Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1909-02-03
.EXEMPT|O FOR
THE POOR
Endorsed by Curry
Before County
Commissioners
MAKES EXCELLENT SPEECH
Outlines a Bill He is Having
Drawn For Improvement
of Public Highways.

The convention of the chairmen OF
the various boards Of county commits
sloners OF the territory convened at
the court house this morning at 1890
o clock. The committee appointed to
meet Governor Curry to ascertain his
wishes as to further proceedings of
the convention reported that the gov
ern0r had consented to appear and
address the meeting. Governor Curry
was given a synopsis of what had
been done by Secretary c. V. SAT.
ford. The governor then said that he
was sure the convention would bear
fruit as the commissioners had met
together interchanging ideas and talk
ing over matters. He expressed a be-
lief that something definite should be
done to secure more quitable assess
ments as he had previously said at
the opening of the convention.
Mr.. Atkinson thought that there
should be commission of three men,
bers created which should spend two
weeks in each county to secure more
equitable comparison of assessments.
Governor Curry Speaks.
Governor Curry then spoke at
length saying that Mr.. Atkinsons sug.
gestions were along the line of those
! practiced in some states to bring
about more equitable assessments.
He said he was heartily in favor of
retaining the 5000 exemption for the
sake of the poor people and that such
exemptions did not injure the terri
tory near so much rs the owners Of
large tracts of land who return same
at so cents per acre.
Continuing, he said; !.
az is your duty to 20 on record be-
fore your constituents to make such
recommendation as you think best
for the territory. Under our republi-
can form of government every tub
must stand on its own bottom You
have legal obligations and you are to
work for the interests of the many,
not for the few large property hold.
ers. Every state is having troubles
in assessment and taxation and in a
new country like ours the matter is
more difficult.
when | came here there was no
railroads, save a few miles of the
Santa Fe. No country in the world
had less lawlessness and crime. The
people were poor and lived econom-
ically. With the advent of railroads
and settlers new ideas were incul-
Gated and some rather expensive.
Consequently our taxes have gone up
claim our assessment has not In
creased correspondingly with the ex-
penses of the government. No state
pays more for education in proportion
to its wealth than We, and still our
schools are in session but few
months of the year. We need to i'm
prove conditions, have the schools in
session longer terms, better teachers
and better communication between
| towns and cities. J
| ours is largely cattle and sheep
country, but it is fast becoming an
agricultural country. In order to
open up the timber, coal and mineral
lnads we must do something for the
highways. These are two important
matters, schools and highways"
Proposed Road Bill.
The governor then outlined bill he
is having drawn for public highway
Improvement The bill provides for
commission to be composed Of the
governor, the land commissioner and
the territorial engineer who shall have
supervision over the roads which they
build and to cooperate with the
boards of county commissioners.
Speaking OF roads, Governor Curry
cited the great need for improved
roads between various points of the
territory as from Roswell to Carri'
zozo, from Las Vegas to the Mora val
ley and such. He believed that the
convicts should be employed upon
these roads which will be a perma-
nent and lasting benefit to the terri
tory. The scenic highway was men
toned as an example Of what could
be and should be accomplished in
other places. =
Scenic Highway.
Mr.. Burch of Ration then spoke Of
the scenic highway stating that the
convicts were now working about five
miles from Ration. They are now
working with the county grader and
teams which greatly facilitates the
work over the previous method OF
hand labor. The road is being fenced,
but at frequent intervals places are
| left which are particularly adapted to
camping grounds, 50 that in reality 1t
will be a scenic highway. There are