Bisbee daily review., 1907-02-23

territory nor tG inc miHG owners. The present taxation malhod ls based upon tho assumption that an assessor can correctly and fairly place q valuation upon patented producing mining claim He cant do il any more than he esn fiy, Noltbor cRn anybody oiso. The present method of taxing minos ln Arizona is gucBswgrk. pur, and simple. and after tho asHsssor has Ruossed ht tEa valuation of a mining claim. the county board of cqusiiEa. ton Eusases the assessor is right or wrong. and lB turn, tho Territorial Board of Equalization gGesses at what Ia fsfL l. is a game of guess. and ggess again and the governor comos cut nov. when the Legislature Is max. jag an homes. attempt to arrive AL zone real basis d value for the Eur. pcae of sasessnzht Of mining pIoY-r.y and wants to know what's the mat te. with the present system?"
 There ls a great deal the matter with the present system. Under the sys- fea Of taxation of mining property the Territorial Board Of Equalization ls the supTcme power Of assessing and eagallziug taxes and that board iE ap- pointed by the governor and the gov ernor IA appointed from Washington. Ben Goodrich nit the nail plump ca the head al the hearing before Lus committee when he said that Governor Kibbey wanted a one-man power; that he was not elected by the people, ana not responsible to them, and that for one he would think a long time De- fore conferring arbitrary powers on any one man. .-r.t
 The substitute for Ehe Doran Mine Tax bill takes the question of mine taxation out of the hands of one man board and places law upon our statutes which can be amended and the revenues under that law IuSI e=sed or decreased by the elected represen- tatives of the people of this territory.
 Under Governor kibbey's admins tration the attempt of his one-mau board to raise the valuation of mining property in Arizona has not ueen success. While his intenu-ls may have been of the best, the results have been anything but satisfactory.
 Now is the time for the Legislature to settle the question of mine taxation in this territory and settle it right. Now is the time to put this important question directly under the supeFvis- ion of the people themselves and not trust to the policy or action of the present or some future governor who may be foisted upon Arizona al Lue hands of the powers that be at Wash ington. This bill is along the line of self-government The bill is clean and straight to the poiHt. There are no jokers contained in it's provisions. It will bring into the territorIaI CIeas- ury approximately s493,O00 from min ing property alone. Such an assess meat of mining property in Arizona will reduce the tax rate in nearly all of the counties to between l and 2 per cent. Such law would at least te a good beginning. It would ac- conhplish more the first year towards a reduction in taxes than the govern or's one-maR board of equalization has accomplished during the past three years. It settles tte question of mine taxation once and for all. and adopts the bullion tax plan as the proper basis for purposes of assessment. It is bill that Is fair to all parties .n- arrested and the governor should not assume the attitude of a bull in china shop because it Is not his pian.