The copper era., 1905-07-27

THE ERA is pleased to note that the newspapers generally afe taking an interest in the assessment returns of the various counties, from which no doubt much good will result. In this connection the Douglas American says:
 ''It is said that a glance at the as- sessment rolls of the counties in Ari zona discloses the fact that there is practically no cash assessed in the territory; notwithstanding the fact that the banks are fairly stuffed with money which is there subject to sight draft and owned by the people. There is no reason why this money should not be made to pay its just proportion of the expenses of maintaining the territory and county governments. If a man has home worth one thousand dollars he pays taxes on it; if he has one thousand dollars in the bank he pays nothing. And this condition pre- vails in Arizona with a law on the statute books requiring that cash be assessed and taxed, which shows how easy it is to dodge just taxation and that our territory has many per iurers within its bounds. We believe the reason that citizens refuse to re- turn their cash for taxation may be attributed to the fact that mortgages are to be allowed to go without as ScSsment or taxation in the territory. Mortgages as we'll as money should appear on the assessment rolls. The fact that man lends his money at 2 per cent. per month and takes a mortgage on some other mans home to secure it's return with the interest should not act as release of it from taxation. Everybody knows that it requires money to start a bank, but we find that in Arizona the custom is to tax the banks on only half of their capital stock. There is something wrong with the system of taxation in Arizona, as regards cash. and the wrong should be remedied. There are nearly two million dollars in the banks of Cochise county subject to be taxed and the fact remains that prac- tically none of it is shown on the as sessment rolls"
 In this connection it might be well to point out the fact that the assess ment of banks of the territory has been very unequal. In Graham county the banks are assessed on seventy-five per cent. of their capital, in Cochise county at fifty per cent, in Maricopa county at one hundred per cent, and in northern Arizona at fifty per cent: Many of these banks are carrying large surplus, which is the same as their capital, but in no instance has it been assessed. Our territorial board of equalizat tion should regulate these matters, and compel all banks, and other financial institutions, to pay a fair value on their property, and also establish a definite rule for assessing mortgages, which have been assessed in Graham county, but not in many other coun- ties. It would seem that when a mans home or farm is mOrtgaged he ought to be given credit on his as- sessment for the amount and the as sessment of the mortgage made against the man who owns it. Peo- pie who have money to loan claim that this would tend to drive money out of the territory, or cause the lender to raise the rate of interest, but this is hardly likely for all of the banks are full of money which they are anxious to loan. The taxing of mortgages would not increase the tax on banks for, the reason that the banks return on their capital stock, but it would catch large number of individuals who loan money, and also many foreign companies that loan money in the territory and escape without contributing anything to- wards maintaining the expense of county or territorial government. What Arizona needs more than any thing else is a board of equalization that will not only equalize the taxes, but will also see that all property is fairly appraised.