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Show 1 Cfoocfwins WeeJclis I v . 3W OGETHER with a proposed amend- C PHM ment to the state constitution relat- ) yjJEffiflp mS t0 uniform taxes and exemptions, Br anc a prohibition amendment regard- "'iujZl'' WKF ing the regulation of sale, manufac- ,, sfmlmKw ture, use and possession of intoxicat- ing liquors, there is being advertised , House Joint Resolution Number nine, providing for an amendment to I ' Section 4, Article 13, of the Constitution of the State of Utah, relating i'u tf to the taxation of mines and mining property, and the assessments J- of same. It reads as follows : , Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Utah, two-thirds J of all the members elected to the two houses concurring therein : f Section 1. That it is proposed to amend Section 4, Article 13 of ; the Constitution of the State of Utah so that the same will read as fol- jf lows : Section 4. All metalliferous mines or mining claims, both placer and rock in place, shall be assessed at $5.00 per acre, and in addition thereto at a value based upon some multiple or sub-multiple of the net ' annual proceeds thereof. All other mines or mining claims and other 1 i , valuable mineral deposits, including lands containing coal or hydro- 1 f carbons, shall be assessed at their full value. All machinery used in j mining and all property or surface improvements upon or appurtenant -- to mines or mining claims, and the value of any surface use made of mining claims, or mining property for other than mining purposes, " shall be assessed at full value. The state board of equalization shall I $ assess and tax all property herein enumerated, provided that the as sessment of $5.00 per acre and the assessment of the value of any use , other than for mining purposes shall be made as provided by law. Section 2. The Secretary of State is hereby directed to submit this proposed amendment to the electors of the state at the next general gen-eral election in the manner prescribed by law. Section 3. If adopted by the electors of the state, this amendment amend-ment shall take effect January 1st, 1919. Approved March 12, 1917. All of the above amendments will be voted upon at the forthcoming forthcom-ing election, and it is more than possible that those who are zealous that the prohibition amendment shall pass, will vote favorably on all three rather than risk their ballots. No more vicious a measure than the proposed amendment regarding mining taxation has ever been put to the voters of this state. Should it pass and we seriously doubt if the thinking people of Utah will permit it to it would make it possible for the State Board A of Equalization to put the majority of the metalliferous mines of the t state out of business, for, besides assessing them at $5.00 per acre, it is proposed in addition thereto to tax them at a value based upon some multiple or sub-multiple of the annual proceeds thereof, without T, stating definitely what that multiple or sub-multiple may be. By the same token the proposed measure would be equally vicious I from the standpoint of those who expect the mining companies to stand their full share of the taxes of the state, for it is within the range of possibilities that through a governor favorably inclined, the State Board of Equalization could be made up of such members as might favor the mining interests to an undue extent. a In other words, it gives unlimited power in regard to the taxation of mines and mining companies, pio or con, to a board consisting of four members, appointed by the governor, and not only jeopardizes the chief industry of the state, but places other taxpayers in a posi-v posi-v tion wh,ere they might be forced to bear additional burdens if an ex ecutive were elected who might see fit to name a board, the members j of which might see their duty in such a light as to serve the mining M companies, irrespective of the rights of the people. M Referring again to the acts of that truly remarkable body, the H legislature of 1917, we have in mind the "Corrupt practices act" under M which no candidates are allowed to contribute to any charitable or- ganization, and which, under strict interpretation means, of course, that they cannot contribute to the Red Cross. Reserving that part of the measure for future discussion, it means literally that the mining companies cannot spend a quarter to defend their cause or to place their side of the argument before the public, but in the meantime there is nothing which prohibits those on the other side of the argument granting that there is an argument from making their campaign in M favor of the amendment at the state's expense, for it was only within M the past week that we noted where the members of the state board of education had appointed three prominent Utah educators to prepare argument in favor of the proposed constitutional amendment, relat- M ing to taxation for educational purposes, of Utah mines, the best argu- M ment to be filed with the esteemed secretary of state, presumably for general dissemination among the weak-minded. Not being educated ourselves and knowing little of the promi- M nence of many Utah educators, except when some newspaper makes affidavit regarding their talents, we