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Show LOWER MS WED sy ! IN Legislators Will Be Asked to Amend Laws and Provide Pro-vide for More Equitable Equit-able Assessments. PRESENT MEASURES DECLARED PUNITIVE Petition Avers That While Many Nations and States Offer Reward to Prospector, Pros-pector, Utah Punishes. Prominent mining men of Utah met yesterday at the offices of the Utah Copper Cop-per company and discussed mining taxation taxa-tion compared with taxation of other forms of property. It was brought out that on an assessed valuation of $24,985,-760 $24,985,-760 the mines and smelters of Utah pay j 11.27 per cent of the state's taxes. And j it was also shown that the average as-j as-j sessed valuation per acre of all lands, I farms and city lots, with all improve-j improve-j ments, with the exception of Salt Lake, j Ogden, Provo, Logan and Brigham City, , was $5.25. These, on this basis, pay 11.58 per cent of the taxes. It was also pointed out that the mlneB and smelters pay taxes on what is practically a basis of 100 per ! cent and that the farm lands, although valued on the average at approximately $75 per acre, are paying taxes on an average aver-age valuation of $5.25 per acre. The mining min-ing men will meet tonight with the joint committee of the house and senate on taxation and revenue and discuss the measures of Messrs. Rideout and Page, who desire to have amended section 4 of : article J3 of the constitution relative to the taxing of mining property. The meeting meet-ing will take place at the state capltol at 7:30 o'clock. Will Argue Question. At that meeting arguments bearing on the question will be presented. Tho mining min-ing men are prepared to show that there is no just and equitable reason for changing chang-ing the constitution. They will present tables showing the assessed valuation of the various forms of property throughout Utah, as well as the amounts pa id by those various' forms of property, com-; com-; pared with the amounts paid by the , mines and smelters. The petition addressed to the legislature is as follows: Without questioning in the least the motives of legislators or doubting In the least their desire to serve the state, with Justice to the state and to' the best interests of the people, i still we are not unaware of the fact that the best men are liable to err, and, moreover, we are aware that I only a few of the men of the world fully comprehend the especial province prov-ince of money as compared with other forms of property or the significance I of the difference between values and I the measure of valueH. The framers of the constitution of Utah thrashed this matter all over and finally adopted the section 4 of article 13, which Messrs. Rideout and Pape desire to have amended. It was adopted for two reasons. One I because It provided for a fair taxa-j taxa-j tion; the other was to take It out of I the power of assessors or boards to j punish men when they have the courage cour-age and skill to uncover ore bod t ph. There was a third reason wrth some who voted for the section, which came of the knowledge that the paramount interest of Utah Is mining and that any blow to mining would in its rebound re-bound bo a blow to every othr Industry In-dustry in the state. Values Explained. The fathers worked hard from 1"20 to 1849. The work they performed was most splendid, but at the end of those 220 years the country was ho poor that the nation's standing financially finan-cially was no stronger than that of Rpaln or Turkey. The transformation transforma-tion since has been due to mining. In a small way thai history has bepn paralleled In Utah. The soil In the east was rich and raised as srood crops In 1S0O nn In 1900. In 1800 the farmers burned their corn for fuel, in U'OO they sold It for a generous price to foed a hungry world. The reason thr-v could do that was that thf minfs had supplied the money or credit to build the roads to transfer tbr crop to the seashore and beyond, and because the volume of money obtained from the mins rave a new measure to the value of the crop. It is easy and perhaps natural for some mpn to say, "Tf the mines of a rih comnanv arc sHHns- on tfif market mar-ket at SSOiOO.non they should be as-sessod as-sessod that amount. But the snme men would never say that inasmuch n a farmer's crop, beca use of a (treat wa r. has doubled In value this vear his assessment should be doubled. Farms Discussed. If Mr. Ridenut or Mr. Pa:c owned a farm that had in former years viel-led twenty bushels of wheat to the acre, and this year had found a bed of nitrates and fertilized his land and It hud y!ldd sixty bushels to the or-re. lie would not believe it fair to tr?b!e bis assessment. If eit her one sold his wheat la st vear at 60 cntH per bui-hel and anstin this yar nt $1.20 per but-tv-l, he would protest ;iira!n'Jt a proposed doubling f,f the assessment on his fnrm. Insist -l.C th.