Bisbee daily review., 1918-12-18
STATE EXPENSES ARE
 CONSIDERABLY MORE
 THAN THE RECEIPTS
STATE TREA AsURER JOHN SONS REPORT SHOWS THAT RECEIPTS OF HIS OFFICE WERE s5,354,so7, WHILE THE EXeENDl- TUREs WERE ss,124,o42

PHOENIX. Ariz.. Dec. 16.-The last report of State Treasurer D. F. John son has the remarkable totaling of state receipts of $5.354.SO7 and of dis bursements $S,124,O42. with a balance on hand for the past fiscal year of S1,S32.5 .576.
 It is insisted that the state of Ari- zona not only is over-running its in come, but that this is heinz done without warrant by the several of ficials and boards, which have not hesitated to spend any amount that they might think needed. without re- spect to the apparent limitation of legislative acts. For instance. the tax commission has had to provide a deficiency of $33, ,456 to meet a short age at the state prison, this being in excess of S100O00 that had been ap- propriated by the last legislature. and in the face of an appropriation bill that recited. mo deficit shall be created nor any warrants be issued nor any obligations be incurred in excess of the amounts herein appro- priated" It is stated that the prison management in reality used S161 ,363
 
 for maintenance
 The expenses of the state. with its white population not more than one half that of the city of Los Angeles, have mounted tremendously since statehood, nearly all the money being used in the mere cost of government, not for improvements. According to the State Taxpayers association, "The people of this state have paid S13,- S35,939 in taxes for the support of the state since statehood" The same report continues, The actual expen- ditures made during that period have totaled over 1892, ,34S. Over S5,00O,- 900 has been expended beyond amounts appropriated by the various state legislatures" Every year the state has paid from S15,O0O to s25. 900 as interest upon legislative warrants, for debts which seemingly had not been incurred legally.
 It has been pointed out by state economists that the present condition of taxation can not last forever. It is based mainly upon mines and re- duction works valued at S591, ,679, ,057 or nearly 59 per cent of the total valuation of the state The second item of taxation is railroads, $9S,541 403, or nearly F per cent. The valua- tion of the mines is arrived at on the basis of their net earning value, capitalizing it and using it as a basis upon which to fix the assessment values. There is allegation, that now has been taken into the courts by the Standard Oil company, that this sys- tenn of taxation is all wrong, and the tax should be levied only upon tan gible property. In the event that this contention prevails in the courts, it is probable that something like a cataclysm would descend upon the tax-spending system of the state until there could be readjustment on the basis of taxation of all property at its real tangible value.
 Again, there is a possibility that copper might go down in price, that the earnings of the copper companies would be decreased to almost nil, or that the copper mines might close. or that some of them might be worked out. Yet, in this heyday of taxable wealth conditions, if is shown that the expense of the state government is more than keeping pace with the rise in valuation and the enlarged collections, and that very small part of the money thus derived has gone into the liquidation of state debts.
 This condition is well known to