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Show -ommiilee Majority Will Recommend Flat ike Tax q'ix on Definite Basis of (Three Times Net Proceeds Dvernor Tells Conferees He Feels Under Obli- j gation of Honor to Have Phrase "Not J to Exceed" Retained. ' 1 i . UKSL'AXT to a vottr taken yester- I day by the conference committee "1 on the house a mendmcuts to the senate mine tax bill, following a ' conference with the governor, a Drt is to bo submitted to the senate i iy setting forth that a majority of 1 'i "conference committee recommends ption of the house amendment which , vides for taxation of metalliferous -.4 es on a definite basis of three times ' 4 Ir net proceeds. The report is to j that Senators G. H. Dern and J. 'Ham Knight of the conference com-itee com-itee dissent from this view. The ma-. ma-. i; ty comprises the three house conges con-ges named by Speaker Richards, all J which represent, one view, 'and the feree named by President Funk to . i resent tlie senate minority. 5 he committee report is to go first .r- the senate, whero the amended bill land will be submitted to that house f j acceptance or rejection. After tho J -late takes action upon it the report go to the lower house for action ' ' i that body, tho rules requiring that " Conference committee report go first i the house where the bill rests and hr action on it by that body that it - "i be transmitted, with the action of r : jt body, to the other house for its ac- Jhairman Allen T. Sanford of the con-Mmce con-Mmce committee was delegated to pre-Lje pre-Lje the committee report, which will signed by him. This sort of report decided upon by a majority vote of committee, Sanford, McKay, Morris 1 Seegmiller voting for it and Senators n and Knight against it. nfer With Governor. Then the conference committee met O I iterday at 1 o'clock Senator Dern, -&king for himself and Senator Knight, ted that they had conferred with the ernor in relation to whether or not my should be released from their obli-ion obli-ion to stand by the agreement and for "not to exceed" provision of the ate amendment to the Bevan-Parker Iftp bill. He informed the committee Pt "it is no use." and -they announced t they were going to stand "pat." ator Bern suggested that the entire imittee go down and confer -with the A-tjernor. Representatives Seegmiller. Tis and McKay declared it was of - -ne. but said they would go if the imittee desired.'The committee agreed recT:jrait upon the governor and proceeded ir.: io so at once. lin t the conference the governor gave , ho- committee a history of the mine tax ;:y it. of his continuous efforts to bring I ut a more equitable taxation of the ftt &a and what the results had been, " ) by step. e declared thaf "whether, the words v'rx-.'t to exceed" remained in or were ior-5ii from the bill would not make a o:'ar's difference in the taxes collected -:le L:iuse the board of equalization would the mines at three times their net ju r ieeds. at least this year and next year, 1, u- that in view of the understanding e ii he general meeting when the legisla- committees were present, he felt : an obligation of honor existed to in the words "not to exceed" in 2. bill. iU e-story Is Reviewed. he governor gave a brief history of "d I: mine lax mutter beginning with the a Publican legislature and the proposed '-Institutional amendment to tax mines 'not to exceed" three times their net rreeds, which was defeated in 1916, remarked that he had heard the f fling companies spent some $38,000 to ;at it. He added also that the corn's corn-'s les had spent two or three times that M. Jan effort to defeat the amendment ch was passed at the last election, j governor referred to a meeting with ?J . mining men two years ago, when te taxation was discussed, and said " t the mining men were then discuss- ytwo or two and a half times the net ceetls as a proper basis of taxation, 'he governor remarked tha t he had -' ibted upon giving attention to the il mines as well and had suggested ?o0 jacre as a fair rate of assessment. He d the mining men argued for a reduc-; -n and some for limiting the assess-j ,nt to producing coal mines. .The discussion continued," said the: 'etnor, "until a man sitting over a;corner remarked, 'We will not pay anything more than $40. I told them! t -it was time to go home, and this led that discussion." jreement Drawn. ;. Tie governor said that later further 2rt6 were made to get to an under-3ndIng' under-3ndIng' an3 ne of tno agreement gt "was finally drawn up between the nmitteeB of the legislature and the yt iing men and which provided for as-Bment as-Bment of the metalliferous mines under onstltutional amendment on a basis of "not to exceed three times the net proceeds." pro-ceeds." Tlie governor said this agreement agree-ment was submitted to him after midnight one night by Senator YV. W. Armstrong, a member of tho legislative committee, and Secretary of State Harden Berinion. He had informed the committee that the agreement did not meet his views on the coal mines proposition and that the constitutional con-stitutional question would have to be settled set-tled once and for alb The proposed constitutional amendment which was adopted at the last session of the legislature followed. The governor said that he had taken occasion to mention men-tion the mines taxation matter on every occasion possible during his trips about the state and that he had been moved by a determination t6 'throw the door open for just taxation of the mines and let the legislature say whether the door should be opened all the way or partly. The governor declared ho had spent $"00 of his own money to send out letters ' during tho year . on the mines taxation amend men t, because he felt a personal interest and determination to open the constitutional door in the mines taxation matter. Tho governor said he had in-I in-I tended to tour the counties close in dur- ing the fall in support of the amendment, but that the influenza epidemic had interfered in-terfered with the plan. False Impression Spread. The governor said that an idea seemed to spread abroad that i t was the intention, inten-tion, if the amendment passed, to assess the mines at anything from five to eight j times their nut proceeds, and there was! a strong feeling against him personally. I The feeling became such that it was extremely ex-tremely annoying to him and his family. 