-it the better prh'P was due to an af'M'ient this year and that if he had rnnde more riionfv thf- Income tax was IvinK In wait to seize his percentage per-centage of profits. Rut his inereaf-ed profits would h"'n no one save himself, except that lie (Continued on Page Two.) MINES AND SMELTERS" WANT LOWER TAXES (Continued from Page One.) might be a little more generous in his spendincp. Xow. take, for instance, the case of. Hiiy, the Utah Conper company. The mimes are on s round that had been held as worthless from the beginning. be-ginning. For a full generation miners ran over it and repeatedly assayed it and left It as worthless. At last one man. through I his genius and after years of toil And study, believed he could reduce the mountain and from it save a fiaction of profit. To try to realize bis belief, lie knew in advance ad-vance that an almost appalling expenditure ex-penditure of money would be required in establishing a plant; that to carry ft on would make it (necessary to install in-stall the most gigantic machinery obtainable ob-tainable and employ an army of work-inemen. work-inemen. Tie had the genius to enlist the needed capital. The monthly pay roll of the enterprise has ever since been a providence to t lie employees and indirectly in-directly to this city and state. Moreover, he has from the beginning begin-ning paid a higher tax on all the material ma-terial improvements be bad made than any fanner of the state pays on his farm. Really, all the taxea the farmers pay are on their improvements. Tf anyone doubts this, let Mm note what taxes are levied on a totally unimproved unim-proved tract of land adjoUiing an improved im-proved tract. Advance Explained. - Again, if a farm is intelligently cultivated cul-tivated it will yield more a hundred years hence than it will today, but it is taxed only for this year. The more rapidly a mine it worked, the sooner it will revert bacK to a. desert. Then mining is a constant risk. Mines are filled with faults In the formation, intrusions of barren matter, sudden decreases of pay ore below the limit of profitable work-in?, work-in?, rebellious ores, the sudden dropping drop-ping in the value of the product below the cost of production, or the misguided mis-guided legislation which paralyzes both genius and industry and causes what was a blessing to thousands to revert to a waste-So waste-So well is this known that in some countries premiums are givem to men who find and open mines. But to return to the original theme. "What has been done and Is being done with the Utah Copper lias ad-va ad-va need the value of every piece oi property in Salt Lake City and every farm in tk state of Utah, and has become a factor in the calucnlations of tbeOinanclers in the financial centers cen-ters of Hie world. The work has been the means of drawing millions of capital capi-tal to Utah, or opening new sources Oi wealth in many other countries. The measure of the world's wealth Is the volume of money. What the farmer produces is eaten up or perishes, per-ishes, what the miner produces remains; re-mains; it Is labor immortalized and in its new form continues to work and to control the world's prices. F.xcrpt for the mines Utah would still be a region of small farms and stock ranees and her largest cities would have been but hamlets. The first thrill rame with the opening open-ing of the Kmma mine; then followed t he mines of Cottonwood. Bingham. Parlev'6 Park. Bingham. Beaver. Tin-tic Tin-tic and the others. Their direct results re-sults are seen in splendid structures and great enterprises on evry hand ; their indirect effects are seen In our taiiperblv equipped state. And ever since statehood came they have paid just as great n ratio of taxation as