Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1921-01-28
STATE MINE TAXATION
 LEGISLATIVE PROBLEM

In an effort to increase the visible
 revenue of the state the suggestion
 has been made that this is the time for adding to the burdens of the mines a new tax that will make an appreci-
 able difference in the costs of operat-
 ing in Nevada. This is to establish
 tonnage tax on all ore extracted in
 the belief that this is the best way
 of reaching producers who have ire
 quently maintained a stolid indiffer-
 ence to their obligations to the
 commonwealth that furnishes them
 with dividends and substantial in
 comes. There may be no doubt about
 the propriety of doing anything in this direction at this particular time
 as the levy would fall on the produc-
 CTS of precious metals which already
 have about all the overhead they can
 carry. It must be conceded, however,
 that the mining companies are to
 blame if such a law be enacted ow-
 ing to the fact that for 20 years or
 more many have devoted themselves
 to the task of evading just obliga- tions, such as the bullion tax, where the opportunity for absorbing the profits is improved by the mining op- ertors to the extent of wiping out the margin of profit by adding fic- ticious charges to the cost of produc- tion. A glance at the bullion tax re- ports on file in the assessors office will disclose to what extent this prac- tice has been carried on.
 Mine operators through their legal advisors have frequently piled up charges without making any attempt to conceal the fact that the motive was to deprive state and county of any share in the profits or from hay ing any interest in the wealth taken from the ground. Until a compara- lively recent date mining companies played the patience of ordinary tax payers to the limit by organizing sub- sidiary companies for power, trans portation and milling which were credited with the lions. share of the net earnings. Through this process of interlocking companies charges accumulted to such an extent that the margin subject to taxation was of the most meager kind. Eventually the public got wise to the scheme and insisted that where subsidiaries were as channel for piling up costs. it was unfair to other forms of business to tolerate the imposition. When this conclusion was reached the bookkeeping charges were regulated to an extent that eliminated the obsorp- toin system. This resulted in an ipl- provement in the bullion tax but it was unfortunate that the revision came after many of the big com panies had passed the peak of pro- duction.
 With the decline of the mining in- dustry the question occurs if it would be wise to take any steps which might detract from the flow of capital es- sential to the development of fresh en- terprises. Investors have grown wary and are prone to, consult over head charges more closely than they did during the boom period of the state. Copper, lead, zinc and cinna- bar mines have been forced to close through the wiping out of profits and 5he absence of stable market. Gold producers are almost unknown through depreciation of the uprchas- ng power of gold and the steadily mounting costs of production. Silver hines have their own troubles ag- sravated by the recent advance in 'ailroad charges, the growing costs If cyanide, zinc shvings, powder, fuse md timber, none of which give any indication of sliding down the scale. Under these circumstances any action
 to the legislature should re- eive the most careful consideration so hat no final settlement be reached without weighing the arguments for
 nd against with utmost deliberation.
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