Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1914-09-22
Taxing Timber.

The request Of the county asses
sor's Office for an additional expendi
ture of money with which to recruist
the timber of the county is not yer,
appealing. Yet. the request Is no
10 much out Of order when one con
siders the anticipated tax laws undel
which we are operating.
When Washington was admitted te
statehood, timber had email value, II
indeed, in many localities it was not
REGARDED as a positive detriment
Times and the value Of standing tim
Der have changed, but the prescribed
method Of timber valuation, for taxa
ton purposes remain as they were
g years ago, and, handicapped as We
ara by the constitutional provisions
Of that time, the taxing authorities
find themselves confronted with the
proposition: Ignore the law we are
sworn to support or work injustice
a we see it. It is this position that
today causes the feeling on one side
that somebody is lodging their just
part of taxes and on the other that
because they own timber, somebody
Is trying to "Cinch" them.
Both are right and both are wrong
The system is at fault. But, there
is no reason why an equitable plan
should not be worked out. In con-
nection, we are impressed with an
address delivered recently by the
chief forester of British Columbia.
This address, on the methods pursued
by the government of that province
in determining what would be a fair
price for it's stumpage over a period
of years, is of particular interest In
this country, both because of a con-
siderable amount Of British Column
bia timber is held by Americans, and
because it affords basis for COM
parison with timber values in Wash
ington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon,
where the timber Is Of the same gen.
eral character.
The timber business is handled in
. different way across our northern
boundary. Comparatively little tim
Der is owned outright by the owners
Of saw mills. The timber lands are
divided into limits" and the title
remains with the government until
the timber is cut. These limits are
leased under what are termed I'll
censes," by the provisions OF which,
the licensees pay certain amount
per thousand and a rental charge an.
nually until the timber is cut. 1t is
comparatively easy for the govern
ment to place a current value upon
timber that is to be cut within a few
years, but the great expense Of build
ing a modern saw mill plant is such
that the owners must be assured OF
enough timber to last them for q
longer period, and at a price that
will not make it impossible for them
to operate until the end at profit
At the same time, the government
must protect the people Of the pro-
vince who are the real owners Of
the timber by an assurance that the
timber won't be sold at too low price
With this problem confronting them
the officials Of British Columbis
sought some method which would be
fair alike to the province and to the
lumber manufacturers.
For many years the price Of gov
eminent timber had remained at fifty
cents per thousand, but with the
growth of the industry and the gen
eral advance in lumber values, the
government thought this figure toe
low. So it was decided to advance
the price Of Nos. 1 and Douglas
fir, cedar, spruce, pine and cotton
wood cut west OF the Cascades, tC
eighty-five cents per thousand, nc
and species. In the southeastern part
OF the province a similar increase was
effected by changing from the use OF
the Doyle rule to the use of the
British Columbia rule, thus provid
ing an advance of about fifteen cents
per thousand. For the northern in
terror of the province a rate of sew
enty-five cents per thousand on the
B. c.. rule scale was established. In
order to give business interests time
to adjust themselves to this change
the legislature last winter provided
that it should not become effective