Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1901-06-22
Gov. NJ. A.. OTER0!
He is I%naugurated For
Second Term.
His Excellent Address to the
People,
Comprehensive Review of Financial
Conditions Of The Territory,
NE THANKS THE PEOPLE or TERRITORY

This afternoon on tho stems of tbo
new capitol at Santa Fe. Judge John
u. Merle administered the oath of of.
nee to Governor NJ. A. Otero. before n
large assomblage of the people of ne
territory.
Upon assuming the duties OF cover.
nor of New Mexico for the second
time. he delivered the following excel.
lent address to the people:
Fellow Citizens: For the second
time | have before Almighty God and
In your presence taken the oath Of
the high Office To which / have been
called. and for the first time i'm the
more than half a century of our OK.
istenco as a territory has its COVER.
nor been rcappuintod. would he more
than human did ! not feel proud and
honored by the exception thus made i'm
my favor. but | recognize i'm IL less n
personal compliment TO myself and TO
my past administration than a com.
pliance with the express will of the
people of New Mexico who with
hardly an exception were i'm favor of
my reappointmcnt. The president of
the United states heard this voice of
the people and recognized It's force
so that / feel as thounh nv present
position were almost the result of n
| popular election and that | am indeed
! the choice OF the people as well as
that Of our chief magistrate in Wash.
ington. have been and shall strive
to be in the future a governor of The
people of New Mexico without re.
gard 20 race. creed or party.
-Four years ago | took the same oath
have this day assumed. Then | was
paration for the duties of the Office I
then assumed. but | entered upon
hem with the firm determination To
abide by my OBLIGATION and 10 adj.
minister the Office to the best OF nv
ability and give to II my whole time
and my best endeavor for the good
and welfare of the territory. In this
effort was seconded by the hest mon
in the territory and the result il be.
fore Won, Two legislatures have come
aud zone during my administration
and while IL was not ALWAYS i'm accord
with me nor with IL. the rcsult has
been that the laws enacted bv the
Thirty.third and Thirty.fourth legisla.
tive assemblies ompare fayorablv with
those of any previous sessions and
some of them have proved of the
Klttl1tHI DIDllt ROO1, AmOnK these
are tho duncan tax law the Rnrsum
refunding bill and the Springer school
law. together with many others that
will occur to you.
at has been charged that under nv
administration the tax rate has been
increased and capital has been driven
out of the territory. While IL is true
that In some counties the tax rate has
l... ....l Al. - - -
by purely local conditions such as
decreased assessment or the
OF bonded debt. as I'm Santa
| Fe county, with which the
territory had absolutely nothing
20 do and was not in any man.
ner responsible; while as n matter of
fact the rate of tax for territorial
purposes has diminished and the col.
lectlons have been larger and better
for the last year than ever before
Il is an unfortunate and lamentablo
fact that the assessed valuation of
the territory has decreased during the
past two years about -four million
dollars. There is no excuse for this.
conditions as we know them TO exist
DO not Justify il and IL has resulted I'm
a higher rate of taxation for territorial
and county purposes than is neces.
sary. / called the attention of the last
legislative assembly to this and asked
il to devise a remedy. which was not
lone. We know that the total yalua.
ton OF this territory for taxation
should be nearer ono hundred million
than forty. and shal use ali INV
authority during my term of omce In
BRING mn this valuation IN its nroncr
Rgure This Is necessary not only Ia
reduce our rate of ~taxatIon INF To
show 10 The government nj WASHING.
ron ana tho noonie M Tho ITnited
states something of what our real
valuation is and that we are ready
and willing 10 nav our share Of the
public burden nv taxing ourselves
lpon IL: the present practice is about
as sensible as II would he 10 reduce
our census returns of population in
order 10 eyade n poll tax. and 40 far as
can do SO | shall endeayor TO stop
this unbusinesslike. misleading and
illegal practice i'm the inefbcient as.
sessment of property. At the end of