Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1890-07-09
a Protest ftom The Atlantic and
Pacific.

o' Arizona, sitting as Board Of
Equalization in and for said County
Under the authority of law empower.
ing your board TO correct the abuse OF
power IN the assessor, and 10 grant re.
iiei from fraudulent and excessive as
sessments, the Atlantic and Pacific
railroad company referring to the pre-
tended assessment purpor,ing TO h,
made by W, q. o'Ncill, a. assessor al
havaPai County, returning ior taxation
Tor the year 1890, certain t.nls as the
property of the Company. respect.
fully shows:
That said pretended assessment was
made and returned without reference t.
the value OF each particular tract, it's
remoieness from. or proximity 20 com
mercial eenters ar water, its aecessi.
billiy, fertility or sterrility, it, reserya-
ton OF withdrawal from the grant. or
the company's interest therein, at the
arbitrary yalue OF sl.25 per acre.
Brief comparisons OF this peculiar re-
turn produce SMILES that are tempered
with iacetiousness, nevertheless they
are facts and illustrate the fraudulent
| and excessive character of the assess
mont. The Inaccessible, barren aud
rocky peaks of the Picacho range,
| which no man would take as Il glft aud
pay such taxes, are valued alike with
the fertile valleys of the Big Chino.
where Tins company sells I'D at much
! less than - per acre. This PERCEPTIONS
canyons and arid wastes of the Cats-
ract are appraised at nearly the same
| value as the watered. agricultural lands
| oi the Verde and Aqua Fris. The tracts
covered 10y the "tali stately pines" OF
the San francisco and Mogollons. that
sell for nominal cum per acre com
pared in value Ia tina almost worthless
cedar groves oi Crookton and
Iampai, while buraiag wastes adjacent
TO the commercial centre at Wo!i's
Trading Post, have the came arbitrary
value as lands that are in the vicinity
OF Flagstaff and Williams
We submit, that taxing values sbonld
not be made oppressive, amt a. TO these
lands, wing 10 the uncertainty of the
taxing power and the identical tract
that may be conveyed by patent, and
the action of the government thereon,
the values should bee so placed that the
company eau see its way clear 10 pay
its taxes and continue its fight TO OBJ
tain the title to the lands and that that
value should be fixed at a nominal sum.
Ia this connection II is proper 20 say,
that Apache county. which has been the
most aggressive towards the Company
of any of tue counties through which
our road runs, during the years that
engendered and wsged incessSnt htiga
ton, did not make an assessment upon
the grant lands to exceed twenty-five
cents per acre.
The act of congre incorporating the
Company granted IL every alternate
section Of public land. NOT mineral,
designated by odd numbers, TO the
amount of twenty sec tons per mile on
either side OF the road, upon conditions
and with exceptions IN the Act stated.
Although this Company has complied
with all the cond. lions OF the act and
earned the lands. il is strongly cont d.
cd by the United States government,
through the commissioner Of the gen.
eral land Office, that il has never parted
with the legal title to, and that the
company has no title, legal or equita-
ble, to the greater portion of the lands
so returned for taxation, and as to
other portions the same come within
some of the exceptions or exclusions
stated in section three Of the charter.
For these reasons, all patents TO grant
lands of this company within Arizona
have been withheld by the commits
sioner from execut ga o. delivery, so
that II Is not known what, II any, lands
will in The future be conveyed under
the grant.
The chaos in which titles TO these
lands are to be thrown, should the
Company neglect to pay taxes On the
present valuation. is clearly demon
60 -
of these lands have been withdrawn
from the grant and OF ers viii be thrown
out. because OF being mineral, or as
comm within the exceptions or exclu-
sions stated. Vexstious and intermin-
able litigation viii ensue between the
tax-tit.e purchasers and the subsequent
grantees of the government. under the
reservations in tue grant, eventually
working hardship uron the holder OF
the tax deed for want OF power In the
Territorial authorities TO levy tax
thereon.
II is desired that the position Of this
Company be distinctly understood. IL
does not diselaim any interest IN the
lands sought to he taxed; on the con-
trarv. il asserts that il h las earned and
owns all the lands, but until the con
troyersies between the compa ny and the
government are settled, aud the grant
! made definite and certain BY delivery
# the patent, il is contended that none
If said lands are subject TO taxation.
That these questions were not carefully
considered at the hands OF the assessor,
hut an unjust and inequitahle assess
ment was made, is again manifest from
the fact that, rs government land they
rannot be taxed that the government
aoes claim that il, and not the com
ma y. owns The land; that II, alter years
of litigation. upon final decree, the gov
eminent prevails to any portion, the
Company will have been muloted in
an illegal payment OF large sums oil
money. or the holders OF ih5tsx deeds
| w;l, lose their investments, rs the case
may be
Again. with the assessment roll,
w O. O'Neill, the ASSESSOR, addressed
| ,.,;t,aj a letter To your Board