Arizona silver belt., 1895-03-23
THE NORMAL sCueot APPROPRIATION
 --Es IT LEGAL?

The bill to provide for completion and maintenance of certain buildings of the Territorial Normal School passed the Council by unanimous vote on the 18th inst It had previously been favorably acted upon by the House, and there is little doubt. that ere this, it has received the approval of the Governor.
 The bill provides that there shall be levied annually, for the years 1895 and 1896, in addition to all taxes otherwise directed to be levied, tax of two-fifths of mill on each one dollar of the as- sessed value of all real and personal property in the Territory. This, in addition to the regular annual levy of 2I cents, makes 6l cents upon each $l00 valuation which taxpayers will be called upon to pay annually for the years 1895 and 1896, for the support of the Normal School The total levy (bAsed upon last years sssessmenD will amount to SIT, ,590,2S annually, or $35, lS0 56 for the two years, and of this Gila county will be called upon to contribute $57s S5 each year
 But will she pay it Will she sub init to this extortion for the benefit of Maricops county, or to other illt gal tax leyies Why should she |?
 Section of the organic law of Ari- zona Gan act of Congress which trans cends all Legislative enactments) de- clares that no law of any Territorial legislature shall authorize any debt to be contracted on behalf of such Terri tory save to meet "a casual deficit in : the revenues etc except that the leg islature may authorize loan for the erection of penal institutions, charita- ble or educational institutions If the total indebtedness of the Territory is not thereby made to exceed one per centum upon the assessed value of the taxable property in such Territory, as shown by the last general assessment for taxation. The assessed value of real and personal property in Arizona last year was S27, ,O61, STA 96, and what the auditor is pleased to call the net Territorial debt is S93S, 720.96, or about l-1O per cent, of the taxable property in the Territory, and includ. ing the county and municipal indebt, edness, bonded and floating, the in. debtedness of Arizona is S2, 293, 620. 63, or almost Sl per cent of the total as, sessed value of all property,
 The statute reads that no loan may be authorized in excess of one per cent of the total value of assessed property The word tax is not employed, and i might be construed and argued that th, right of the legislature to levy ta' for such purposes is not denied ol abridged. But the succeeding Section No I, explicitly declares that "no DO litical or municipal corporation oi county of any Territory shall ever be come indebted in any manner or fo. any purpose % any amount in the az gregate, including existing indebted ness, exceeding four per centum on th' value of taxable property.
 Now the indebtedness of GilR sn, several other counties of Arizona, as i well known already exceeds four pc
 centum of tho assessed value of prop erty, and, therefore, it would appea plain that any levy for taxation author ized either by the legislature or th , Board of Supervisors, in excess of th maximum i per cent, IS illegal, an ] not collectable, and the recourse of tn 3 taxpayer, in the event of the Board ( . Supervisors making the levy, is to Al r ply to the court for an order enioinin ? its collection.
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