Arizona republican., 1907-08-16
PHoENIX ARIz. AUGUST Is. 1907.
FLOURISHING ARIZONA.

Union has apparently added twenty five per cent to its taxable wealth within a year. Yet that is what Ari- zona has done. This has not been ac- complished by greatly increasing values over those of former years, for there have been comparatively few changes in values generally; consid- erabIe part of the increase is. the re- suit of a rapid but natural growth of wealth and an equal part of the in crease is the result of a healthful change in the assessment of mining properties the territory's greatest source of wealth.
 The claims of the advocates of the Doran mine tax bill in the late legis- lature have been made good. Those who believed at the time, that the measure was inadequate agree now that its operation has exceeded expec- tations.
 It is now proved that it is a doubly beneficent measure. IL has not only
 
 healthy swelling of the revenues, but it has been the means of allaying an unhealthy agitation which grew out of the fact that the mines had for q long time evaded their just share of the burden of taxation, and which threatened to Overburden them with more than their share, or at least to load them up to the point of discour- agement
 The Doran law has done all that its friends foresaw that it would do. and more. They could not foresee that the copper mining industry would likely be discouraged within the year by a fall in prices, such as has come about. It is not a ruinous fall and in the nature time will perhaps never come again when copper cannot be produced at profit But there is always the last straw that breaks the camels back, and it may be easily reasoned that with the adoption of burdcnsome sys- tenn of taxation, system retaliatory for the past delinquencies of some of the mining companies, the owners of some of the less productive, vet still rich mines, might have been discOur- aged to the point of suspending opera tiOns
 But they have regarded the present law as an equitable one. have acceded to it cheerfully. and have gone on with a confidence that they had not felt be- fore.
 This legislation has been of a piece with other legislation enacted by the Twenty fourth, which set its face from the beginning against violent and un- reasonable attacks upon corporations upon which an undeveloped region like Arizona so greatly depends. The wis dom of the legislature has already borne fruit in the increase of capital for the development of the territorys resources.
 All this is in pleasing contrast with the situation in other states where populism and demagogic politics were rampant during the winter and whence iE consequence, capital has either with drawn or become inactive. We have for instance, the state of Michigan. There the legislature undertook the control of the railroads, the street car and interurban lines and as a result, all these industries have been brought to a standstill where they will prob ably remain until the spirit of political agitation has passed away.
 What is true of Michigan had long before been true of Iowa. one of the 1 pioneer and most consistent centers of populistic legislation where with all its resources. less than thousand miles of railroad were built in ten years, and | where alone of all the northern middle | western states no great city or town has grown up within the last twenty | -ears.