Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1894-09-15
TAX DODGINC.
How 1t is Reduced to a Scientific Pro-
cess in Santa Fe County
official Figures.
The Remarkable Record of the Juana
Lopez Grant-Faots for
Plain People.

| Prejudice, which is invariably the fruit
of ignorance or malice or blending of
both, has coined and given currency to
the mischievous report in some quarters
of the east that the people Of New Mexico
do not pay their taxes, and that hence it
is not prudent to make investments in
this territory. Nomore malign orwanton
libel was ever circulated. 1t is suscepti-
BILE of conclusive proof that the bona tide
residents of New Mexico pay their taxes
as promptly and as cheerfully as those of
any state in the union, and, for reasons
that will be hereafter unfolded, it may be
truthfully affirmed that for a long time
they have patiently borne far more than
their just proportion of the tax burden.
Yet, pronounce it a paradox if you
please, the revenue system of this terri
tory, meaning the law for raising needed
money for public purposes, is probably
as near perfect, as
EQUITABLE AND EFFICIENT,
as can be found upon the statute books
of any state. 1t was modelled after the
revenue system of the state Of Iowa,
which has repeatedly been tested in the
crucible of the courts and pronounced
good law, and lawyers all agree that if it
were faithfully enforced it would equalize
the taxes and at the same time produce
abundant revenue.
But investigation discloses that, in sew
eral of the counties of the territory, the
provisions of this wise law have probably
never been honestly and impartially en-
forced. While actual residents of New
Mexico have paid in full the often exces-
sive taxes levied against their little
homes, small land holdings, sheep, cattle,
horses and other personal property, all
honestly acquired, many nonresident
capitalists, including some of the richest
syndicate and
CORPORATION MANIPULATORs
in the land, whose palatial homes and
luxurious offices are in eastern cities,
have for many years systematically and
successfully evaded fair taxation on vast
tracts of the most valuable lands in the
territory, which they have acquired by
methods which do not look we'll when e1-
posed to the sunlight. Indeed, in manv
instances, these greedy worshippers at
| the shrine of Mammon have even sought
to dodge the payment of taxes on the
costly improvements that have been
placed upon their questionable land hold
ings.
The methods adopted by these mil
lionaires for avoiding the payment Of
taxes partake of the nature of those
whereby they originally acquired their
possessions in this territory. The in
dividuals interested are usually masked
under
| THE HIGH SOUNDING NAME
of some corporation or syndicate with
Offices in New York, Boston, st. Louis or
Chicago. Every conceivable form of
| lAgardamain known to skrewd. expert
enced and INSCRIPTIONS operators is then
brought into play to divert attention
from their real purposes, confuse and
hoodwink the people, and give the color
of legitimacy to their transactions. Cor
porations within orporations-rings
within rings--are formed, all composed
of the same crafty money getters, and
these corporations make mysterious and
complicated transfers of property from
one to the other with no other apparent
| object than to mislead the unwary.
| But, rs has already been limited, the
law amply guards against the machina-
tions of these men. Their cunning would
be in vain if the officers clothed by the
people with the
DUTY OF ASSESSING,
equalizing and collecting the taxes were
uniformly honest and competent. Unhap-
PLY this has not always been the case
Too often one or both of these essential
qualifications have been lacking and the
interests of the people have been sacri-
feed without resistance. Evidence is rot
wanting that there has often been guilty
COLLISION between officers and wealthy tax
dodgers; that assessors, county commits
sioners, tax collectors and even district