OCR Text |
Show HIT IT HARD. AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE 13. Menace of the t Mining Industry. Opinions of Prominent Operators As to Ultimate Fate of Proposed Pro-posed Law. Hardly more than two weeks will yet elapse, says the Mining Review, hefore the people o the state of t'tah will he called upon to vote upon up-on the proposed amendment to the constitution of the state, it being proposed to so change Article 13, which relates to revenue and taxation, taxa-tion, that section 4 of the present article ar-ticle shall be amended by section 5, the latter providing that the mines of the state shall be taxed at a value val-ue not to exceed three times their net proceeds. It is doubtful it the proposed amendment will be voted into a law at the forthcoming election, as there seems to be but little public senti-. senti-. nient in its favor, even outside of mining circles; and, if its intent and provisions were more generally known it is doubtful if it would receive re-ceive any favorable consideration by even a very small majority. How Section Four Reads. Section 4, All mines and mining claims, both placer and rock in place, containing or bearing gold, silver, copper, lead, coal or other valuable mineral deposits, after purchase thereof from the United States, shall be taxed at the price paid the United States therefor, unless the surface ground, or some part thereof, of such mine or claim, is used for ' other than mining purposes, and has a separate and independent value for such other purpose; in which case said surface ground, or any part thereof, so used for other than mining min-ing purposes, shall be taxed at its value for such other purposes, as provided by law; and all the machinery mach-inery used in mining, and all property prop-erty and surface improvements upon claims, which have a value separate : or appurtenant to mines and mining and independent to such mines or mining claims,, and the net annual proceeds of all mines and mining claims, shall be taxed by the State Board of Equalization. How the Amendment Heads. Section 5. The surface ground of all mines and mining claims, both placer and rock in place, containing or bearing gold, silver, copper, lead, iron or other valuable metals, after purchase thereof from the United States, shall be taxed at a value no; greater than the price paid the United States therefor, unless the surface ground, or some part there of, of such mine or claim, is used for other than mining purposes, and has a separate and independent value for such other purposes; in which case said surface ground, or any part thereof, so used for other than mining min-ing purposes, shall he taxed at its value for such other purposes as provided pro-vided by law; and all machinery used in mining, and all property and surface improvements upon or appurtenant appur-tenant to mines and mining claims, which have a value separate and independent in-dependent of such mines or mining claims, shall be taxed as provided by law. All lands containing coal, granite, gran-ite, stone, marble, onyx, gas oil. hydrocarbons, hy-drocarbons, gypsum, or other valuable valu-able mineral deposits, other than those enumerated above in this section, sec-tion, after purchase thereof from the United States, and all property and surface improvements upon or appurtenant to such lands which have a value separate and independent independ-ent of all such lands shall be taxed as provided by law. In addition to the assessment of the surface grounds, improvements and machinery machin-ery of mines and mining claims, all mines and mining claims producing produc-ing net proceeds shall be taxed at a value net to exceed three times such IU1 proceeds. There is hardly a state in the Union today that is more prosperous nnil iiv.ipressive than is Utah. The ' advance made by our cotuomuwealth during the past twenty-live or thirty years has been truly wonderful, if not indeed marvelous; and. be it said, and truthfully so. that the greatest measure of this prosperity and progress prog-ress is due to the equally wonderful advances made in the mining industry, indus-try, and this industry has added millions mil-lions in taxable property to the state, and a revenue, in real money, that has been drawn upon to swell the exchacquer of the state. It is stated that only 4 per cent of the surface v area of Utah, is. as yet. under cul- livation. and it must be plain to be seen that, because of this condition, the mining industry, ever growing and ever increasing, has necessarily been largely called upon to supply the thews and sinews for the con-i con-i tinned upbuilding of the state; and to this demand there has been a most liberal as well as cheerful response: .but. when an effort is made to make this demand, which is nothing more than a tax, burdensome and unjust, an injury is liable to be inflicted upon the mining industry which might result re-sult in n decrease of revenue from that source, rather than an increase, and it is for this reason that many leading mining tuen and ore prnd-c-ers are no free to express their opinion opin-ion and belief that the amendment will fail to receive a majority vote in Newemher. |