CHURCH EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION.
At the last State election in California, a constitutional amendment was adopted which exempts from taxation houses of worship actually owned by any religious congregation and used exclusively for religious services. It was the Catholic archbishop of San Francisco who was the principal spokesman when the Legislature was induced to submit the proposition to a vote of the people; and it was the vote of San Francisco that carried the measure at the election. It was practically a Catholic measure, for the “Protestant” ministers who accompanied the archbishop to the capitol, acted merely in the capacity of henchmen. They wanted the exemption for their churches, but they went in on the archbishop’s influence to secure it. Political expediency and the example of other States secured the votes of members for this species of State support of religion. But the practical application of the measure has given rise to a number of legal questions. Attorney-General Ford has promulgated an opinion that churches that receive revenue from the renting of the church buildings or any part thereof will not be exempt from taxation, no matter to what purpose that money is devoted. In other words, churches exempt from taxation must be used exclusively for religious worship. He also states that the assessor is amply clothed with power to exact statements and examine any persons relative thereto, for the purpose of ascertaining whether property is used solely and exclusively for religious worship.