Conspired to Defame

New York, 1895

THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNSELOR JOHN FLEMING.

Charges of Trickery and False Pretense that Had Malice for their Basis — The Facts as they Are Set Down in the Public Records.

The board of Supervisors collectively, Supervisor Siebs individually, and Counselor John Fleming personally have been grossly defamed in the columns of the New York Sun, New York World, Brooklyn Times, and some other newspapers. The main purpose of the assault seems to have been to cast reproach on the good name of Mr. Fleming. It Is really a conspiracy to defame, and it ought to cut a figure with the next Grand Jury. What makes it appear like a conspiracy is the fact that after Mr. Fleming had appeared before the Supervisors to see if any explanation of the matters alleged to be wrongful was required, and the Supervisors had said that no wrong had been done, or intended, not one of these newspapers, except the Brooklyn Times, retracted the calumny. The reporters, who having taken pains to utter the libel, took equal pains to ignore the action thereon by Mr. Fleming and the Supervisors.

On December 13th, 1894, John Fleming, as counsel for the St. John's cemetery corporation, placed before the board of Supervisors a petition of the corporation for the cancellation of assessments on its property from the year 1879 to 1891, inclusive. The corporation had annually protested against the assessment as illegal. The Assessors held that as all of the land did not contain graves, the unoccupied part was liable to assessment. Nevertheless, they assessed the whole of the property.

The seventh clause of the petition says:

Seventh — That your petitioner has not paid any of the taxes above enumerated, which were imposed on the cemetery tract since the date of its purchase in September, 1879, for the reason that the same were unlawfully imposed and in direct violation of the provisions of Chapter 310 of the Laws of 1879, entitled "An act to prevent the sale of lands used for cemetery purposes."

There was but one question, and that a legal question, before the Supervisors, namely: Was the cemetery illegally assessed? The petition was referred to Supervisor Siebs of Newtown, the land being in that town. Mr. Siebs did not pass on the question of law himself, but referred the matter to Counselor Van Vechten. It was conceded that the statements set forth in the petition were true.

Counselor Van Vechten gave the board of Supervisors the following opinion on the law of the case:

To the Honorable the Board of Supervisors of Queens County:

Gentlemen — In reference to the petition of St. John's cemetery for cancellation of taxes, I advise you, that Section 1 of Chapter 310, Laws of 1879, reads as follows:

"No land actually used and occupied for cemetery purposes shall be sold under execution, or for any tax or assessment, nor shall it be lawful to mortgage such land, or to apply it in payment of debts so long as it shall continue to be used for cemetery purposes."

It follows therefore that the levying and assessment of the taxes recited in the petition, as also the sales for non-payment were absolutely void as being contrary to law, and it is the duty of the board to direct the cancellation thereof, and if said property has been assessed this year the board should also direct the correction of the tax roll, pursuant to Section 16 of Chapter 686, Laws of 1892 (the County Law.)

Respectfully, F. H. VAN VECHTEN.

There was then nothing left for the board of Supervisors but to cancel the assessments and revoke the sales, and a proper resolution to that effect was introduced by Mr. Siebs and unanimously adopted. If this had not been done, the corporation would have brought an action against the county, and of course the county would have been beaten.

The reporters in the conspiracy to assail Mr. Fleming asserted that the petition had been passed by means of trickery, that there had been sharp practice, and even misrepresentation, when as everybody can see from this recital of the facts, as they appear in the Supervisors' minutes, everything was open, frank and honest.

Mr. Fleming went before the board of Supervisors on Thursday last in respect to the malicious publications, as much to protect their reputation as his own. He said that he courted the most minute investigation of the whole affair. During all the years that the assessment had been levied, the town made no attempt to collect the tax, because the officers knew that the assessment was forbidden by law.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, March 15, 1895, p. 1.