Eureka weekly sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1887-1902, 1901-01-26
The Question Of Taxation.

The Question of Taxation.
During the past two years the ques
tion of properly collecting the revenues
has caused . good deal of public discus
sion. The matter has been very thor
oughly threshed over by the press until
there is no dissenting opinion regarding
the importance Of q thorough overhaul
ing OF the tax system Of the State.
As all revenues must ultimately be &C
counted for ct the Controllers Office, Q
discussion OF this point is pertinent in
this report.
A Defective system.
The original revenne legislation OF Ne
vada was founded on correct principles
of taxation, but the disposition OF locsli-
ties to introduce special legislation in
their own interests, and the tendency OF
large individual interests to follow in the
same track, has resulted in q constant
tinkering with the machinery Of taxa
tion until the machine is no longer able
to perform the work for which it was
originally built.
There are at present several large in
dustries in the State each striving to
evade taxation as much as possible at the
expense Of the Others. and, as each OF
these industries is abundantly able to
take care OF itself, the doors of these in
terests are practically bsrricaded against
the Assessor, and, in order to secure rev.
enue with which to run the State and
county governments. he is compelled to
secure il from the masses OF people
of small means, with visible proper
ty. the value of which is easy to reach,
and as result they are obliged to pay
thetsxes which the wealthy persistently
shirk.
One defect OF the system lies in the
fact that it is customary for the Boards
OF County Commissioners to fix the rate
of the county before the Assessor has
ascertsined the value Of the property to
be taxed. The result is that. as soon as
he has secured sufficient revenue to run
the county government, upon the tax
rate fixed by the Commissioners, he les.
sens his labors. unmindful OF the fact
that the State also needs revenue with
which TO conduct its business.
This ignoring Of the States interests
compels the Legislature to advance
the rate, and the more il advances
the more the Assessors OF the re-.
spective counties furnish an excuse to
ignore the law which makes it obligatory
on them to assess according to the full
cash value OF the property.
Those who Are Lightly Taxed.
The interests which are paying less
than their proper proportion OF taxes in
Nevada are ss follows:
The Southern Pacific Railway Com.
pany.
The Western Union Telegraph Com.
psny.
The Wells. Fargo & Co. Express.
The Pallman Car Company.
The Live Stock Interests.
The Land Owners.
The Banks.
The Southern Pacific 10 named 6rst as
1t is the heaviest taxpayer in Nevada,
paying about one-third OF the total tax.
1t is . corporation doing . dividend
paying business. and its holdings are SC
valuable that ID has been able to mort
gage its road for 100000 . mile, and
with this showing no one will dispute
the fact that it 10 worth that sum as Q
security for money advanced.
1t pays on an average Of about Sl3, ,0OC
mile for purposes Of taxation. This
seems very small proportion Of the
actual value on which TO levy taxes. but,
when the proportion of taxes paid by
the other interests enumerated is taken
into consideration, the Southern Pacific
is paying fully as much taxes as the 9th,
ers, aud in some instances more.