Show 4 B BOm AT U SID SIDES 1111 A OF U F TAX AMENDMENT r editor of the jews believes that the constitutional umen amendment dment relating that is tn be voted on at the coane ing election should be carefully studied ao 80 that bah voter can an cast an intelligent vote to r this end we wd publish herewith arguments son on both sides of the qa question estion views rill b be gevea a JIZ I 1 publicity next week if writers lei let us know who they are 1 t j tho the pe pl s 1 aj wi wh a b be coming to c fernace in fu j few days A gad many of them will be able to recall how things were in utah prior to thirty years ago t if questioned they will be forced fco to admit that while the people did acne he best that they could they were very poor tat there were very few comfortable for table homes in in tho the territory and ard I 1 not one decent school schou house save two or three that the church had 4 hullt built if honest they will be forced to ad nit lilt that the first change cumo belr young men begaj to re receive relve regular wage wages from the mines that because 11 of the minca llo alev every splendid structure in 1 the flats kate has been built that because of or the wages paid by alv mines thousands of these men received their first start in life that because of the mines their school buildings have been erected which are the admiration of awrang era em BS as well weil as our own people that because of the 1 mines farmer brat firs received fair prices prices for thair products that since statehood came almost all the net proceeds from the mines taints have bedri invested in the state that il lince mining began it has been beef thu paramount industry of the state tate the industry on which all other industries bavo havo leaned for prosperity that were mining suddenly to cease it would in ln effect be a stroke of paralysis to all other Indis industries tries in in the stae stale why taeup then should an insidious blow be aimed at the leading industry through a enStI constitutional I 1 tL u t tun posing dayble taxation in n the net proceeds of the thoi mines if it adopted we do not believe it would hold up lip agal agest nat a naif hours investigation in any competent court but why try to pass piss the monstrosity at all the ordinary man may think that money obtained from a mine ia is not different from a like amount received from any other product but there is a vast dif ferAce the early farmers in utah found that hat if they had a bountiful crop the prices for what they had raised suddenly Jealy f fell ell again allain they found ih fc when the mines doubled the mony in cir cu lallon lation in utah their products product a sud denly were doubled in value it is an layn lav so long ps a a tho measure of values end tho medium of ix exchange change the amount jp J p circulation in a community measures the value of everything else that corn can produce every farmer und and every manufacturer every producer pio ducer of any useful thing should keep this fact in mind thai that if bd ha votes yes on the be proposed amendment amendments so far as his vote cou counts ants it is tebe detriment of bis his own private business and beyond that he votes to kill the cause case of whatever prosperity ho he has had in the pact in this state eveir nation elc except pc onri OM makes a constant co struggle to keep all its mond at bome tind to meet its out side obligations through trade to double the purchasing power of oi money by reducing thal th value of commodities modi ties ono nali ahen ban measured ms assured in money and to this make interest bearing bonds outstanding a perpetual debt a of bankers and in interest Verest gatherers caused 20 ears ago go it x rr the ch changing I 1 of libia the money io in the e wd into a comme acty we all re remember the he destruction wrought by Q abat at legislation it the crime of the ages two years ago the business of the country was tottering under the effect of some finster legislation when suddenly untold sums began to come adus to us in payment for war munitions that stream of gold has been pouring in ever eyer since and hai hati doubled the amonoy in circulation in the tim east and business under that same law has been quickened as never nevar before that is it bs followed a natural law whatever may have been the ob jec by the farmers of the prop proposal amendment it is on its face a men aco ace to the fahning industry by far the them most important industry of the state and if adopted ted would be a blow to every other industry in the state the people in every community of the tate should bestir then nelves and see that the menace is removed snowed under by such a drift of indignant ballots that it will be yo years ars before anyone will again try tr to resurrect it there is diw and then a man elected to tit alia I 1 legislature who before assuming the duties of his office should be examined by a 3 commission of experts to decide ide if possible how much damage he will be likely to inflict upon the state stale if he obtains his seat goodwins weekly TH OTHER SIDE the article written by the board of follows 14 Inan inasmuch much as a large fund has been retted and is being spent for the th C s of defeating the pro constitutional amendment that pt alo ampro approach ich is to be voted upon me ing election and inasmuch id as this board is 13 b by law charged w with ith the responsibility of rais ng the revenue to meet the appropriations made by each succeeding legislature wd wa have deemed it our autv to call to the attention of the voters of the state the purpose sought to be accod by such proposed amendment the proposed amendment repeals the provisions of the present constitution requiring the assessment of all property at a un rate rat of assessment ses and provides instead in section 1 that shall be uniform upon the same class classed 0 property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax this provision is intended to permit the taxation of homes non producing property used only AS is a shelter for the amily family to bo bd taxed at a lower rate than is 13 applied to 0 general ner property and is in conor conformity mity