Bisbee daily review., 1907-01-08
BULLION TAX LAW.

| I6oE-tStN "A APN"s
 Now that the time for the conven- 1 ing of the legislature in this territory is drawing near the question of a bal- 1 lion tax law in Arizona, as a means of raising public revenues from the min ing properties. VII no doubt be up for discussion.
 The present system of taxing mines in Arizona amounts to nothing more not less than the arbitrary opinion of the assessor or the equalizing boards of the several counties as to the val ue of this property or that; this sys- tenn can never be satisfactory and will be the cause in the future, as it has in the past, of litigation between the mining companies and the taxing DON. CT. not always because mine owners feel that the value of their property has been placed beyond its worth, but because of their unwillingness to pay i on a greater valuation than that dc- manded from others in the territory. We believe there should be general agreemnt that a mine is valuable be- cause of the amount of ore being talk. en from it; it has no other value. A mine may be able to produce commer- cial ore today and next week may De barren and of no value whatever. There are hundreds of patented min 1 ing claims in this territory which could not be sold for enough money to pay for recording the original location papers; there are others that have mineral showings exposed which might be developed into producing bodies with the expenditure of large amounts of, money, but until this de- velopment has been made have no real value.
 In Arizona there have been efforts in the past to pass what has become known as a bullion tax law so that the revenues to come from the mining property should be distributed equita bly, on the mines from which wealth was being taken. The legislature has never been able to agree on such a measure and the old law has remained for years.
 We believe the mining companies would not object to any measure which would practically relieve all non-producing mines in the territory from taxation and distribute the mine tax burden upon the properties which are producing. All improvements, such as developing machinery, of course, should be taxed, but on the mine itself we believe there should be no tax except upon its product. It might be said that it would be unjust to tax the products of the mine and allow the products of the farm to go untaxed, but this comparison is not applicable for the reason that farm ing lands have a value which will con tinue forever in this country where the silt brought to the field by irriga- ton leaves lit richer at the harvest time than at the seeding time
 Heretofore the mining companies have generally been opposed to the bullion tax law, but now we believe majority will be found in favor of one that will insure an equal distri-
 button of the tax burden on mines in
 the future.
 Two years ago Governor Brodie re
 commended in his message to the leg islature the passage of a bullion tax
 law; he went further and advised that
 in case the legislature could not agree
 upon such a tsx that f provide for s
 commission to make a thorough in
 vestigstion of the problem of mine
 taxation and submit it's report to the
 incoming session with recommenda
 tsons of a law which would be just tc
 all. Unfortunately the last fegisla ture did neither of these things, sc that the matter will stand the sams
 when the legislature meets this montt as it did two years ago. It will not bc easy to frame bullion law which vii : be equal in it's burdens on all tn, mine holdings in Arizona, but we be | iieve if everybody would be sincere il the matter and seek for all the fact bearing on the subject which could b. obtained from the mining men of th, ; territory a bil could be prepares which wouhs be satisfactory to tn : mine ownerr ard the owners Of al
 other classes oi property in the terri tory.
 s Just what Governor Kibbey will r' 2 commend in the matter of mine tax 5 ton cannot now be known, but h ' will no doubt have something to sa $ to the legislature on the subject, a