Arizona republican., 1907-03-02

One-fifth of the annual product Of mines is a proper estimate of their value or of any other property, it Is the sworn official duty of the assessor to so fix it; if he fails to do his duty, then 1t is the sworn official duty of the board Of supervisors to do it: and if they fail. then It is the duty of the ter ritorial board of equalization to do it. If the value, in fact. be less or more than one-fifth of the annual product. it is the duty of the assessor in the first instance, and in the event of his fail ure. of the board of supervisors, to fix the value at less or more than one-fifth of the annual product as the case may be-just as their duty is in relation to any other property. If the legislature can fix the rule for ascertaining the value of mines or of any other proper ty. why cannot the assessor who sees and examines it, fix it. and the board of supervisors review it? Have not these officers better facilities for as certaining the facts upon which to fix values than the legislature. unless the legislature sits all the time or sends committees to examine the properties? ? If the rule proposed by Council Bill No. 45 that one-fifth of the gross annual products of an industry-in other words. its not profits-is proper one for mines. why not apply 1t to every other industry? If the railroads of this territory earn an average net profit of $3.5O0.O0 per mile, why not value them for the purpose Of taxation at $3.5OO.00 per mile? If the average not profit of the rancher is 25 per cent of the ranching business. why not tax ranches on the basis of 25 per cent of their gross annual products? l think it may be said too. that 20 per cent is not nearly the net profits of our large copper mines.
 There is but one reason given by the advocates of Bill No. 45 why the rule of a fifth or any other fraction of the gross annual products should be ap- piled to mines and not to other prop erty. and that is. the uncertainty of the life of the mines.
 IL has been said that no man can see ahead of the drill and that the next shot in a mine may discover that it Is exhausted. We must admit this to be true just as We must admit that any proposition is true that asserts a pos sibility. if the proposition is not con- tradictory in itself. Everything Is pos sible that cannot be demonstrated to be impossible. II was possible on the l7th of April 1906. that on the next day an earthquake and a cOnflagration might overtake the beautiful and pros porous city of San Francisco and de- stroy hundreds of lives and millions of property-it was possible: but who in all San Francisco counted upon that possibility. who insisted because of that possibility. property there should be valued at one-fifth of its gross an nual income because of the uncertainty of the continued existence of that prop erty? But the earthquake and confla- grafton of the next day did conclusive ly prove its possibility. So that to say that any catastrophe is possible must be admitted. But might We not'in the ordinary conduct of our affairs cOnsid- er.the evidence of the possibility of such events and their probable remoteness or proximity? What Is the probability that the next shot in OUT mines will sound the death. knell of the chiefest and most prosperous industry of our commonwealth,-an I only use the language of the advocates of the Bill, I know that it sounds absurd.
 It has been asserted that thousands of dollars have been expended in min ing operations in this territory that have been utterly lost. This is conced- ed. but I do not see that this is relevant to the taxation of the property in which money is invested and which is profit able. We do not propose to tax those who invested and lost. It is again as- serted as a reason for putting mines in a specially favored class. that more money has been invested than has been
 returned-that may be true. but l dc -not believe it-and it is not those who have so lost that are here urging that argument.
 It Is even urged that more money is lost in Arizona in the mining business than is made. Again I must protest In the name of all Arizona against any such statement. We point with pride to the great remunerative mines in Arizona and upon them. We base our claim to being prosperous. IL Is said We want to invite capital to the still | further development of our great min | ing industry Shall we expect capital | to come to us WiCn we DN our itbiSAa- | ton. declare that the mining business | in Arizona is conducted at a loss?
 There Is no more timid thing in the world than capital. It takes alarm al | the slightest suggestion of approaching i danger. It is cautious to such degreG ! that it is proverbiaL Before an invest ment. it will eliminate every chance | that it can of uncertainty of investment
 or returns upon it. If there was ever 1 a remote chance that the next sho | fired in the Arizona mines would eX- plode the bubble of their prosperity. tho | stock. not only of the mines of Arizo- na, but of the railroads built especial | ly to meet the demands of the traffic would go tumbling in a crash. Is 1t tC | be supposed for a moment that th' men who built the railroads into Bisbee Douglas. Tombstone. Globe, Clifton Morenci. Silver Bell. the Twin Buttss
 into Congress and the Bradshaws. diC
 so with the belief that the life of thos
 camps was only a matter of fev | shots-aye. of only a few more years
 Is the beautiful town of Douglas bull | upon the idea that the mines that giv' 1 it it's reason for existence are but tenn porary, short lived and ephemeral Were the hundreds of thousands O ' dollars expended in, buildings and ma l cbiparv-not temporary buildings bu