Arizona republican., 1891-02-08

orally throughout the country. It Is con ceded by all who are acquainted with the facts that if all the property of Arizona were assessed, and at its full value, the rate of taxa ton would be as low here as in many of the most prosperous parts of the East It is eX- tremely desirable that the facts become known and understood so that people Tn different parts of the country and the legislative branch of the Government may not be misled as to our con ditiOn.
 Again in his message to the Legisla- ture the Governor says:
 A property valuation of s2S,O O,23L7S, as re- ported by the Territorial Board of Equalization, does not present very fattering showing, al though the same is misleading to certain eN- tent and is attributable in a material degree to the present system of assessing property for tax. ation, to which invite your attention, as being d very important subject for legislation. The actual property valuation of the Territory amounts, in my judgment, to fully S0,OOO,OOO. It is notorious that the practice prevails among taxpayers to not state to the Assessors the full amount of their taxable property, and they thus eyade bearing their proper proportion of the ex- penses of government, while there seems to be no hutQuhle III lOlCS tp piONVh' ouNh evasion, and in this respect the assessment syS- tenn should certainly be corrected
 Several gentlemen talking upon this subject a few days ago, gave numerous instances of how the law was evaded. One told of store being assessed for S50O0. The owner was asked if he would take three times the assessed valuation for his store, and replied, No, I would not take six times that amount. l have $35, ,000 worth of stock here."
 Another related the case of cattle company giving in for assessment 25OO head, when a short time after the com pany sold out, delivering to the pur- chaser over 1000 head, and no additions to the herd had been made between the time of assessment and sale. Still an other case was related of sheep owners giving in lS00 head for assessment, when in tact they owned between 5000 and 1000. One large copper company-and it is one of the largest in the world, by the way-is assessed, as we are in' formed, for $16O,000, and yet it could not be purchased today for $5,OOO,OOO And so one could go on giving instance after instance of this kind. In lands scarcely any but farm lands, are assessed at anything like their fail valuation.
 In talking with many citizens from all parts of the Territory, it seems as though the people had entered into a regular league to evade taxes. As the remark goes. "Well, A. don't put in all his property, so I'll hold mine back. ' One gentleman was telling the writer a few days ago of visiting several cattle ranches some time ago, and to the casual inquiry, "How many cattle have you ?' was invariably. .answered, 70, l don't know exactly, probably blank hun dred," always giving from one-tifth tC one-tenth of the number actually owned.
 Acting Governor Murphy well said "The fact is that the actual property valuation of the Territory amounts tC and should be stated at fully $7O,OO0,OOO."
 How to remedy this great evil is a SC. rious question for our lawmakers. Un occasionally the powers of the Assessor should be enlarged, his salary increased and rigorous penalties provided for any deriliction induty. The time for mak. ing the assessment should be extended so as to give the Assessor ample time tC visit every property owner in our over sized counties. Then, too, severe penal ties should be provided for any man who failed to give in his property correctly, and rewards in the shape of one-half oi the fines imposed be given to the person giving information of any fraudulent re- turns of property.
 Montana had to face this same problem two years ago, and when she became a State rigorous laws were enacted to meet it. As consequence, the property valuation increased over S70,0OO,00O in one year. Every one knows the new State made no growth in one year to represent this sum. It was simply the result of proper assessment. Let mines pay tax on their output the same as in Colorado. If all put in their property at it's true valuation the rate would be reduced to two-ffths of the present rate, and scarcely any would be called on to pay more taxes, while farm CTS would be greatly relieved.
 The subject is deep one and deserves the earnest consideration of every think ing man in Arizona.