Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1894-04-12
CONDITIONS In COLFAX.
The Maxwell Grant Company Enters
a Strong Protest Relative to
Tax Collections.
A Rush to the Baldy Mining District
A New Stage Line-Happy
Hands in the Plow.

Mr.. NJ. P. Pels, the widely known man
ager of that famous empire of material
wealth, the Maxwell grant, arrived in the
city last night. Mr.. Pels was called upon
at the Palace hotel to-day and gracefully
submitted to the answering of number
of reportorial interrogations.
Mr.. Pels was asked if there was any
truth in the rumor that the Maxwell grant
declined to pay its taxes. He said:
"Only conditionaly. The fact is, we
have always paid our taxes promptly and
we desire to continue doing SO, but, whilst
the people in Colfax county are regularly
paying their taxes and any delinquent
taxes are being collected there by tax
sales, and whilst the county commission
their duty, every one knows that the per-
centage or levy of territorial taxes is con-
stantly on the increase, because in other
counties of New Mexico little or nothing
is done to enforce the payment of taxes
and on large acreage of land taxes have
not been paid for several years.
"wE OBJECT"
continued Mr.. Pels, "to paying extrav-
agant taxes because of non-payment by
others. If every one did his share, the
levy could be reduced by one-half. The
large land owners in Colfax county get
sick of this; at its last annual meeting
our board resolved not to pay any further
territorial taxes until the overdue and
delinquent taxes in the other counties of
New Mexico shall have been paid, either
in the usual way or by legal process, and
until payment shall have been made by
the bondsmen of all the sums which diff
ferent sheriffs in the territory are now
short in their accounts for taxes. 1 have
notified the governor of this. He has
shown his usual energy in this matter; but
are his orders complied with? You just
compare the amount of taxes deposited
by Colfax county in the territorial treas
ury with that paid in by all the other
counties in New Mexico and you will be
surprised. am now compiling data in
the different counties about unpaid taxes"
"Will you publish these?" was asked.
81 don't know yet. If there is "a will
to havetaxes collected, there is certainlya
way! Discrimination in tax payments,
there is no earthly reason why the same
lands are assessed in one county at rs
cents per acre and in other counties at 35
or 25 cents. Fortunately the territorial
board of equalization has recently estab-
lished
FAIR RULES IN REGARD TO THIS.
Gas said, we are law abiding tax paying
citizens, but we in Colfax county have the
right to expect that every man shall do
his duty, as Nelson said, the more SO as
our county has been remarkably sighted
by the legislature, never having been
favored with any territorial institution.
We are workers, and ship our oats, etc, as
far south as Albuquerque, and we raise
more products of the soil than politicians;
but we should not be punished because
our people are Industrious and attend to
business. And what do we get in return
for all these taxes? No protection, GER
tainly. Crime is on the increase, and our
only hope is in the iron hand of the gov
ernor. Courts have not been doing any
business in Colfax county; unlike Cesar,
they came, saw-and left. Our district
attorney, the terror of criminals, is thor
oughly discouraged. 1t is true that we
have legislature; but where would be the
loss except to Santa Fe if it met only once
in twenty years?"
THE GOLD MINES.
"What can you tell me about your gold
mines?"
"Prospectors are swarming in and our
new rules, made after meeting with the
most prominent miners, give them the
same facilities for prospecting as the gov
ernment does, and besides it costs miner
much less, all included, to get deed from
us than patent from the government
for the same size of claim. Travel to the
Badly and Elizabethtown mines is in
creasing to such an extent that on and
after May l four horse stage coach will
start from Springer and from these camps
daily except Sundays. A miner will then
be able to leave Baldy mountain or Eliza
bethtown at o'clock one morning and
reach Denver the same hour of the fol-
lowing morning.
ADVERTISING THE MINES.
"Forty thousand copies of beautifully
illustrated folio, the history, actual condi-