are not prepared to state whether these gentlemen are qualified to make an argument on any subject, M but it is a safe bet that in this age of isms their hirsute adornment is fl longer than their heads, and that they will probably call for help from H such short-haired women as usually advise regarding a pet fetich cal- M culated to save the world, but which in reality is usually carried to a M point where some great industry is destroyed. M We suppose that in submitting their arguments to the secretary M of state, that he is to be the sole judge of the worth of them, and in M casual contemplation of the members of the committee appointed to M submit these arguments, taking also into consideration the acumen fl and thorough preparedness of the state secretary regarding mining fl matters, we are under the impression that in the sight of those who M have studied the subject, the argument will be "a thing of beauty and M a joy forever." But we admonish the public to be patient after re- ceiving these arguments at the state's expense, and take for a text M Oscar Wilde's reference to the Leadville piano player who asked that H those within hearing refrain from shooting because he was doing M the best he could. M More seriously speaking, when it is taken into consideration that M the mining companies are now assessed on their ground, their net M proceeds and improvements, and have an additional occupation tax, H and that the purpose of the proposed amendment is to place the power H of taxation in three of four men, all of whom are appointed by the H governor, rather than those who represent the people, there can be :H no question regarding the viciousness of the amendment or what was H in the minds of those who proposed and passed it without argument. H Close Bingham, Park City, Eureka, the Cottonwoods, the Milford H district and the various other camps, which are first among the legiti- H mate industries, are the very life blood of the state? Never. The H conservation of man power at a crucial time like this is too necessary H to use any of it to cut the grass in city streets where busy traffic H keeps it down at the present time. H H H M MARRIED TEACHERS. I HP. CLAXTON, United States Commissioner of Education, re- cently issued the following statement, which will be read with interest not only by those barred fiom piacticiug their profession, be- H cause they are married, but by others who long since realized the in- H justice of the ruling barring them from employment. Such a rule is V A enforced in various cities, including Salt Lake. H Mr. Claxton says : H "There are in the country scores of thousands of persons, mostly H women, of good scholarship and professional training, who have had H successful experience as teachers, but who have retired from active H service. Many of these might render valuable service again in the H' school. As a means of relief in the present crisis, I recommend that H they be called again into active service, and that law, ordinances and H regulations of school boards prohibiting married women from teach- H ing in the public schools be suspended or repealed." Ht The principal argument of those who have fought the rule, as H made by some boards of education, is that if a woman is efficient as a H teacher, there is no reason why marriage should destroy her useful- H ness in that particular line, but that on the contrary it will make her H more efficient because of the understanding that would come of moth- Hj crhood. M It would seem that in the various industrial affairs in which M women are playing an important part at present, school teaching m should be one of the most important vocations, and that the time has m arrived for school boards throughout the contrary, to take cognizance M of the needs of the hours, and do away with any thought in connec- M tion with the employment of teachers, except the efficiency of the H person to be employed. There will be plenty of time for discussion B of such matters after bigger things have been decided. In the mean- M time efficiency should be the prime requisite in the employment of M anyone in any necessary industrial line. Incidentally the teaching of M school appeals to us as of utmost importance. H H PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH TABOO. ACCORDING to a recent edict Pennsylvania Dutch patois, which is a combination of German, English, Dutch, Welsh and even M Gaelic, is about to become a thing of the past and to be relegated to M rhe scrap heap, and that notwithstanding the fact that from that state M more than ten thousand of those who speak this dialect, are fighting H for the Allies. In commenting on the subject Town Topics says : H "Word has gone forth from among the Pennsylvania Dutch that fl it is no longer patriotic to speak their unmelodious dialect and that the H speech of their childhood, of their home associations and of their fore- m bears is to be supplanted by English, as more in keeping with their H sentiments of American patriotism. The Pennsylvania Dutch are H supposed to be descended from those German disciples of Simon Men- B no who sought refuge in America in ante-revolutionary times, in or- H der to escape military service, which their creed forbade, as an un- H lawful