558 REVENUE AND TAXES. [ART. 81

duty of every person residing in this State, who owns personal
property liable to taxation under the laws of this State, if the
assessor shall fail to call upon said person and furnish said
schedule as hereinbefore provided in this section, to appear
before the assessor in his assessment district and fill up said
schedule and swear to the same as hereinbefore provided for;
and if such person fails to report, as aforesaid to said assessor,
the said assessor shall upon his own knowledge, and upon the
best information he can obtain, value and assess the property of
such owner or person to the utmost sum he may believe the
same to be worth in cash; and the owner of said property not so
returned, he, she, or it as a penalty may be taxed on such prop-
erty as he, she, or it has failed to report to said assessor, double
the amount of taxes that he, she or it would have been liable for
under existing law, for the first year of such taxes. The said
assessor shall have the right and it shall be his duty to pro-
pound any question to said persons which said assessor may deem
necessary to enable him to ascertain the location, kind and
character of the personal property owned by said persons, after
having administered an oath or affirmation to such person, that
he or she will true answers make to such questions as may be
asked said person by said assessors concerning said property and
its location.

1896. ch. 120.

174. Every taxable person or persons referred to in section
173 shall at the time of returning said lists to said assessors, make
the following affidavit before him or them: "State of Maryland,
county or city, ss: I, ————, being duly sworn, say to the best
of my knowledge, information and belief that the foregoing
schedule contains a true, full and complete list of all real and
personal property held or belonging to me, (or to me as a partner
or in my possession as trustee, administrator, guardian, committee
of a lunatic, or agent of any person not residing or being in this
county or city or belonging to any corporation or belonging to
me by any manner of title, either legal or equitable, the legal
title to which said property is in a non-resident) and that all such
property has been fully and fairly described and its true condi
tion represented; that I have in no case sought to mislead said
assessor as to quantity or quality of said property; that I have