The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1915-09-02

state finances " e~NtravnEaat or ineni-
cicut. Il Ia up to the taxpayers who
furnish the money, 90 devise means
10 remedy such extravaganza and
such incmcicncy.
It.cannot be denied that statehood
has been an expensive luxury. We
knew hat il would be and there were
some OF us who believed that the ad-
vantages TO oe derived from state
hood would In no way be counte= bal
anccd by the Increased cost.
In 1897 and 1905 IL cost the tax
payers Of New Mexico s~510.S9023 per
annum TO pay for the state govern
ment. ln 1909 and 1910. si59.193.as
per annum ans increase of Sts2. 1886
over the previous two years. In 1913
the cost was ~S1,l39,555,
Let us take Inc item or the icgis-
iaiure alone. Tho cost OF runnins the
territorial legislature IN 1907 was
&lI2SS; in 1903 u was Sig,15 $50. The
FIRST state legislature cost &5l.79O.
the second and third about $4,000
each. What the last session cost /
have not been able 20 find out. but
The information will doubtless be
forthcoming al this meeting. The in
crease In cost In salaries of the gov
ernor, secretary OF st1tC. treasurer.
attorney general and superintcpdent
OF public instruction was $4,000 per
anuum; The increase In the cost OF
maintaining the judicial department
was $4,000 more. Tho cost of newly
constituted boards amounted in'
POUND figures 10 $4,000 "a ycsr and
there were many other increases.
In considering the question as to
whnt return we are getting for our
money IL is pertinent To inquire into.
the extent of our wealth: not Of Intent.
Resources, bat OF our wealth pioduc-
Ing resources. our arscts, which ARE
properly subject 10 ad valorem taxa
'sca. The Assessed valuation 81 an.
the property in the state Is an index.
TO this computation-not an accurate.
bs any means. The assasncd
value OF an property in the state IN
1872 was tI4.f5I,fti. in 1913 b. was.
s9O,i03.362 in 1909, S5S.Ga5, g93. Ac-
cording 90 the hest Information OBJ
,ainahle u ia estimated that this ng-
uro Ia 1912 represented 20 40 per
cent of is true value. 81 this csti-
mate be correct then the true value OF
an the proporty in the state in i9le|
was f5i3,fc3.02s. of which about Sl2.-
100000 was exempt from taxation
OF this SIS GOO, 900 Do credited taI
real estate, $4,000. 900 to livestock.
&s.0Oo,0o0 60 implements and machin-
cry, %S6.G0o,oGo 60 gold. silver and bull
llon. slN7.GfG, sos 20 railroads and
SOS, 900, 900 a. an other property. a.
is incidentally Interesting 20 note that
ia the governments estimate of the
per cent OF assessed valuations 10 true
valuations in the various states of the
union In 1912, there are only five
states. 20 VIII, California, Illinois, Iowa
Nebraska ana North Dakota. which
show a lower ratio han New Mexico.
The lowest IL Iowa, which Is given
at only III per cent Tho highest
ARE Wyoming and Nevada, scheduled
at 200 per cent The other states run.
ON the average from 40 per ccnt To-.
So per cent. New York is given az
90 per cent O is apparent that New
Mexico ls NOS alone in its difficulties
as Go correct assessments.
] am of tho opinion that the goV-
erntucnl estimates us ~ the real value
Of properly iH Sew Mexico are exag-
scratrd, but let us for The moment
grant them 90 De- correct. There were
in 1879 three states ln the union
showing less property value thuu Sew
Mexico. Thoac ore Arizona, wyoming
ana Nevada The wealth Of Ncw
Mexico Be- almost "a negligible part of
the total wealth of the milton. Ui
AMOUNT o. about |oue-fourth OF one
per cent of the whole country.
IL Is interesting 10 note hat as
computed by these Htotifticilns the
railroads of Sew Mexico constitute |
b Per cent OF the total value Of am
property m the state. The real prop
erty Del about % per cont and live
stock about no per cent OF the whole.
70 We deduct the value OF tho rail-
toads tho aHgreRnto wealth uf the
state amounts In round figures 10
f52b, 100000. This would amount tol