Arizona republican., 1915-01-22

to do that in the case of any kind of property. To do so was futile and was recognized to be by the National Tax association which advocated the taxa tion of all kinds of property upon it's earning power.
 Chairman Bacon asked if mines should not be required to pay some thing on the gross output. MT. Miller replied that in justice to the mines whose gross was procured at loss that should not be done
 Chairman Graham inquired if the commission had ever agreed upon d percentage the mines should bear of the | whole burden of taxation The com mission had made no such determina- tion, said MT. Miller
 The next speaker was c. w. Dowell representing the Copper Queen Con- solidated who said that he appeared in the absence of the chairman of the i legislative committee of the Arizona chapter of the American Mining con- l gresS. He fist referred to the pub iished statement of Chairman Howe of the tax commission and read from the
 
 | Survey showing that the statement with reference to the decreased pro- duction of 16 per cent was susceptible of easy explanation. The same oulle- | tin showed that the gold production of Arizona had increased 14 per cent and | the production of silver, 13 per cent The decrease in the production of cop per had been about 20,000,000 pounds l or five per cent. The decrease of Is per cent to which Chairman Howe had referred was not of poduction but of the value of the production. But said 1 MT. DoWell, it is not proposed under the pending mine tax bill to use the prices of copper for 1914 but the ten year average price which is 15 1-10 cents. At that price, he said. reports from fifteen mines which had furnished 9S per cent of the production for tax able purposes last year showed that the value of the product this year for pur- poses of taxation would be S6O, 165, ,606: the cost of production would be s36.- 650,000 leaving net of $24,159, ,1O6 i Four times the net to which should be added 12 1-12 per cent of the gross and the value of the plants and the mines not included in the reports of the fif- teen companies, would bring the total assessment value of the mines to S140.- 24O.445 as against something more than S146, 100000 last year. a decrease of 40 per cent It would not reduce the mines share of the total taxation. in the opinion of MT Dowell more than ? per cent.
 In concluding Mir. Dowell said that a definite proposition for taxation. but he said the tax commits sion had had nothing to offer. Re plying to a question by Chairman Howe of the commission, as to whether in the figures he had presented he had made a deduction of the cost of production in arriving at the net; that is. if he had deducted the items permitted in the pending bill but which were not allowed in the former law. MT Dowell replied that all those items were in cluded in the cost which had been giv- en at $S6,650,000
 Chairman Bacon desired to continue the hearing in the afternoon or at an evening session. Some of the members said that they had other engagements so that the meeting was continued un- til today at the usual hour after the morning recess. Another meeting will be held this afternoon or this evening It is the desire of both the house and senate committees to conclude the con- sderation of this bill at the earliest moment.
 A