The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1920-10-19
THE NEW MEXICO
NINE TAX LAW
A Paper Read BY Attorney George S. DOwner Of AIbu-
querque, Before a Meeting Of First Voters
Saturday, October is.

Tho so-cailed aAfine Output" law
has been and continues to be tho
principal target OF the democratic
s~pell-bindcrs. Column. after column
and words upon words nave been ok
pended on Il. A candidate would
probably be deemed dcrellct IN his
duty IL In tho course Of a speech ne
failed TO refer to and denounce this
law.
Yet. as far as / have heard, and
from every report l have read. / can
say that as yet no-ono has even at
tempted to point out tho evil. II there
10 an evil, In this law. or explain de-
finally why they claim 81 operates to
practically excuse mining companies
from taxation. Tho conclr~'Nn I have
reached Is simrly That all these
speakers, and all these newspaper
writers and press reporters do not
know what they arc talking about.
To use tho old homcly phrase, they
are talking through their hats" And
I might add, with justice. that this
last remark applies to both the dem
ocratic and republican side OF the
controversy.
~ 4 AhN' uAANa ANAn law FfHINuAh "
be tho main economic issue and yet I
say to o that Il Is n false issue, not
founded on fact and neither sincere
or genuine. There arc some real Is
suc In the campaign, but ! say to you
that the mime output" issue In tho
manner II is being presented, is false,
inelncore and misleading.
The time has come In American
politics whom false and insincere is
sues can not be safely presented TO
tho American people. Education has
progressed too FAR for that. The vot-
cra are all beginning to claim Mis-
souri, rs their native state. They de-
mend TO be shown. The mine output
law Toe not need defending against
the character OF attack directed a
gainst Il. all that II needed IL n clear
explanation which In itself answers
and refuteg what Is being said. Let
US examine this thing, take II apart.
and see II Il acts az is claimed, II so
why and n not why not. Let US get
down to tho real facts, examine them
with an open mind, and Judge for
ourselves. And further let us deter
mine whether this Is real or false is
sue, whether this law is good or bad.
progressive or reactionary.
To make tho maftar clear we must
70 bnck to the y6nr 1914 y sec
what the law was before the output"
law was passed. But first let me
mako Il clear and let everyone under
stand and keep in mind at all times
tina the output" law Is nothing
more than u method for determine
ing the value OF mineral In the
ground owned by n producing COM
pany II you keep that n thing in
mind you can not fail to understand
what I have to say. Now In 1914. be-
fore this output" law was passed,
this Is the way mining property was
valued. All tflS property was valued
by the iocA assessor just the same
as all other local property. The as
SCISSOR, presumably. would go over
the land. determine whether II was
grazing, agricultural or timber and
give u a per acre value In accord
ancc with its class which WIS the
same as all other land In the county
OF the same class. Next he would
examine and value the improvements
such as buildings, machinery, equip
mcnt. fences, stock and other Items
and value them just the same as
everyone else's property. Then the
assessor would examine the personal
property such as horses. mules, etc
and give them the current values.
That made three general items. Land,
improvements and personal property.
Now with all property but mining
properly the valuation stopped at this
point because these items included
everything. But with mining prop
erty there was left one clement OF
value. that Is the mineral value OF
the land or tho mineral under the
ground; something no n can see,
no n can touch, a secret hidden In
the earth the solution OF which II has
mover beon ~vouchsafed to man TO
solve with any degree OF certainly
what was the duty of the Assessor.
The law said he should go on the
and and value Il for taxation. The
human, he cannot DO the impossible.
Theoretically under the conditions In
1914 an assessor should have been
o medium OF extraordinary powers,
But with all those uncertainties an TO
mineral value, what did the assessor
do? OF curse he guessed, II was
tho only thing he could 40. His
guess was as good as anybody's.
Sometimes he guessed high. and
more frequently low. II no had n.
good breakfast, n good cigar. didn't
WI the bank, and the M be-
longed to the wrong political party,
he guessed high. But II he had no
breakfast, no cigar, owed the bank,
and the owner was a good fellow and
right politically. he guessed low.
Now this is a situation which need
ed a remedy, and in 1915, a requbli-
q legislature, with a democratic
governor. set about finding a remedy.
The result OF their joint efforts Is
the much-abused, but little under
stood Mine output Law OF 1915.
This brings rs naturally to the ia
quiry; what system OF valuation did
this law substitute for tho system OF
unfair and unequal guessing l have