any other form of property. prop-erty. Why. then, the special desire to lay new burdens upon them? "But," people say, "some of the mines are amassing gigantic fortunes." for-tunes." Some are growing rich, but vastly more have failed. And what one who has gained a fortune or is gaining a fortune wdio has not paid more to workingmen, to transportation and machinery companies, com-panies, than all the farms in this valley have during all time? What one has not paid an equal quota of taxation with the farmers, and who has not. by the product he has taken from the ground, made the property of everv man In the state more valuable? valu-able? And If he realizes any profit, is not the income tax gatherer waiting to assess it. and if he dies possessed of some wealth, as the stone carver is chiseling the "Hie Jacet" on the stone that is to mark his grave, if he looks up from his work will he not see the inheritance tax collector waiting to levy bis assessment when the last rites shall be over? The miners ask simply for justice. They pay as great a raito of taxes now as any other class of people. They pay infinitely more to obtain what they get than any other class of people. Their product has not only a temporary tem-porary value, but at once becomes a permanent part of the world's wealth, and, so far as it goes, makes more valuable the property of every other man. Urge Changes. Before the section in the constitution constitu-tion which it is now the effort to repeal re-peal was placed there. It received the careful consideration of men who were perhaps as capable of Judging the matter In all its bearings as any other body of like numbers in L'lah. Under It the very foremost agent ii making the people or Utah prosperous pros-perous hay been mining. What occasion is there to change it? What Justice would there be in changing chang-ing it? Accompanying this letter you will lind a comparative statement showing lhe assessed valuation of the state, together with the proportion of taxes paid by each county tn the state. We therefore petition jour honorable honor-able body to let our state constitution stand as' it is, and thereby encourage the development of our mineral lands, especially our hydro-carbon a nd iron mines that have as yet hardly been touched. Respectfully submitted. W: MoCornick, C. C. Goodw in, M. H. Walker. Chas. S. Burton, John A. Fingrec. Thos. G. Webber, C. W. Penrose. George T. Odell, T. R. Cutler. J. C. Lynch, W. W. Arm- K. U. Calvin, etronr. A. B. Apperson. R. T. Badcer, Hcbcr J. Grant, .John C Cutler. W. II. Dickson. W. M. Bradley, Assessment Statement. The statement of asscsttd aluatloa is as follows: The total assessed valuation of all the propertv in the state of Utah for the year 11 4 as J2:i.611.41J. and the to tii I lax assessed on this va!u-alion va!u-alion was ?.!:, H7T. 07. In order to show how this assessed valuation ha been distributed among the large t orporations of the s'atM, including mines and smellers, together w itii I lie amount assessed against t lie leading cities of the state, with lhe percentage applying to each, we submit sub-mit the following table: j Assessed , Per Valuation, cent. Mines and sruell-i cis .1 C4.?5.70.-:- 11.-7 railroads j wL'.-i.'i.-.v-J.H.iT T legraph and i teiephone coin- ( I panics j 1,C'1.1"1 .('V Uxprcj-s cum pa- hies M.oS'-.v'r ."I Car companies ..i !'. 1 , 4 7S . ea . -jj I 'ower com pa niep I 5.7 1 1 . '2 . 2 . f- Livestock j ll,t;i5.;.t" 3.?7 M rcl andifc and ! trade fixtures .., IIL'.IPa'O o.Z Ma- hinrry, tool? ' ' and implement, t..S7.7:' 1 .oa ".10 M'-nev. solvent I credits i fi. ?'.e". e4.ni I.M Salt Lake City...., 1 d. 7 igdi-n citv , M.s'-OP'.t"1' t-.Tl Proo city I ;:. :.-:.,.'. 1 . 7 Loe.tn city J.:i. vrt . 1 . 1; p.riphani City ... 1 ."'.':. c" . is AH lands, ("arms. 1 city lots (e- c e p t a bo P i w till all ini- I pro en:ents . . . --f-. 6: s l-i .0" 1 1 . M5 5::i.i 1 .-11 -.'.lie-1 Total Collections. The total ta v rolle-te( in the en-tlie en-tlie state of Utah was J S. 1 'J.:-77. o7. and pid by the various counties as folio.' s: i "TTxes : TVr ' 1CVted. !cent. Hear er $ S47."v 1 '2 1 Boxelder 41 l.rtl-VOl r.os Carbon 'J 1 .07." ,711' ,.0 Cache 4 :;:s . ;..i7 Onvis. . :j;.7.''i.ii7 ;. 1 l-dnerv 1 4fi.?--7 . 7t 1 1 . 70 Airfield t 41. 0:4. n irsnd I ks.i; . i4 Iron j 1' i,:'r'2 . s: 1 . 1 Juab 1 ii."