Vintage 1870-'71 California Poll Tax Tulare County Letter from Assessor w/Tally

Description

A significant historical document, related to the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, specifically in California's response to African American suffrage.
Here is the original handwritten letter and tally sheet documenting the poll tax accounting survey for Tulare County, CA. It is/was in all probability a rough draft as I found on-line copy of the final version written by W.J. Ellis, County Assessor to John W. Bost, Surveyor-General and there were changes made. (I will included a printed copy)
This document reads in the first paragraph:
Office of the County Assessors of Tulare County, Visalia, Oct. 18th, 1871
Hon. John W. Bost, Surveyor General, Sir: Herewith I have the honor to transmit my statistical report for the year 1870-1871 and state that the same is as complete a report of all the products (?) and property of this county as I have been able to obtain by examination and inquiry (assisted by 3 deputies) and believe the same is as connect (?) as can reasonably be obtained. ...
There is also the additional tally sheet and on the reverse of it is the handwritten note which reads
"Poll Tax Payers in Tulare Co. in 1871"
there is a single hole in the bottom of the tally sheet, perhaps where it was nailed up? There are smudges, cross-outs and ink blots.
The original envelop is labeled with one end torn open, the back is sealed. There is a considerable amount of smudge and soil on the envelop but it remains clearly legible.
The letter is NOT signed.
In 1869 the 15th amendment was up for ratification, it would give African American men the right to vote. However it did not safe guard against poll taxes or literacy and property qualifications.   In January of 1870, both the California Assembly and Senate decisively rejected the Fifteenth Amendment. Despite California's opposition, however, the amendment was ratified in 1870.
"During early April, (1870) as the first celebrations took place, African American euphoria over the apparent attainment of suffrage was tempered by a growing anxiety as county clerks from Los Angeles to the the northern end of the state, pressured by the state attorney general, either refused to enroll blacks on their Great Registers or did so with great hesitancy. The struggle for the right to vote was not yet won."
Information regarding California's role was obtained from online article by Prof. Ralph E Shaffer, Cal Poly. "California Reluctantly Implements the Fifteenth Amendment: White Californians Respond to Black Suffrage. March to June, 1870"  An interesting read.
NOTE: small black book and coin used to weight the letter in photo 1 is not included.