The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1885-12-17
THO TAX TITLE GASP.

o''AS Aup'c AIsne ~ fp|lftIt liit ~ afyu-
m''"i~. On the plaintiffs sii- il An
n,isl"bie. John W. Howe, G. X. Da-
Wis. W. p. Clough, II. b. Galusl,a,
Gordon E. Cole and i. Aver Of Duluth
are the c''Mnsels retained. It will be
noticed that nearly all Of the attOr-
mrys represent some railway corpora
ii"n, and 1t is understood that they ARE
taking part IN the prosecution under
the order IT the roads they represent,
as the railroads arr more interested in
the result than any one els" can be. It
Is stated upon good authority that the
prosecution will try to prove the un-
coi'stitutionality Of the law under
which the decision was rendered. At
torney General Hahn has been in
structed to conduct the defense upon
this point. should it be brought up.
w. w. BillsOn, the attorney who has
hitherto conducted the case, will also
be retained by the defense.-St. Paul
Pioneer Press.
The ADVANCE has been waiting to
see the true inwardness Of the move
ments IN the above case before rushing
into print in the matter. From the
above it would seem that it is the rail-
road corporations and people who do
not intend to pay their taxes who are
fighting the matter, many of the news
papers having been gulled by the cry
about the danger man is in of losing
his property, notwithstanding the tax
es may have been paid; People are in
as great danger of being run over and
killed by a runaway team as they are
of losing their property by the recent
decision of the supreme court, which
10 now to be reargued, yet nobody
thinks of objecting to the law which
"llows team to be driven on the
.treets.
If the result Of the rehearing shall be
that the Supreme court decides that
notice by publication is not \ legal no.
tice, and that seems to be the point on
which the question hinges, what bene-
tit will 1t be to those papers that have
been kicking so hard 1T the first decs-
ion. The delinquent tax list and 9th
er legal notices that are now served by
publication III u newspaper. are the
most profitable sources Uf income of a
country paper. and to lose all that will
make these sam. kickers sq.irm.
There may be big job for the fool.
killer.
Another aspect Of the case is that if
notice hy publication is invalid it will
Ike ute: ly impossible 10 c"l+ct tax.s
OF non residents, and cons. qnentiv
taxpayers will have to pay enough
more to make up the .!efirirhcy. Prob
ably the reason the railroad corpora
tinus are taking so much i:itt rest in
the matter is that they stea way t.,
prevent the colltctiu leu of any t: xes on
their property.
I, sprlns tn this writer that the law
~ amended! last winter ought to he
sufficiently ienicnt to those WHO hon
rStly intend to pay their taxes. 1t pro-
v;'lcs that before tie ri.ht.of redS,np-
tiOn expires further notice shall be Civ
Ell. and it would seem that any enc
with sense enough to own property
would surely see some If the numerous
notices now required to he published. :.
A prudent property owner Mould pro-
vide himself with copy IF the official
paper of every county in which his
properly lies, and watch to see if there
were any tax liens against it.
One editor proposes that instead of
selling land for taxes the state be given
II lien on the land fer the same. Why
bless your soul, under the prese,.t law
the taxes are 4 lien about four and Il
half or five years before the land sold
for taxes becomes the property Of the
purchaser. But the scheme won't
work. The state and county treasu-
Sies must have the money, :and liens
for taxes would leave the treasures
bankrupt. If the taxpayers will not
pay, the money must come from some
where, and hence the necessity for sell
ing the land. The laws must also give
sufficient inducement to those having
money to invest. to invest the same in
tax titles, or the treasures will be. as
bad off as though taxes were not lev
led at all.
Another bad feature of the case is
tho abuse that has been heaped upon
tho supreme court for its action in the
matter. II the law is not satisfactory
let the legislature amend it, but don't
blame the supreme court for the short
comings Of the legislature. If courts
violate their official oaths in obedience
to popular cIamor, then indeed are
American institutions a failure, and
those who held to make the clamor are
partakers in the infamy, and any
newspaper, particularly the st. Paul
Globe, which allows people to use its
columns for that purpose unrebuked,
should bear share of the blame.
The Chicago Current says ":the state.
mept made by the United States treas