calling. Under the circumstances, it is worthy of note that the B Pennsylvania Dutch of today, the descendants of these hard-shell H Teuton pacifists of the Menno cult, have been so stirred to military H ardor, by their love for what has become their native land that they H have actually sent over more than 10,000 of their number to fight for H the Stars and Stripes and for the cause of the Allies in France." M t -K t H CREEDS AND THE WAR. IT has been in mind for some time to say something pertaining to the war in relation to creeds not with a view of discussing the H relative merits or demerits of various beliefs, but with the idea that H the war would bring closer together those of all creeds, for in this H day and age there are few who deep down, do not believe in a supreme CT being, but who naturally question the theories of the hidebound that H a man is going to heaven or hell, according to what creed he em- H braces. About the best comment we have seen on the subject, occurs H in a recent issue of Bridgeport Life, from which we quote an excerpt, H as follows: Hj 0 many gods, so many creeds H So many paths that wind and wind H When just the art of being kind f H Is all the sad world needs. H Perhaps the biggest thing that has come out of the war has been B the merging of creeds and dogmas into the one big issue Win!" Soldiers are forgetting whether their comrades are Jews or Gentiles, Catholics or Protestants, but they are remembering that they are free men fighting, not as Jew or Gentiles, Catholics or Protestants, but for enslaved human beings. Mary Boyle O'Reilly, war correspondent and nurse, brave daughter daugh-ter of a brave father, while speaking here last spring on her expe- u riences abroad related the story of a strictly orthodox Church of Eng- land woman who had fled to the nearest church cellar for protection during a London air raid. Her dismay when she found that her place of refuge was a Catholic church cellar, was almost tragic. As the evening eve-ning wore on, however, and the tedious wait was relieved by tea and f cakes, she began to feel less uneasy about her surroundings. "But," to quote Miss O'Reilly, "before the siren sounded 'all's safe,' she was convinced that she perhaps had been narrow-minded and unnecessarily hidebound in her religious beliefs. 'Why,' she said to me later, 'I don't know but that Catholics are as good as Protestants, Protes-tants, anyway. And she added, naively, 'that tea and those cakes -. were certainly as good as our minister's wife makes!' Which was high praise indeed, from the lady." The workers for those noble organizations, the Red Cross, Y. M. C .A., Y. M. H. A., and K. of C, do not ask-a man what his religion is. If questioning is done at all it is : "What do you need? What more can we do for you?" And so, even as the gorgeous butterfly comes from the lowly worm, a true religion, an amalgamation of all doctrines, embracing all peoples a religion of humanity will spring forth from the Great War. Creeds will be forgotten, dogmas set aside, the baptism of blood will make all brothers in the full meaning of the word. Truly, "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." THE CAMPAIGN IN NEVADA. , r THERE is a gubernatorial campaign in Nevada this year in which the contestants are Emmett D. Boyle, the present incumbent, a democrat, but a good fellow, and a good governor notwithstanding, and Tasker L. Oddie, former governor. There seems to be little difference in the platforms or pledges of either, but no matter who is elected, irrespective of any possible federal rulings, it is apparent that the state is going dry, for both candidates are pledged to support any prohibition measure the legislature legis-lature may enact, and besides, the women will have a lot to say in the battleborn state, this year. It does not take a great 'many votes in Nevada to win an election and most of the fighting men are in khaki. Nevada dry! Shades of Bret Hart, Mark Twain and Dan DeQuille, not to mention Hank Monk, and the rest of the boys who used to drive over the Geiger grade. Can you see that gang around the Arlington Hotel in Carson, along Front and Virginia streets in , Reno, and later at the Northern in Goldfield and Ely, and the Mizpah at Tonopah? Their composite thorax may be arid if the present majority have their way, but the ruling cannot affect the bigness of . I those Nevada hearts, and the only effect it will have on the native or $ imported vernacular will be to make it more picturesque. THE LANGUAGE AS SHE IS SPOKE. THE recent appointment of a prominent local citizen as a major in f the army of the United States, immediately following his ex- perience as a private in the citizens' training camp at the Univefsity the past summer, is further confirmation of the fact that neither pol- I itics nor pull enter into the deliberations of those in power. ' And it is hardly possible that old-line regular army officers would lend their aid to the deserving, c'p if they did receive regular in- - vitations to lunch at a popular caravanserie. P' It is all reminiscent of the question recently asked by an officer of the Utah National guard who said : "Are dere yentlemen here who vish to join de National Guard?" Three rousing cheers for the melting pot. ir |