Arizona republican., 1898-12-01
TAX EXEMPTION,


 Commenting on the fact that Presi-
 dent Murphy. in an interview in g De-
 troit newspaper, pronounced the tax Hess one of the most profitable railroads
 in the country the Yuma. Sun says:
 ''No ,aX exemption measure induced lthe owners of the north and south road to inyes5, but it added largely to the profits they felt certain would follow the investment of their money. Had they not seen a certainty Of ample re- turns, the road would never have been built. If 1t be in the power of he leg isjature to correct this rank piece of
 class legislation, the failure upon the
 part C. the Twentiath to do so will
 be nothing short Of 3 betrayal of the
 trust imposed by the people, and those l legislators who show by their acts that i they are creatures Of the benefciaries l of this sort of legislation should be ! held responsible by the people. + it ba not in ,he power of the legislature
 to correct the injury done, the matter 1 should be taken to the courts for aG- Iiudication. A wrong has been wrought and there must be 6 remedy. Pres cot Courier.
 The Courier's first statement, as usual, is incorrect It was the inter viewer, rather than Mir Murphy, who said that the north and south road +is one of the most prosperous local roads
 in the country" We hope the inter viewer was right, for the men who
 built this road in the face Of the fnan- cial difficulties that prevailed in the
 years Of it's construction deserve the
 largest measure of success. but the
 Courier should net try to garble the
 interview. As for the Yuma Sun, it's statement is absolutely wrong. But for the tax exemption measure capital
 could not have been induced to take
 hold Of that great railroad enterprise.
 It was the first essential to the begin ming of ,he road. It w2s so recognized at the tim3 by the Prescott Courier, which advocated it's passage. The Courier now would have Us believe that the capitalists who sup pied the money for the building Of the railrcad needed no inducements to throw a costly line through nearly 200 miles Of practically unpopulated terri tory. The legislature that passed that tax exemption law deserves the high est credit. It paved the way for the development of q vast region. The declaration that rad they not seen a certainty of ample returns the cad would never have been built" i; so true that we wonder the thought oc- cured to the Suns logician. It would have been remarkable if the company had agreed to spend five million dollars Of the basis Of tax exemption alone. The Sun need not have wasted so much space in getting down to he question Of repudiation, for repudiat:on is what it wants. It was well enough, from it's standpoint, for the builders Of the north and south road to invest their has been made it would have the territory decline to keep it's part of he obligation. The Sun and Courier overlook the fact that the last legislature, a CemOcraic legislature, set the seal of it's ap- proval upon the tax exemption proDo- sition by passing 2 similar law, and that the four preceding legislatures en- acted like laws. In 2 new c0ul- ny where pOpul2tlC4 Is sparse and the cost of construction enormous 1t is good policy to hold out induce ments to railroad builders. If the Suns attitude were to rule Arizona would never Be more than Q region of COW trails It is gratifying to know that outside of few unprogressive offices where demagogy rather than brain rules such sentiments as those expressed by the Yuma Sun have small lodgment The day of re- pudia,ion in this territory is past. Ari- | zona has a future to work out, and it 1 oa1 do nothing without capital. Every | possible safeguard should be thrown ! abCut capital, to the end tha, more may come. When the country is well populated and well supplied with rail- roads the tax exemption matter will adjust itself