Show proposed amendment to artl article cle 13 hardly more than two weeks will yet elapse before the people of the state of utah will be called upon to vote upon the proposed amendment to the constitution of the state it being proposed to so change article 13 which re relates lates to revenue and taxation that section 4 of the present article shall be amended by section 5 the latter providing that the mines of the state shall be taxed at a value not to exceed three times their net proceeds it is doubtful if the proposed amendment will be voted into a law at the forthcoming election as there seems to be but little public sentiment 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 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 unless the surface ground or some part thereof of such mine or claim is used for other than mining purposes and lias 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 purposes shall be taxed at its value tor for such other purposes as provided by law and all the machinery used in mining and all property and surface improvements prove ments upon or appurtenant to mines and mining claims which have a value separate and independent of 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 reads 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 not greater than the price paid the united states unless the surface ground or some part thereof of such mine or claim is used for other than mining purposes and lias has a separate and independent value for such other alier purposes in which case said surface ground or any part thereof so used for other than mining purposes shall be taxed at its value for such other purposes as provided by law and all machinery used in mining and all property and surface improvements upon or appurtenant to mines and mining claims which have a value separate and independent of such mines or mining claims shall be taxed as provided by law ALL LANDS containing COAL GRANITE STONE MARBLE ONYX GAS OIL hydrocarbons HYDRO CARBONS GYPSUM OR OTHER VALUABLE MINERAL DEPOSITS OTHER THAN THOSE enumerated ABOVE IN THIS SECTION AFTER PURCHASE THEREOF FROM THE UNITED STATES AND ALL PROP ERTY AND SURFACE improvements UPON OR appurtenant TO SUCH LANDS WHICH HAVE A VALUE SEPARATE AND independent OF ALL SUCH LANDS SHALL BE TAXED AS PROVIDED BYLAW LAW IN ADDITION TO THE assessment OF THE SURFACE GROUNDS improvements PROVE MENTS AND MACHINERY OF MINES AND MINING CLAIMS ALL MINES AND MINING CLAIMS ING NET PROCEEDS SHALL BE TAXED AT A VALUE NOT TO EXCEED THREE TIMES SUCH NET PROCEEDS utah a great state there is hardly a state in the union today that is more prosperous and progressive than is utah the advance made by our commonwealth during the past 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 is due to the equally wonderful advances made in the I 1 ini mining ning industry and this industry has added millions in taxable property to the state and a revenue in real money that has been drawn upon to swell the of the state it is stated that only 4 per cent of the surface area of utah is as yet under cultivation 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 and sinews for the continued up building of the state and to this demand there has been a most liberal as well as cheerful response but when an all 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 in a decrease of revenue from that source rather than an increase and it is for this reason that many leading mining men and ore producers are so free to express their opinion and belief that the amendment will fail to receive a majority vote in november statement of facts coincidentally with and as part of the recent movement to assess all property in utah at its full cash value for purposes of taxation came an organized effort to wake make perpetual the excessive taxation under which the producing mines of the state had labored since statehood this injustice to the mines was accomplished simply by taxing mine proceeds legally and failing to tax other property legally for the constitution and laws of the ilie state have always required the assessment of all property at its full cash value but except in the case of mines the law has been evaded and set at naught by every officer in the state charged in any manner with duties relating to the public revenue using the language of a body which investigated the subject other property was found assessed as low as 18 per cent of its value and seldom as high as 50 per cent the downward trend of valuations on property other than mines was inevitably reflected in rising tax levies until as a prominent officer of the state remarked in a public address the average man of means who looked toward utah as a field for investment was shocked when he learned the rate of levy and unfavorably impressed when he ascertained the assessed valuation tile the situation always undesirable and productive of inequalities continued to become accentuated and finally resulted in a decision by the taxing authorities to undertake assessment of all property as required by law this decision became operative for the first time this year and has caused a disturbance which might reasonably have 9 been expected the plan itself is not open to reasonable objection as it is merely a belated attempt to obey the law but it has aroused resentment through the failure of the taxing authorities in many instances to reduce the levies in an amount proportionate to the increase in valuations it has also caused concern to many taxpayers through the enormous increase it makes possible in the bonded indebtedness of the various governmental units due to an amendment of the constitution voted in 1910 which bases limits of bonded indebtedness on percentages of valuation instead of limits fixed in specific amounts of money disregarding the plain iaan intent of the constitution ution to place mines on the same basis for taxation as other property it is now sought to continue the injustice to the mining industry by placing triple valuation on net proceeds of mines for purposes of taxation this proposal is contained in an amendment of article 13 of the constitution which is to be voted upon by the people of the state november 7 discussion of the question of mine taxation before various state bodies in recent years has usually been interesting sometimes instructive and frequently amusing especially when some enthusiastic seeker for additional revenue has set a new mark for mining talent to attain by proposing that mines be assessed on the basis of the value of the mineral contained therein the precise method to obtain this information was not vouchsafed with the proposal which if adopted would doubtless result in some exciting guessing contests assessment of the farm the horse and the cow have been used for comparison and contrast by advocates of increased mine tax aaion they have represented that mines should be taxed at the full cash value of their contents every year in order to he be on the same taxation basis as the farm the horse or the cow which they say are taxed at their full value every year let us consider the mine and the cow without disparagement of the farm or the horse as all three are as fully appreciated by the miner as by anyone and any of the three will serve for the illustration the cow and the mine the value of the cow and the value of the mine to their owners lies in what they produce the benefit to the owner in each