1 They "seemed to consider him personally responsible for an effort to tax the mines beyond all reason, the governor added. "The situation became anything but pleasant," said the governor. "I might say it was extreme." The governor then j announced his' recommendation that the legislature fix the basis of taxation at not to exceed three times. Tlie governor related that James T. Hammond of the board of equalization had come to him and told him that the mining men were in a mood to discuss the subject. The governor had informed Mr. Hammond that the door was always open. A meeting was arranged and the mining men there presented to the governor his letter which he had sent out in relation to the promise of recommending to the legislature that the basis of taxation be fixed at "not to exceed three times." and sked if he meant to do that. The governor replied to them that he did. He recounted he had so recommended to the 'legislature. The governor rela ted how the mining men, under the understanding that the proposition as set forth in the letter would be recommended to the legislature, had offered to put up certified checks for their taxes, to be placed in the hands of the governor or some banker and held until the mine tax act was passed, and then turned over to the treasurer; 1 He remarked that the attorney general I at the time had raised some question as to the constitutionality of the words "not to exceed" in reia tion to the tax basis, but later' had receded from this position, after investigation and in the light of opinions of attorneys on the subject. In the meantime, it was explained by tliti executive, there was ' a meeting in the governor's board room between representatives rep-resentatives of the state, r the board of equalization and members of the tax and revenue committee of the house and the public affairs committee of the senate, at I which the proposition of the mining men was submitted. Checks Are Rejected. The governor remarked that the legislators legisla-tors rejected the offer, of the mining men, on the ground that the checks seemed too much in the nature of a club over the legislature. He said the proposed bill to go before the legislature had been gone over to some extent, but that, the words "not to exceed" had not been discussed. He had tak en it that there was no objection, ob-jection, to this phraseology and that the committees were agreeable to this. The onlj' objection then made was to the certified cer-tified ' .check proposition. The governor said he had informed the mining men" that the legislaturehad rejected their proposition proposi-tion in relation to the checks, and later, at a meeting wirh them-, told them the thing to do was to go ahead and pay the money to the state, and he had assured them that, judging from the attitude of tlie committees, everything would be all right if the tax were paid and the mine tax matter wero left in the hands of the 1 legislature. The governor added that the reason why the mining men desired the words "not to exceed" was that conditions might change later so that the mines would be entitled to be assessed at a lower multiple multi-ple than three times the proceeds. "We made the compromise because we were anxious to have it settled. We needed the money. Through court processes they might delay the payment for a year or more, to the detriment of the schools and of the state. "Wo did what we did with the best of intentions, and with the belief that the state could afford to be magnanimous, and to show that the government was not trying to take advantage of the mining industry, as it had been suggested in the campaign would be done." Coal Mines Taxes Discussed. Later & meeting was held with the coal mines; only the metal mines had been included in the first negotiations. He had explained what the state proposed to do there. He had said that in some instances they would be valued as high as SoOO an acre. He had said that the value of prop-: prop-: erty in Carbon and Emery counties would 1 be doubled. "They said that was all right," said tho governor, "and they later paid their occupation tax. They had been scared to death that something radical was going go-ing to be done to them. They realized that they had not been paying their taxes, and they are willing to do it rftsw: I went at it from the beginning, and never let up on the proposition that their taxes should be increased." "The state," continued the governor, "Is confronted with other problems somewhat some-what similar. There are millions of dollars dol-lars In iron ores now tied up by the Colorado Colo-rado Fuel & Iron company in the southern south-ern pyrt of the state, on which they are assessed at S5 an acre. They are holding hold-ing this land eo that nobody else can get it. We ought to make them develop this property, or else let it revert to the state In the way of taxes. "I have had to fight the people I have been very friendly with for many vears, being interested in the mining industry myself. "One thing I will tell you that I have not told anyone before. I asked the mining men: 'Had you not better meet with the committees of the house and the senate on this matter?' "One man, Mr. Fitch of Tintic, said no, he was afraid some unpleasantness might arise. And it was not done." The governor assured Representative Morris that the board would fix the rate at three times the net proceeds this year and next. He said that Mr. Bailey and Mr. Hammond would be reappointed, but could not say as to the others as yet, and he knew from these men that the rate would be fixed at three times the net proceeds. Reasons for Phrase Explained. Representative Morris wanted to know if he did not think that his recommendation recommenda-tion to the legislature absolved him from any obligation to tlie mining interests. The governor replied that it would have, had it not been for the final meeting with the legislative committees, at which he was given the understanding that it was a certainty the legislature would pass the bill with the "not to exceed" phrase in it and upon which understanding understand-ing he had proceeded further with the mining companies in tlie matter of payment pay-ment of their ta'xes. , Senator Dern said that the fight of the governor to bring the taxation of mines up to a parity with other property had boon the big thing of his administration, and he declared he could realize how the governor would feel to make such a light and then have the legislature repudiate re-pudiate and humiliate him. just when he had accomplished the end sought. Representative McKay took exception to ue of the word "repudiate," and contended con-tended that it was not a repudiation, because be-cause the legislature could not be bound by anyone. He argued that the legislature legisla-ture would be repudiating him and the party promise to the people if it failed to fix the definite multiple of taxation. Mr. McKay did not explain his last statement further, and no one present, it wa stated, knew what was the party promise of which he spoke, as there was no reference to this matter in the platform. plat-form. This ended the conference, and the committee retired to its meeting room. |
