The Elk Mountain pilot., 1902-03-25
THE LEGISLATURE.

| SCISSORS power TO assess tue lntduglDle
value of intercounty property was re-
tanned.
In the section relating to the fiat tax
| the House provision exempting all cor
porations with capital stock of less
than $4,000 was reinserted.
The Seldomridge amendment iucreas-
| ing the tax on gross premiums of in
surance companies from two to two
and one-half per cent. was stricken out
Wednesday was the fifty-third day
of the session. That was the exact
length of the extra session held during
the administration of Governor Waite.
The revenue bill passed the Senate
and is now in the hands of a confer
ence committee of the two houses. 1t
may reach Governor Orman sor sigma
ture about the middle of the week.
The engrossed resolutions on the
death of President Mckinley were pre-
sented to the speaker and received the
signatures of the committee entrusted
with the work of drafting. They make
a very large volume, elegantly bound
in morocco. The pen work was done
by Chief Clerk Hamilton of the House.
The insurance companies were made
subject to the tax, but proviso was
adopted that "fraternal societies on the
lodge system or which limit their GER
tificate holders to particular secret
order or fraternity" should not be sub
ject to it. Mutual companies are tg0d
81 on each $1,000 of their gross prefhl-
ums.
Those who claimed that the Pullman
and other car companies had been IA
yored by the Senate were Modified by
the adoption of an amendment which
provides that If the companies fail to
furnish the Board of Equalization
with the evidence needed the board
may avail itself of other sources of in
formation which will enable it to make
proper assessment.
Both houses of the Legislature Will
probably conclude consideration of the
revenue bill and final adjournment will
be taken before Saturday night. Some
matters of Importance still remain to
be disposed of. The Ballinger resolu-
tion providing for the appointment of
a commission of three to draft rail
road commission law for presentation
to the next Legislature, has passed the
House and is pending in the Senate. 1t
contains a proviso that the work shall
be done without cost to the state
The amendments providing that the
proceedings of the Board of Equaliza-
ton shall be conducted in public and
that the Governor shall have power to
remove any assessor who shall fail to
make proper assessment We're retained.
The provisions that the assessor must
certify to the correctness of the assess
ment roll before 1t has any validity and
that he shall examine into the opera
tlons of all corporations and publish
the results of his inquiry Were elimin-
ated on the theory that they We're i'm
IL. hn
obtained as to the workings of the
quasi-public corporations through the
statements which they are forced to
make to the state auditor.
The Senate substitute for the mining
section was accepted. 1t separates
mines into two classes. producers hd
non-producers. A producer is a mine
with gross yearly production of
5000 or more, and shall be assessed at
not more than one-fourth its gross pro-
ceeds, providing the net proceeds OF
the property do not exceed one-fourth
the gross proceeds. In the latter case
the mine shall be assessed for the full
amount of the net proceeds. The net
proceeds are to be determined by de
ducting from the gross proceeds the
cost of extracting, shipping and treat
ing the ore. Non-producers shall not
be assessed at more than the smallest
producer in the same locality.
1t is felt that some action should be
taken looking to the creation of n cen
tral taxing body, and the House will
probably pass the Hammond constitu
tional amendment providing for tax
commission. The Senate has already
favorably considered the Ammons bill
which seeks to achieve the same pur-
pose. 1t is thought that both bodies
may be able to get together on n com
promise measure, as the differences
are very small. The Hammond bill
provides that the commission shall
consist of three members to be named
by the governor and to serve for two
four and six years. An attempt will
be made to increase the number OF
members to five, have them elective
and increase their terms of office 10
two, four, six. eight and ten years.
The following was adopted as COM
promise on the matter of assessing
stock shipped into the state: ANY
such stock brought into the state be-
tween April l and September l in each
year and removed from the counNH 20
which it is brought before the period
of one year shall be subject to ia tion
for the year in which it is brought into
the state but all stock brought in be
tween the said dates which is kept in|
said county to which it is taken forI
more than one year shall be exempt
from taxation for the calendar year in
which it is so brought into the state,
and shall be subject to taxation there
after. All stock brought into the state
after September l and before Decem-
Der 81 of same year shall be exempt
from taxation for that year; and pro-
vided further, that the payment of
taxes in any other state or territory
shall not relieve the owner thereof
from the payment upon any sucll1stock