-.. 4 ?: 1 7 Km tie L'4.094 . 0",' . ;m Millard 114,?::. l 40 Morgan I fi4.1V'.? . 4,'e . ?! Piute I l 4 . 0 ; t; . 47! Hlcb 4, S.i I .tin- ,;,ii Salt Luke r.."74.17'.'.i4 41 .4 San .luau ;;i.4s;.4;i Snnpote "Cii.OliVOil1 2, $2 Sevier ?1" ..S-17 . ,V4 ' 2 . 40 Summit I :i .".!"':; . 1 1 1 2 Tc Tooele C'll. :!??.;?: 2 47 Tint;. 0!,:i:'."..4i 1 ", l'tah ki21;;:,.jii 7 S7 Wnsat'-h l'v.i.u .14' : is v ashing ( on . ... -v,1.?- : :n ! . : Wavne H, :::. ;?' .is Weber 1 7K,VVC;.i! S.77 iMirliiR the year I!tl4 the Utah i 'up-per 'up-per eompanv paid out in laves for nil purposes JCS1,4 7 70.:;H. This Included lhe laxes in their railroad belween r.luifhani ntid (Jartleld. Uv referring to the above table showing t lie amount of tuxen collected In each criuntv. It will be seen 1b.it the Utah ( opper eouipa nv pa Id i) trea ter II mount (ban the total 1a -dlo ted In any one of tweni-tuo out of the twenty-seven counties In the date. Corporation Assessment. The mines 11 nd smelters of the state were itssrsnrd 11.:'7 jhm' cent of the total assessed valuation, wheiv-ns wheiv-ns all of the farms, comprlsltu-: near-lv near-lv iI.linn.IiiMi acres, oi;.-ilicr with the towns and eltles toutidde ol" the H show 11 in the si a 1 enieuf u loc , with all of their ttuprm enienls. were onlv asrsMril 11, I'S per cent of the tola! assessed valuation of llio slate in fr I : H. The h era i;e a-sisM'd vnh , ua1 ton per n 'Te wiih MiniiiL.- I lode cla t ttis n re a sue sc. I per n . t In addition to this, the fn. ''-dire. dlv repuli hur through ihe' '.H- , 1uslnee repre-euis u ver- ttr;e pm-purl pm-purl ion oT the tolal ;iH-i'ssed alu.i-lion. alu.i-lion. Sucli ill lev n- Hint ha in. Park Cl-. Ihirelta. Miinunoth, Silver CItv K .Mil! woi t h, Siiinu side, lllauath.,' ileal" I'te.d-, Scolleld. Cart. eld. II. dp. er. Mb hair. Muiniv. M..ebnd, lita. t, Hawk, and maiiv nther elH( liu,. v on iic.ount of inlulnu mid Mnetlinr T! e lallroidn .lerlvr a Ian;,, p,,,'. ),orttoii of liieir burtlnes 1)ooui;li lh. Milnlmr IndiKdiv of the Male. (h,s I . a Isn t rue of the pow et com pa . " The clt of Salt l.nl.e 1ti i,,d o" . . I per cni 't t lie tot a I n luat inn, which is a .creater proporiicn than lh.it .iF-fted against all oUit cities Hibi f..':r and livtto- k in the s:at. t'Vtjiir with ail iriiclnnory, to-?ls, i:cp!' n.cnts and build ires. T.c nu not- and fnndters. tocet'.ier vit'. the public pt?rvic corporations, an1 a.-"st-d 7 ici cent of the to:;, I iiU;at'on; money mid j-ovent 'ruin?, i per cent; mon'utndise an-1 1 1 .ice ;:.inRs. .4 per cnt. Artohni; Salt l.:-Kc I'lty's proportion oT o'.Ti per c- t-it n:-k- a tot;il ior these cor.i-l'itii-s. ni' hninii; Salt Lake City, of T'i : per coin . AH ot::er bus.nos. tn. In. !'na all the lap, is ar .1 farms and It of the cities outsiic of Salt Uike ':!. arc oni' a-scs .i C'.7o per .-e:il of the total as?eevJ a iua iwn of ti-,0 j tate. Assessment of Land. j There arc o 7. a ores of land In the state of t'tah. Of Ik's there are only K. 1 acre-; Hs?efed. leaving 4ti.4ii.'.l 1 acre not assessed, j and. t iicrforn. no; payiuyr one cent i of taxes ;o the state. i" n.'.ouhtei - j lv a xre4' deal of lli:s land is undeveloped unde-veloped minetal land aci ever- effort ef-fort s'noul.J l1.-" made by our loish -ture to eiHont.ie the d-'elop:ner;t ot cur mineral laiws: w ',?e laws shoul I he enacted to encouraco capital capi-tal io come into h;s si a te. If we increase the burden of the miner. It vill retard the opening up oi new propriics ; td fri; in cn capital a wa v. 'The larept Jow-pradp mine in the si aie o l " t.h . find winch is situated iti Salt l,ako count v. p.-ild out .iiinnc the year l.'H ?1.M:6.S17. Hf follows: 1 ahc- J S.-J It, ?$$.(' S:ipp!ir5 and fuel 1. S:',h'6 .00 Si'iflliin: and relimnc chai-:es 4. 1 OS.S'-t . 01 l-'roic his l,:h 1, ;''! l-'ower and li.cht xii.hil . n0 Oenei'i expense 1 titi.iM 4 . i-0 Taxes (in-iudinK B. ."i railway I'Sl.K.OA Insui a ik'c l.L'S7 .0i 51:M:'6.S17.00 It ill be jfon bv i he forego! nir that the sam paid workinmnen by one mine during' the past ear talthou;h t ha t mire was working at onlv one-half one-half capa-Mly neaily 1l e months of tho vear). amounts to 5.;. 1 1 1 which, tn the tace of vadb-al legislation legisla-tion or n lall of a trifle In the price of Clipper. Will necesMU'U v cea sc. (Su;nod .ltMIN M. 1 i A , KS. |