with the generally e ne rally accepted feeling that flee e building and beautifying of homes khouli be encouraged cou raged bi b light taxation rather than that they be b burdened Ard ened with the general present day heavy rates hence a the proposal and it il meets the approval of practically every prominent student of taxation in the country vf 0 make this class of p property op subject to lower rates than other property thia this cannot be done under our preheat constitution TO CORRECT OUD OID METHOD the second object sought to be accomplished by the proposed amendment la Is to give to the legislature power to correct what governor S spry pry in in his message to the ae legislature gi slature of as the iniquitous and unjust taxation of the surface ground of mining claims the present constitution requires that such land be taxed at the price paid the government which in the case of mines is uni firmly 5 per pr praire acre while coal landa lands vary from 10 per acre to bueb valuation to continue throughout a all 11 the terae regardless of whether op or not it be held for investment be operating or be worked out and valueless some county assessors in this state recognizing the tha injustice of these provision h hure ave in the past arbitrarily taken upon themselves to assess coal lands at a uniform price per acre in some cases under agreement with the owners and while in our opinion the agreed price made the aggregate valuation of all ca coal a I 1 lands in the county equal to what it would have been if made ninde under the constitution and la lus cs the state yot we feel that no matter what justification there might to be for such departure from the provisions of the law it cannot bo be tolerated we do not favor nor i this proposed change in the constina coos cons tito tita ion rateau steady to bring about any 10 ii crease in the valuation of abe grousd of mining raining claims but instead to permit the legislature to pam laws that will make more equitable the asset assessment of such cl claims as he tween themselves tie thi third rd P pio vision proposed ty this assessment and the one tt 11 naturally arouses the 1 1 special aion of the owners of the che property affected aff eted isa 5 ha at mine dij proceeds shallie sh shall Allbe caved in to the tax taxation allon 0 of t their he ir surface nahn and the amr improvements ov ments an additional assessment of not to exceed three times the he seamount amount of the net proceeds produced the conditions that hat called forth this prop propped oed change were as follows REASON PCS FOR CHANGE prior to 1916 the general prop erty of the state hm been assessed at approximately one third of as ts value notwithstanding the fact that both the constitution and statutory law required that it be assessed at full value M the method provided by the con ution for the assessment of mines and mining claims ia is the only excel tion to this full value provision in the case of non producing mines the constitution provides that the land shall be assessed at the price paid the government per acre and not at what its selling value may be the constitution furth further r provides that mines which are operating at a net profit shall be assessed on these net proceeds t s in n nearly all cases the prices paid the government per acre for lini laid I 1 is only a emall fraction of its actu il value the assessment on the acreage of producing mines at the price paid the government together with the assessment of the net proceeds IK is not in jour opinion more than one fourth the ratio at which other classes of property is assessed for the first time in the history of the state a strong effort was made this year to assess all property of the state at full value the levies having been so reduced by the asal it legislature thai that the aggregate of all taxes to be collected will be less than for the last year As a result of this condition ane valuation 0 of f the net proceeds of mines could not be increased and the taxes as essed against them could not aggregate agre MO more re than 40 per cent of what they have been in the past b ail all lax tax levies having been reduced to hat that extent tt the net proceeds of all the mines in n the state for 1916 are al 51 we are sure no one would hold mt out for a moment that this comes anywhere my where near representing the full value of the mining claims 4 of the state RELATION IS maintained the proposal therefore to per it the taxation of brines at nobuo exceed three times their net proceeds pula ats them wem practically where they have bave always been in rel relation aaion to other no perty and maintains the same compari comparative tive rations ratio as between mining property ro perty and other classes of prop erty arty that has always existed had the he proposed constitutional brov provision i ision been een in effect th s year the ta tax x rolls of f the state would have been increased by tax levies could have been corre correspondingly spon reduced on all property to the benefit beneat and nd relief 01 the general I 1 and yet et the mining companies pa pay no noie mole taxes in comparison with other taxpayers tax ax payers than they have done in in thelast the he past should t L i resolution f fail a 11 f adoption the loss to the tax rolls for or the next year w will ill undoubted ly y b bi doubled what it has been for low M we insist that th there ere is no joke in a the proposed pio plo posed amendment t that hat here there is nothing in it thit iacre increases aises the he bonding power of the state or of any ny city county or other subdivision of f the state or that will prevent the deduction of debts arm credits no additional power of any bind kind is given the he state board of equalization al hough though we readily grant that the resolution does give to the le legisla gisla denied by the con ture ure some power tit ution a as s it now exists power chia in our judgment nt it should havel bave power g given iven I 1 in all sta state te cono 1 ions recently enacted we have no ZID per somi saml interest in the matter and this communication Is intended only by way of explanation to the public |