Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-03-04
THE SILENCE is BROKEN.

2
1t has been the policy of the Journal for many
months to ignore the editorial attacks of the Eve
ming Herald 1t is still intention to ignore them
in far as they make personal reference to the
editor of the Journal What is said of by that
publication a matter of complete indifference to us.
However the Herald is so well known to be the
mouthpiece of the copper mining interests, when
ever they fit to speak, that its utterances APP
proach official statements--or msstatements. We
therefore feel that merely replying to the
mine owners when reply to the Heralds inspired
statements
In an editorial on Wednesday night, under the
heading 1.-THE Principle of Ad Valorem," that paper
says;
"Our leading taxation expert, the Prophet of
the Dawn of the New Day, announces in recent
chronicle of his activities upon the dizzy pinnacle
of editorial aoofness that the mining industry
of New Mexico has accepted in principle the ad
valorem plan of taxation
I'VE are without information as to whether
the mining industry has accepted in principle
this anything else as regards taxation or
whether that industry has any official status
which would permit it to accept anything or
reject anything in the way of taxation legislation
that the legislative branch of the state govern
ment may provide for the assessing of mining
property"
We only wish that our readers could be familiar
with the details of what is going in Santa Fe in
order appreciate the utter nsncerty of this state
snent The journals contention for months has been
that the mine-owners should be deprived of the
status "offcial or unofficial" which makes it posi-
BILE for them to accept reject contemplated legls
lation We have insisted that their status be that of
other taxpayers As a matter of fact their repre-
sentatives have been at Santa Fe throughout the
session of the legislature saying what they would
and would not do For more than a week Mr. Percy
Wilson, attorney for the Chino Copper company has
represented the mine-owners in formal daily con-
ferences in the governors private office in which
the governor has sat as referee (the word is the
governor's) between Mr.. Wilson and representa-
tive of the Special Revenue Commission, in which
conferences House Bill No. 100 (Which is the rev.
enue code prepared by the Hagerman commission)
has been gone over, section at time. During
these conferences Mr.. Wilson has flatly stated what
the mine-owners will and will not except, not only
as to mine legislation, but to every provision of
the revenue code-even those affecting matters of
no special concern to them The editor of the Herald
has been in daily contact with Mr.. Wilson and is
fully aware of the fact that Mr.. Wilson boldly re-
fused to accept the mne-tax provisions of the code
and offered instead the sections to which referred
in our first-page editorial Wednesday morning. after
having stated that the mine-owners accepted the
principle of ad valorem taxation. We would not
have given these facts to the public except to pre-
vent the misleading of the people. Why is Mr..
Wilson there?
In the light of this statement read the next
sentence of this editorial:
"Our impression had been that the mining
industry would fare, under the effort of the re-
publican majority in the legislature to secure
equitable taxation, just about other property
fares. No one else accepts any taxation legsla
ton, in principle any other way"
This editor never had any such impression in
his whole life. He has known for years that his
employers absolutely dominated the management of
the republican party in taxation matters and ar
rogantly accepted" rejected at will every pro-
posal advanced Right the legislature is pa
agree to do,
The Herald continues:
Many of not familiar with Latin
words and phrases which not infrequently mean
little to the kinds of 'reformers' who most
often employ them Sometimes we get the inn
preston that he who them is a learned per-
son, who is informed about the matter he Is
discussing.
" Ad valorem, in plain English means moth
ing more or less than according to value
IF leading tax tinker and other experts
would the phrase according to value it is
likely a lot of folks would get better idea Of
what driving at, also an idea of the ex-
tent of their knowledge of taxation"
We undertook to reply to this by re-prntng
our repeated statements during the past eight
months that lad yalorem" meant according to val
ue;" that ad valorem value meant reasonable going
value" etc. To have done would have required