Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1906-08-22
He Lays Bare the Iniiquitous Methods By Which the Big Corporations Of The Territory Have Heretofore Plum dered The People Through Avo;d;ns Their Taxes.


 pending involving sum greater than Hoo,ooo, justly and hoiTestly due to The people of Arizona. I have never heard n suggestion, even from the phndest and most pliant partisan of those Who were withholding the money from the people, that the money was not honestly due to the people of the territory.
 In one case n compromise wholly without consideration and without au. thority of law was effected by the board of supervisors of Yavapai coun. ", whereby the United Verde Copper company was relieved from the pay. ment of about sl6,O0O of taxes due that county, and to the territory. There was no prctcnsc that the tax was not just.
 In Cochise county l found more glnring violation of law and fragrant disregard of public interests. In that county, after the supreme court of the territory had decided, in an able and ineontrovertiblc opinion, that the Cop. per Queen company ius'ly owed large amount of taxes, the board of super. visors, notwithstanding the decision of the court, and in distinct violation of the rights of the taxpayers of that county, and of the territory, ccmpro.
 mise'l ny remitting taxes to the amount of s90,000.
 have used the ~crd "compromise !" in this connection, as there was an attempt to make tbe transactions in both cases appear to be sueh-but they were not compromises they were simple remissions of large sums of money due to the people, without eith. CT authority of law or consideration.
 These cases received my first atten. pal county ease the supreme court has rendered. a decision fixing the liability of the mining company to pay the re- mittcd taxes. The Cochise county case was permitted to await tho de- eision in the Yavapai county case, in order to determine the procedure to be taken in the Cochisc county ease; | ... i al .v, hot ha iiminary steps have been taken by the present attorney general to compel the payment of the remitted taxes in Cochise county.
 | In neither of these eases was the tax m unjust one, and if wns not claimed to De a.
 These instances seemed to me to be such fragrant abuses of public trust and without possible excuse. that when ! I became governor l directed my at tention to the subject of taxation g-n orally.
 | I found upon examination many in stances of gross undcr-valuations of pYopcYty for taxation, and almost al ways of property of wealthy men o' firm. and corporations. IL seemed t' bc that ,he larger the wealth of th' taxpayer inc smaller was thepropor ton of value assigned t. This was o' sueh frequent and general oceurrene' that I could not believe it to he th' result Of accident.
 I found at each meeting of th' board of equalization an attendance of attorneys and officer. of wealth, corporations urging the reduction o' assessments already ridiculously an' fuexcusably low. Strange as it may seem. there did not appear before th' hoard a single representative of th' people who pay ,hree.fourths of th' taxes; except indeed, the attorney general, who, on behalf of the people the every day small property own CTS. who in the aggregate pay mor' that three fourths of the faxes-d'' magnificent service. tAnd ] would mot omit the further honorable excep Ition of Sam Psttee, then assistant dis | triet attorney of Yavapai county, an' John ]. Birdno, assessor of Graha" county).
 | I found upon examination that th' railroads within this territory, upo' fne best authority in the United state' l-not based upon my individual opin iou-having n commercial value O more than s6s,OOO,O0o, were assessed 1 at less than 10 per cent of their value that is, at less than 46,soo,ooo.
 I found that cattle were assessed a about 60 per cent of their value, o