The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1922-01-31

New Mexico of the first value.
TIL. Herald will publish the
entire report, section by sec
ton. except for the purely
tcchn cal aud statistical see
lions. from day to day. rs rap
idly as space will permit
The plan Of this work II to use
the records Of the tax commission as
a guide for examination. II IN pre-
summed that these records cover all
the properties of the state aud give
such information of the results ~
operation as 20 permit their division
Into three Classes.
Mines that are certainly prof
table under normal commercial con
dltionS Sbch properties must con-
tain almost all the value TO be APP
praised, ave visited all Of thetu
In person.
. Mines tina are not certainly
profitable but which. through a turn
81 the market. or through the dis
roNorv ~ additional ore, or by lower
ing the cost Of production, hold out
some promise of value. Such prop
critics have been visited on tho
gruuu either by myself or by my
assistants
. Mines tina have been consist
entity Improbable. No examination
Of such properties has been at
tempted. or even Intended, because
thor record demonstrates that they
| have no nppraisthle value.
This plan Of procedure was pre-
sutcd to the tax commission n
HccolVcd its formal approval
II Will be noticed hat the under
lying premise Of this plan is that
wharc there T. no profit there is no
value. This premise may require
some ~olucidation.
We must distinguish between the
value Of a business and that 81 u
commodity. Mining IL "A business.
the products ~ miring are commod-
tiles. The value Of business 90
profit that ~ u commodity BE- use.
\ man buyH "a suit ~ clothes In or
der 10 wear II out and the price he
pays for II is his appraisal Of the
use OF tina, commodity. II he buys
a thousand suits Of clothes he cannot
1 wear them: he has bought them Is
n n business venture and must either
sell them at O. profit or waste his
1 time and money ~ he succeeds. hts
profit Yields him the opportunity to
buy commodities that he can use: and
" he fails he viii have less Of such
articles than he had to start with.
obviously therefore an Improbable
4 business consumes more rummnditia
than il PRODUCES. il may Yield snme.
thing of use. hut only bN subtract
ing from the total ~ disable com
moditics. Al this point W. may per
| ceivo that II has no Naluo either 81
profit or Of usc.
Tho appraisal therefore concrru.
4 itself with the attempt to fix the to.
tai prcs,ut yniue of profifs such AZ
are shown los actua. rNpcrhnc". or
can be- expected without reaaonable
/ doubt.
II may hc OF Interest To explain the
methods aud purpose Of the various
kinds ~ o~hscrvation employed To as
/ certain the necessary facts.
Vast Field for Investigation
To study the mining districts IN
detail at first hand would be. for a
] single man howcvor energetic, thc
1 work 81 "a Hfo-time: even "A group of
several men would rind 1t the work 81
many years n would mean 70 work
ont "a geology OF "A tract Of iashOO
suttnrp miles an area equal to that
OF the British Isles. or 81 New York
and an Of the New England states
nut together: to examine the mino
workings made In a period OF 10 wears
| and scattered AT intervals over two
/ thirds Of this area nj least 10 out
~ the 81 counties 81 the state. /
mention the l~argeness of this task
not a. an apology FOR not undcrtak.
ing IL. for that wa never expected.
| bur ~ draw attention To- the extent
10 which our knowledge depends
upon widespread observations already
made. by compctent Investigator
more or less contInuousl since Tho
first occupation hy the Americans
recorded In the land and geological
| surveys Of the state and Of the
United states. also In the voluntary
contributions to technical pubIica-
tons such as tho proceedings % tho