Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-02-20
JUDGE HAWKINS
SEEKS THE CORRECT
VERSION OF SPEECH
Continued from rage one.)

ton, and that in the meantime the
state should not be left without
some provision of law under which
the mines would be taxed and the
revenue would continue to come in
to the state treasury as usual. lie
thought that the present law might
be continued in force until 1t had
been shown what the result OF the
experts or other appraisal made
by the state tax commission would
i be-"
Slight Suggestion Possible,
The words: "he thought that the
present taxation plan might be re-
tanned until, etc" and "he thought
that the present law might be con-
tinued in force until. etc. seem to
indicate that he said something
about continuing the present law
in force, which was the first charge
that the Judge made with reference
| TO supposed inaccuracies in the
Journal news story. How long the
Journal did not say. because the
Journal reporter was not able TO
| interpret" the judges remarks So
that they bore any semolahce "
definiteness on that point ~.
Nor were Mr.. Hening or MI
Morgan able to grasp the run sls
nificance of the delicately shaoeu
advice of the FL Paso lawyer Oh
the point of duration of the pres
ent law. ,,,
The Evening Herald of February
l16, page three, column four, says
in a story written by Mr. Hening'
1.-THE final statement of the alter
noon session was that by Judge
Hawkins in which he expressed his
belief that it has always been pos
sible to assess coal lands in TINS
state at their actual value under
the contiguous territory clause Oh
the existing law. The assessor, he
said. had only to determine what
was contiguous territory and he
1elt sure the court would sustain
fair conclusion"
Hardly Vigorous Support
Not much there that would snow
whole hearted enthusiasm over the
idea of a new law, is there? Then
follows q paragraph dealing eX-
clusively with mining history, ana
not touching at any point the New
Mexico mine law. Hence it will be
omitted here and the quotation
from the Herald of February IT,
mage three, this time from col
umn five, will continue:
Dealing specifically with the
mine tax law, after stating his De-
lief that coal lands could be justly
taxed under It he said it was based
on the Arizona nine tax law OF
1913, which had heen found 10
operate fairly well"
That is all there is in the Her
aid relative to the New Mexico law
except this closing statement:
His Growing Flight
Judge Hawkins contended that
the state constitution provided
basis for taxation, in which fairness
to all property is guaranteed. Re-
plying to questions by Senator
Sellers as to platform pledges,
Judge Hawkins said he considered
the pledge in the constitution more
binding than the pledge of any
partisan platform"
The writer would ask if the Her
aid story outlined clearly the
length of time over which the
Judge would have the present mine
tax apply. The Herald interview
admits that he said that ne
thought the present plan might be
retained" It adds an until, etc.
which the judge insists he said, nut
the Herald reporter, Mr.. Hening
himself, failed to catch the idea,
as did the Journal and New MeXl-
can reporters
The Santa ZEE New Mexican, In
quoting the Judge, has this state
ment by him: ,.,
"If I am correct" he said, "the
fault doesn't lie in the law, reter--
ring to the present mine tax llawD
but in the administration OF the
law"
Odd, So Very Odd!
There is not in the New Mexi-
can story single word, phrase
clause or sentence that even hints
that he favored the ad yalorem
plan of taxing mines. There is no
such hint in the story of the hear
ing written by Mr.. Hening for his
paper, the Herald, of February 10.
Is it strange that the Journal did
not quote him as supporting lt'
1t is NOT unusual that three re-
porters, keeping separate notes
failed to catch this recommenda-
ton which the judge is so sure ne
made
Mr.. Hening is an observant re
porter. He has known the judge Tor
many years. He understands the
mental processes of Mr. Hawkins.
Surely he would have detected the
suggestion If it had been MADE.
Rut we all missed it, and so the
Morning Journal reporter was SIN
gled out and condemned. This, IN
the judges hope that justice might
be done to all!
What did the Morning journal
actually say? The story was print
ed in the Morning Journal for Wed
nesday. February 16, the reference
to Judge Hawkins appearing on
page two. The first quotation VIII
be from column four of that page
What the journal Said.
Testimony and suggestions at
the afternoon meeting were widely
different and ranged from the
proposal of Mr.. Hagerman that
the advalorem plan advocated by
the revenue commission be adopt
ed to that of w. A. Hawkins OF Ell
Paso that the present tonnage tax
be retained exactly as it Is"
That is why the writer pleads
guilty to the judges second
charge that the Journal quoted
him as advocating the retention of
the law as it is. The judge admits
that he advised that the present
law be retained until, etc" The
Journal reporter did not hear the
until" neither did the Herald
reporter or the New Mexican re-
porter. Yet the Herald story of
February II insists that the Jour
nal both "misquoted and misinter-
preted" the judge when it reported
him as being in favor of retaining
the mine tax law in its present
| form"