Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-03-26
WEEKLY CITIZEN.
SUNDAY, MARCH 2s. 1882
AIDS TO RAILROADS. TAXATION OF THEM
 FIT

rosperty-especially of towns and
 cities, whether inland or on the seacoast
 Chicago. Kansas City, Indianapolis and
 Denver are notable illustrations in point
 These cities and many others, have given
 much substantial encouragement in the
 building of railroads to connect them
 with other cities and productive sec
 lions of country, and the result has
 been almost uniformly equal to and
 often greater than expectations. A few
 years since it required from two
 to six months to bSing freight from sea-
 coast cities to Arizona and cost from
 eight to fifteen cents per pound. It took
 from three to ten days of hard travel for
 < passenger to reach transportation of
 any kind faster or easier than stage
 coach and cost from $50 to s2j0. These
 facts were true of the whole Territory
 save that near the Colorado river. The
 Legislature was then made up of men
 who knew these facts by hard and costly
 experience and in 1877 legisiated so as
 10 hasten the building of railroads.
 Tucson hopes to be a railway center.
 It needs to draw all possible external
 trade and influences to and in it's favor.
 Its people are ambitious and properly
 sa. It has recently organized a Board
 of Trade with view to better exert its
 power and compel business and popula-
 tion to come here. Prescott is bending
 its energies to the same end. Globe
 City, Florence, Pheni1 and Tombstone
 Eant railway connections and some of
 these places are endsavorlng to induce
 capitalists to construct the roads they
 want In considering a propos ition to
 invest money or construct costly enter
 prises, capitalists naturally estimate the
 value of the security offered as well as the
 probabilities of ofbusiness to warrant the
 required expenditures. When towns,
 counties, States or Territories give aid
 tOpublic enterprises by ordinances and laws, capitalists do not neglect to inquire
 whether good faith has been kept in the past by such towns, counties, etc, and if not kept they vill naturally be repelled therefrom.
 Now let us See what Arizona has prom ised in aid of building railways and tele-
 graphs, and see how her promises have been kept In 1877, the Legislature passed two Acts in point Se.tion of the Act approved February :, 1877, reads l as follows:
 SECTION l. The Southern Pacific Rail | road Company, corporation organized | and incorporated under the laws of the I State of California for the purpose of | constructing and operating a line of | railroad and telegraph from the City and | County of San Francisco, in said State, to point on the Colorado river, at or near the Needles, with branch running from Tehachapa by way of Los Angeles, ID said State, to point ou said river at or near Fort Yuma, Is hereby authorized and empowered to extend, construct, op- crate and maintain its said lines of rail- road and telegraph into and across thls Territory, eastwardly, to the eastern boundary thereof, upon such routes as may be selected and adopted by the 1 board Of directors of said corporation: provided, said first-mentiOned line of l rsilI oad and telegraph shall be con- structed from the Needles eastward, on the line found to be most practicable by the chief engineer of said corporation. as near as may be to the line of the thirty fifth parallel of north latitude, with a branch, m the discretion of said corpor- atlon, running to the City of Prescott, and the said last named line of railroad and telegraph shall be constructed east ward from Fort Yuma on the line found 1 10 be most practicable by the chief engi- neer o. said corporation, as near as may i he to the line of the tbirty-second par 3llel of north latitude.
 Section , Of same Act reads:
 SECTION ,. To aid and encourage said corporation in the construction Of said railrSsds and telegraphs, all the property T. i,1 every k'Ioi6pd desc-! ptirn which u1a', 3oi sadiness for Eshhaa to said ei,rporation. '; rect one on ' from taxation of every .I -,,,ription until such time as
 loads shall be connected with L 'r the railroads so as to form continuous a .lnes Of railroad across the continent; provided, such exemption shall not con .inue for more than four years from the T passage of this act. Feeling thnt the Territory ought to be n , little more liberab the game Legisla- a lure passed another Act in point Sec h iion of which reads: Il SECTION 1. That the exemption from . taxation as provided for in section five t of an act entitled An act to secure the and operation of certain railroad and telegraph lines, and to pro- vide for other matters relating thereto I be. and the same is hereby extended to a tlae term of six years from and after the , of said act; and all the property nj the corporation mentioned Tn said 2 above entitled act which Is or may be [ used in the construction. equipment or operation of the lines of railroad and e described insaid act, or either of them, shall be and hereby Is declared 10 be exempt from taxation a of every kind or nature for the full period of six years from and after the passages of said above described act, or } until through connection has been made f with other roads as provided in said section five of this act, If the same Is made within the said period of six years .
 Thus it will be seen that the Territory [ has solemnly promised, by Legislative C to exempt said " lines of [ railroad and telegraph" from payment of [ taxes ''fof the full period of six years t or until (as per Section , of Act ap- a proved February 7,) "said railroads shall | re connected with other railroads so as 1 70 form continuous lines of railroad across the continent"
 In the facs of this legislation, this solemn proJIise by the people in their Legislative capacity, taxes have been levied before such connections, and suits ! commenced to enforce collection. Not ve one county alone but several have dd co se. Leaving the matters of lr Is it by right out of the further discr Arizona cei sound policy to thus act? and institu- wa all the railways, telea,apital that she alb lions requiring forebhe has, which she de needs? And eve'lsely say that her pa has not, can are mere deeoys? That SD, legislstiyeonly kept until it seems ou unprofae to keep them longer? What ho, would Isaid of men who complied mi with tfr contracts only while profit sig Abie2 me Legislature requires all law az, 'ul cctracts between individuals to be NIT kepg and the courts compel their for keeing. Ought not contracts made by in hspeople in their legislative capacity. mil o'e as strictly enforced as those made Mo their individual capacity?
 Bring this question home to yourselves, t ople of Pima county and Tucso,, bar