instance is the output if you are to tax both on the same basis of full value tax the owner of the cow every year on all the milk and all the calves she can or will produce in her entire life and tax the mine on all the mineral in it if you can get the information in either case even then the miner gets the worst of it because the owner of the cow can convert her into beef when her productivity has ended and sell the beef to the miner but nobody buys the worked out mine such comparisons of course resolve themselves into absurdity because they involve information not ascertainable unlike city real estate farms and many other kinds of property which tend to increase in value the value of mining property decreases constantly with operation the miner can use his mineral only once taxation fair and equitable the constitutional convention of utah composed of men from many walks of life viewed the matter of mine taxation in the light of actual conditions and after full consideration decided on the present basis of mine taxation as fair and equitable it was not suggested or considered that the mining industry should be the object of excessive taxation george M cannon of salt lake chairman of the conventions committee on revenue and taxation which reported the mine taxation provision of the constitution pronounced it eminently just the convention concurred and the people of the state subsequently ratified the conventions vent ions action the discrimination against the mines was not in the constitution or statutes but in their application mining men and well informed persons generally need not be reminded of the difficulties and discouragements discourage ments attendant on the development of the mining industry nor of the direct and powerful influence the welfare of mining has on the welfare of the state as a whole any observant citizen will affirm the oft repeated remark when the mines are prosperous we all prosper it is not overstatement to say that our mining industry has brought utah prominently and favorably to world notice as an attractive field for investment let the investing world be advised that utah has imposed in triple taxation on mines mine s and we shall have created a condition the adverse effects of 0 which will be felt by every industry of the state this in addition to the ill effects affects which will follow directly and immediately within our own borders who can find the joker mining men and others are familiar with the proposed amendment of article 13 as it relates to taxation of mines but many are probably not familiar with other changes contemplated by the proposed amendment the proposed amendment leaves tile the individual qi taxpayer whether he be miner farmer merchant home owner or owner of any class of property only the protection afforded by the provision which fixes the maximum state levy at 5 mills and that was increased 25 per cent by an amendment offered and adopted in 1910 the whole spirit of the amendment now proposed is to take authority from the constitution and delegate it to elective and appointive officers in fact this purpose is frankly acknowledged the movement is by no means confined to mines it proposes to eliminate the present constitutional provision against double taxation of all companies or corporations the provision requiring uniform and equal taxation of all property the provision requiring that property be taxed in the county where it is situated the provision that debts may be deducted from credits and to permit the application of differing rates on various classes of property explanation of some of the proposed changes is lacking others are presented with statements of purposes which may be desirable but the language of the proposed amendment does not restrict its operations to those announced purposes on the contrary it opens the way for extreme injustice to almost every class of taxpayers and by its ambiguity in some instances appears to assure that confusion and litigation will follow its application it is no expression of distrust in our legislators isla tors to oppose placing such coni complete jurisdiction over fundamental rights in their hands the intelligent and sincere legislator recognizes that lie he is the servant of the people and that the people make the constitution he subscribes to that other provision of the constitution all political power is inherent in the people and he welcomes the reasonable restrictions the people themselves impose for his guidance we know the men who will compose our next legislature and it is not assumed that they will invade the rights of any taxpayer but we do not know who will r compose subsequent legislatures or by what influences they will be guided what friends they will seek to reward what enemies to punish in the course of an argument in the constitutional convention for restrictions on the taxing power of the legislature B H roberts quoted in support of ills his position fron from a decision of chief justice miller of the U D S supreme court in part as follows of all the powers conferred upon government ern ment that of taxation is most liable to abuse the power to tax is the power to destroy in the same address mr roberts said the taxing power of government it is conceded by all is the very highest expression of sovereignty power in the days wilen when arbitrary kings ruled that power was exercised without any control whatever even the consent of those taxed not being expressed and the whole fight for liberty has been along the lines of demanding modification fi of this taxing power in governments the utah chapter in accord with its purpose to advance mining and its related industries within the state of utah the utah chapter of the american mining congress has undertaken to give to the people of the state information regarding the proposed amendment which it has been discovered was possessed by comparatively few of those who will pass upon the question at the general election next month the chapter has prepared a pamphlet on the subject which will be sent to any interested citizen on request although the general impression seemed to be that the proposed amendment relates wholly to taxation it has developed as shown above that it involves matters affecting directly or potentially all taxpayers the absence of specific limits to the application of its provisions the doubtful meaning of some of them the undeniable injustice of others all suggest that the amendment should be voted down as a proposal threatening disaster to many important industries and danger to all expressions from mining men there is hardly a man who is engaged in mining pursuits or who has given the subject of mining serious study and consideration but who is opposed to the adoption of the proposed amendment to the constitution of utah and it is the prevailing opinion that the voters of the state if fully informed as to the full text and meaning t of the measure would need no urging to act almost solidly against the measure the mining milling men do not feel at all antagonistic towards their fellow citizens engaged in other occupations and pursuits but rather look to them for help in the suppression of a measure that bodes no good to every form of industry possession or activity throughout the width and breadth of our commonwealth what the mining men ask is ia coop co op aeration in the evasion of a threatened menace as ev everyone elyone no matter whether farmer |