The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1939-01-25
MINERAL TAX
RAISE URGED
BY SECRETARY
Interior Department Head
Asks for Higher Terri
toriaI Mines Tax

Views OF secretary OF Inc lnter-
ior Harold L. Ickes on the gold tax
were the subject of letter from
the Secretary to Gov. John w.
Troy. written last October and
transmitted yesterday afternoon to
the Legislature for the information
of its members during considera-
ton of taxation legislation.
Accompanying the letter was a
message from the Governor in
which he said that new mineral
tax bill had been drafted by the
attorney General and had been
forwarded to Washington for con-
sideration of the Solicitor of the
Department of the Interior before
Its presentation to the Territorial
Legislature. sa
Referring to the need of addi-
tional gold tax. the Secretary says
lin his letter as transmitted to the
Legislature:
"The value of minerals produced
in Alaska rose s., SAC. 900 from 1886 to
1887. OF this increase, approximately
$4,000, 900 was in gold, the total pro-
duction in the year 1887 being $780,
373, 600 In the event of full collec-
ton of the present tax, the Terri
| tory receives some 100000. In view
of the unprecedented benefits which
the gold mining companies have re-
ceived as a result of the Admins
| tration's policy of raising the price
of gold from $40 to $35 an ounce
AN increase of rs percent, it is plain
Ily evident that the return from the
present tax is small.
i Moreover, the fact should also
be borne in mind that the tax paic
to the Territorial Government is al.
F lowed as a deduction in computing
T the income tax payable to the Fed
eral Government. Considering the
good profits which are now being
made in gold mining, the conclusion
) is unacceptable, in my opinion, tina
J, the present tax is negligible one
and particularly so with its $1,000
, | exemption clause which benefits the
: small prospectors,
Little benefit has been reapeC
f by the Territory of Alaska from the
lnearly $800O0O,O00 worth of mineral.
. that have been mined in the pas
half century. The Kennecott les.
! son should be obvious to those who
are responsible for the conduct o.
the affairs Of the Territory. Tha
4 Company in 80 years Of operation
p thas taken out OF Alaska approximat.
f lely S200,000,00O worth of copper
}. Practically nothing in the way O.
t. permanent improvement is left tt
: show for this. In fact, the situatio,
d is worse because the Government j.
Q now confronted with the problem
: of relief, namely, the potential car
of 270 families of the railroad mel
: who will be unemployed when tn,
: Copper River and Northwestern
7 Railroad closes this fall, the miner
# in Kennecott, and others in Cor
Il dova who have been either directl
O or indirectly dependent upon tn
activities of the railroads and tn
mime.
# THE Territory has had and sti
a has the power to obviate this situa
: ton. if those who are responsible &c
10 the government of the Territory fol
low the course which is so clearly in
dicated and which, in my opinion
they are duty bound to follow
can also assure you that the tas
OF securing appropriations for A
aSka will be much more difficult
view of the manifest failure of til
ri Territorial Government to do il
IS duty in the matter of taxation,
# when the percent tax bill VIZ
e introduced after repeated promp
e ings by the Department, did NJ
realize that the graduated tax Q
: gold and platinum mining based III
e on the net income would be repeale
II had assumed that the 3 percel
tax would be an additional, not
substitute, tax measure. Your me.
sage to the legislature on this sui
le ject two years ago seems to me
$ have been rather lukewarm. Aft
: cautioning the legislature again
al the perils of over taxation. you il
dictated that In rscastinp about (,