Weekly Trinity journal., 1879-05-03
THE MINERS MUST GO 7"

the people Of Trinity county to
couple Of questions Of local impor-
tance involved in the election next Wed>
nesday. I think that if my conclusions
are correct, and fully believe them to be,
every person interested in the welfare Of
Trinity county will vote against the pro-
posed new constitution.
Taxation shall be equal and uniform
throughout the State. AL property shall
be taxed in proportion to its value, to be
ascertained as required by law.-OLD
CONSTITUTION.
All property in the State. not exempt
under the laws Of the United States, shall
be taxed in proportion to It's value, to be
ascertained as required by law.-NEw
CONSTITUTION.
1t will be seen by the above two ex-
tracts, that there is a material difference
in the language Of the two instruments.
In the first, it is provided that "Taxation
shall be equal and uniform )" in the Sec
ord the clause is left out, and the plain
inference is that it was the design Of the
Convention that there should be no re-
straining clause upon the power Of the
Legislature to levy taxes. Governor lr-
win, in his speech at Platt's Hall, in in
terpreting the meaning OF this clause
SAYS 81 undertake 20 say that it means
that taxes shall be levied on the dd Ua'o1-
en- principle, and nothing moe than that.
1t does not require that land shall be as
sessed at the same rate that improvements
are, that houses are, that goods are" In
the Convention Mr.. Estee made an inef-
fectual effort 10 have the words uniform
and equal" inserted in the article on taxa
tion, but was unsuccessful, and if we had
any doubt upon the subject, the fact that
it was stated on the floor OF the Convention
that the design was not to have taxation
uniform and equal, would remove it.
II the Interpretation given to this sec
tion by Governor Irwin, Chas. L. Bolts,
Zone Of the trainers of the present Com
stitution) and other deep reasoners be corr
rect, the new constitution may not be
such boon to mining counties ms its ad-
vocates here seem to think. And ! have
no doubt but the Interpretation given is
the correct one. Thus, all property oil
any one class would be taxed 0d VaIoren,,
and so Of each other class. Stocks m ight
be assessed five per cent, land one per
cent, goods three per cent, and so OH to
the end Of the list. In tho absence Of
constitutional imitation the Legislature
could exercise arbitrary powers in the
levy of taxes, and the levy would, Of
course, be the same throughout the State.
In this power lies the danger to The chief
industry of our people, and if that be
destroyed of what value would the other
property in the county be. Every trade
and calling is dependent upon the pros
perity Of the miners when they do not
prosper ali other kinds Of business Ian
guishes. Without the mines, our farms,
gardens, mills, bitches and other property
would be almost utterly valueless.
There was time when the mining
counties were the centres Of population,
State. But that time is in the past. Day
by day, and year by year the mining
counties decrease in wealth and popula>
tion, and what is lost TO them, becomes
the gain of agricultural and commercial
sections. With each successive year the
mining interest, the interest which built
nm tha Stafo and fro Forn,ed lie xyocta n z
wilderness into the homes of million
people, becomes less and less a factor in
the estimate Of California's resources.-
Between two classes OF cur citizens has
grown up an "irropress ibls conflict. "
These classes are respectively, the miners
and the farmers. The Issue is now square
| ly joined between the two classes and will
be fought to the bitter end. There are
equities on both sides. Tho miners bought
their ground Of the United States Gov
ernment to mine, because Of its mineral
wealth the farmers bought theirs to till,
and derive their title from the samo
source. But the one interest is destruct-
i've to the other. The miner, washing of
the deep mountain channels dumps the
debris into the beds of the mountain
streams. The foods move these deposits
down upon the farms and destroy valua-
BILE land. This conflict of interests has
been carried into tho Legislature three
times, but the Legislature had no power
10 offer Il remedy. Tho case has been
taken into the Courts, and the advantage
thus far is with the farmers But let eth
er side win or lose in cur State Courts the
matter will not be settled until finally
aljudicated by the Supreme Court OF the
United States.
Trinity miners do not have personal
interest in the outcome OF this litigation
They dump into streams that cannot de-
stroy valuable farms and render each
company liable to a suit for Injunction
and damages. But the possible adoption
OF the new constitution puts the matter in
different light. The legislature viii.
then have the power to settle this question
which it does not have now, and 1t will
derive its power from the much auded
article on Revenue and Taxation" That
1t W i'll use this power arbitrarily we cam
net doubt.
Taxation Is no longer "uniform and
equal" The strength of representation
is no longer in the mining counties. They
do not have, combined from Mono to
Siskiyou, one-fourth the numerc
strength of either branch of the Legisla
turs. San Francisco and the farming
counties have the remaining three fourths.
And what easier method Of settling this
matter in favor of the farmer can be de-
visec than that Of taxing mining claims
and machinery at such per centage as to
completely parayze mining. At this
| time it cannot be done, for that short but
meaning sentence "Taxation shall be
equal and un iiolm" stands in the way.