Tonopah bonanza. [volume] (Butler City [i.e. Butler], Nev.) 1901-1909, 1908-12-26
County Division
Scrap in Lincoln


collector, passed through Tonopah
yesterday morning en- route to his
home in Reno. The past few days
he has spent in Lincoln county and
Goldfield looking after the bullion
tax of those two counties. In speak
ing of his present trip through the
southern part of Nevada yesterday
morning Mr.. Haley stated:
During my recent stay in Tono-
pah l visited some of the mines and
found them just opposite to a work
ed out camp. The West End mine is
working in ore which, if other camps
had, they would herald as the richest
in the world. Tonopah is still one
of the greatest camps in the world
and will be producing and giving en-
ployment to hundreds of miners
when many other camps now in ex-
istence have passed into history.
There is considerable doing in
Lincoln county politically as well as
from a business point of view, these
days. County division is the issue
and it promises to be one of the live
topics during the coming session of
the legislature. Both parties in
cluded a plank in their platforms
during the late campaign ~pledging
the support of the legislative candi-
dates from Lincoln county to work
for a measure allowing Lincoln to be
divided. In each party there is a
strong minority opposed to this step.
The result is a combined minority
and a very strong opposition to the
division.
Las Vegas, of course, is after the
new county seat and undoubtedly
will be selected as the place for To-
eating the new county government.
Phoebe will continue to be the old
county seat. The fact that the old
camp is ~livelier than for many years
and that it already has the most
costly court house in Nevada, to-
gether with all the requisites for a
well organized seat of government.
also acts in its favor.
Division is absolutely necessary,
argue those in favor of the scheme.
In the past few years Lincoln county
has o than doubled in population,
a great amount of the business comes
from the far end around Las Vegas.
and to AUS the tax payers of that
section 20 journey all the way to
Phoebe not only inficts a hardship on
the people, but thrusts a double ex-
pense on tax payers and county alike.
The county Indebtedness now
amounts to about $500, 900, an ex.
p%ensive relic of early days. When
this debt was contracted the total
assessed valuation of property in
Lincoln county amounted to $780,
900. Now it amounts to $4,000 900.
The Vegas crowd is willing to give
the old county all interest in the
present county government property,
assume half the Indebtedness and
start anew to build its own govern
ment. This would allow old iPoche
to reduce it's debt one-half and still
retain more than 100000 worth
Of property upon which taxes could
be levied. The cost of government
would be reduced more than half,
say the friends of division.
J "On the other hand, the old-timers
maintain that Lincoln county has
been waiting for a quarter Of a CEN
fury for the present conditions and
now when it is in a position to get
, out of debt, to go forward and i'm
prove, outsiders would come in and
divide the government and reap a
reward others had been so long
striving to obtain.
!, Then as another threat the Vegas
crowd is urging the moving of the
county seat from Phoebe to Las
Vegas. 1T is either move the county
: seat to Vegas or divide the county,
they say, and their threat of remova.
: may prove the strongest weapon.
t Lincoln county has produced
close to 5000 in bullion within
: the past three months, with indica
g tions that the next quarter will ever
exceed this figure. This is in excess
s OF any quarter this year and gives al
e excellent indication of the improve
S ment of the mining industry in ant
around Phoebe. Several sales hav,
: been recorded around Phoebe within
e the past thirty days, a number o
e mining engineers are now in the hill
+ around there and It Is the general be
lief that with the dawn of spring will
S at last come the long waited for min
!, ipa rayfyaI oy1tnd Dfnoba III.