the Tax Revision Act of 1929 (Chapter 226) an appeal to
the courts lies from the decisions of the Commission in all cases where
questions of law are involved.

Under the income tax law, the Commission was given appellate
jurisdiction to hear all appeals from the final action of the Comp-
troller. The determination of the Commission is prima facie evidence
of the amount of the tax due, but an appeal to the courts lies from
the finding of the Commission in the manner now provided for on
appeals from said Commission in the exercise of its appellate juris-
diction and the provisions of Section 188 of Article 81 of the Code
are made applicable.

The State Tax Commission is composed of three members, ap-
pointed by the Governor for terms of six years, one of the terms expir-
ing every two years. One member must be a resident of the Eastern
Shore, one a resident of Baltimore City and the other a resident of one
of the Western Shore counties. "Not more than two of said Commis-
sioners shall be of the same political party, and each of them shall be
a taxpayer and qualified voter of this State."

SUPERVISORS OF ASSESSMENTS

Somerville Nicholson....................................Allegany
George T. Cromwell. ............................... Anne Arundel
Robert L. Mainen. ............................... .Baltimore City
H. Gerard Mueller. ................................... Baltimore
Russell H. Owings. ....................................... Calvert
A. Irvin Brumbaugh..................................... Caroline