Arizona republican., 1899-02-14


 practically unanimous vote it received from the legislative assembly, but two
 votes being cast against it in the coun- cil, and none in the house Of repre-
 sentatives. Such pronounced support l Indicates that the legislature is firmly convinced of the wisdom of the meas l.ge.
 T respectfully invite your attention to the manner in which the benefciar- ies of this legislation have performed
 their duties: Large corporations and companies doing business twithin the territory are required by law to vir- i tUally collect the poll taxes for the assessor and turn the same over to him. These collections require no eff fcrt on his part. but he very com l placently pockets twenty-five cents fer l each poll collected. He as 2 rule. does net disturb himself m a very marked l degree to collect poll taxes from citi- 1 Zcns generally, and the revenue re- ceived from that source is inconsider- able. It is argued that assessors, if allowed twenty-five cents for each poll will be more diligenU in the perform ance of their duties, and the revenues will be largely increased from the Op- elation of this law. It is difficult to sec wherein any more can be expected l in the past, if there is nothing in the law to prevent them from using the same loose methods.
 1t is alleged that the law has been violated by innocent officers under mis- apprehension, they not being familiar with the terms of the statutes, and that this law is intended for their re- lief. Such an excuse is not worthy of a moments consideration. To any per sen competent to hold public office the law itself shCuld always be sufficient nCtice, and the district attorneys and boards of supervisors are responsible, with the assessor. for the way in wGich the officer performs his duty. In this connection l wish to suggest that the most crying evil with which C.l4 tax payers are confronted is the utterly lax and inefficient manner in which taxes are assessed within the territ-Ey. In many instances there is scarcely a senblance of proper assessments; lists are handed around at long intervals and copied annually, without verifca- tiOn, and tax deIinquencies and in debtedness which under propeA as sessment and collection would not oc- cur, are directly chargeable to this weakness in the execution Of cur rev enue laws
 T respectfully request you to give this subject your most careful con sideratiOn."
 TO ENCOURAGE WATER STORAGE.
 In the line of solving the great prob lem of storage water in Arizona, Gov error Murphy, in a message sent in yesterday, suggests that a law b3 passed exempting from taxation fer some years canals and reservoirs that may be built for delivering water for public use. The message says:
 T respectfully submit for your con- siderati0n that the question of water storage and the reclamation of the so- called a.i i'd lands within the territory should have attention from you com mensuTate, if possible, with it's great Importance to the material interests of Arizona. Our agricultural sections have made rapid progress in develop men't until we are now confronted with the indisputaOle evidence that we have about reached our limit of develop r2ent under present conditions cCla- t-0lling the conservation and distTibu- ticn of water, and that much further progress cannot be had until ways and means are devised by which to in crease the water supply in localities where irrigation is necessary. Our |
 
 timber, but the farming interests S-e ] very important. Farmers and farm | ing products are nearly everywhere tho 1 mainstay of civilization and govern ment. The great valleys of the Gila | and Salt, the Colorado, the Santa Cruz ! the Verde and other rivers of Arizona 1 can be made VeritabI gardens of agri- ] cultural and horticultural products, so | that the taxable wealth of the terri | tory can be increased more from this | than frcm any other source. believe ! that you should recognize and aid, 8 | far as you properly can, water storage for land reclamation purposes I | therefore recommend that, in addition | to 3 memorial tC congress asking the cessiCn to Arizona of the public lands | within the territory. you enact a law eXempting from taxation for a term of | years, reservoirs and canals which may be constructed within the next few years for the purpose of storing and de- liVering water for public use under such limitations as you deem just and fair as 'UC cCntrCl and also in regard l to rates that may be charged. In my judgment, the exemption from taxa tiOn of this kind of property is more jUstifiable than is that of any other property exemption, for the reason that when reservoirs and canals are constructed they cannot fail tc in crease the taxable wealth and popul2- ton of the territory in a very large de- gree, by making possible, and inducing the occupancy and development of lands now vacant and non producing 1 consider the enlargement and inn pavement of the water and irrigation systems Of Arizona an imperative ne cessity fer the good of the people,
 Tn the house. MT Gonzales int-o- dUced bill 72, to secure purity of cleo tiOns and secrecy of the ballot.
 MT. Peterson introduced bill 73, to ccdify the live stock laws.
 MT. Adams presented bill 74, re- quiring delinquent tax lists to be pub Iished.
 The following bills were introduced in the council
 By MT. Bunch, amending the law of