US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

Under the laws in force in the District of Columbia when the cause of action in this case arose, the failure of the commissioner of improvements to deposit with the register a statement exhibiting the cost of setting the curbstone and paving the footway in front of each lot or part of lot, separately, and the amount of tax to be paid by each proprietor, the failure of the register to place Without delay in the hands of the collector a list of the persons taxed and the failure of the collector to give the required notice to such persons rendered invalid a chanrobles.com-red

Page 130 U. S. 178

tax sale under those laws and certificates thereof as against an innocent purchaser.

The provisions in those laws respecting the deposit of such statement with the register, the placing the list in the hands of the collector, and the notice to the owners were intended as a condition precedent, a strict compliance with which was necessary in order to make the tax a lien upon the lots.