St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-10-23


none: In 1885, none. One or two Of these
years he was travelling with his family in
Europe. and yet he hadn't cent-that was
subject to taxation as personal property.
Laughter and applause. Now, then in
1885, his return Is made to tho assessor in
our county-sworn .to-and let me read it
to you. He says: lone sewing machine
worth SIS; watch or clock, $l75: gold plate
and plated ware, $50; diamonds and jewelry,
$3.50; all other articles OF personal property
(this would, OF course, include bonds, money,
etc.). not included in the preceding, Stel"
Laughter and applause. Forty dollars!
Renewed laughter His jewelry and dia-
monds amount to $3.50, and all his other per-
sonal property, not included in the above
item, $40! Laughter and applause. No, sir:
William Window don't want me to NO TO con-
gress. Aud he dout want the people or this
country stirred up to feel that millionaires
must pay their share OF the taxes. And he
don't want the 'heresy" preacht d around
this district that watering OF stock is Grim
inal Oifense. That Is morally just as bad as
breaking into YOUR bins and taking part OF
your wheat, and he can't tolerate II: hence
he makes this attack against Nr. Wilson.
Good bye Mr. Window. + will answer you
no farther. Tremendous applause.
L AM PROUD OF MY RECORD.
had been nominsted only a few DAYS
when they started out in the several counties
record. And they come out with those
things.
The editor of tho Pioneer Press takes up
this effort Of mine to aI rnilroad lands, and
he declares, too, that Il was done rs kind or
taX-siark operation; aud one thing OF which
he complains above everything else il this:
Ne saws thar in that bill provided ta8t wren
these lands were put on the tax list II Should
not be necessary to state The uAme OF tho
owner of the luad or the claiaiont OF the
land; sud ne suys his WIS great wrong 10
the claimant. Certainly. Let us see how this
would work This special stock may be
1 in your pocket to-day, In mine tomorrow,
and in some ones else next day; hence no one
could tell who was tha owner or claimant of
; the land, and il it was required that such
statement should be made, the collection OF u
would be simply Impossible The dlHsr-
ence between N, and the Pioneer Press is
simply mis-: / wished 70 TAX these lands, it
did not, hence ti3 81 ference III our netnC IS
In other wnrls, taat bill is drawn 50 that
Alex Mitchell RusSai sage, Seah ChaaIl,,s.-
lain auu the rest or them shall hav5 to pay
their tax. AMI so that by no legal eserdemain
or hocus poous can they get rid OF it. Bat,
says The Pioneer Press. also, there is another
thing:
WILSON'S BILL WAS GOOD.
That a. It slfs 90 one da", ths next it is very
had. 1t keeps CROWNS worse on ne every
day. Laughter. wilson bill is good. that
WAS ul right, but the thing thSt did good
above ali others WIS that which was thought
OF by Attorne- General Hahn, and which
never thought o. b. Wilson, t0-wit: These
Gao warranto proceedings" Now, my friends,
] thought when tnat was published in the
Pioneer Press that II wsS one OF the state
lneutg Of the editor made without the cogni-
zauee of my former friend, the attorney gem
era but later Developments make me think
to the contrary. Permit me to say that hold
in my hand tha CriEinai bill introduced by me
md rot IN ttlA j:r.ii Of
the senate. by which it Vas made he
duty of the attorney general imperatiyeiy
to commence those eu|ls; ana never,
until after t81t bill was intro iucad and pond
ing in the senat> ola the attorney gcGe al
commence Or attJs. pt 10 commence those
suits. And there is cse original bill, with the
original filings upon it to show 1t, and if you
look st the date OF the commencement of the
suits YOU will find tAst it was long after that.
rbe attorney general is aman whom l have
thought very much of, and to-day | dom be-
lieve he could be bought for money; but he
has not the tOrce OF Character to resist the
crowd that surrounds him and the pressure
that has been brought to bear on him Hence
he. too has come out AMI attacked me, and
he Says that / am claiming credit for
certain things that don't belong to me,
and that he and his brother-in-laW are
entitled to certain credit. not myself. Will
you let me read letter or two from the at.
torney general to show you how much truth
there is in this, and with what good grace
that comes from hun. Mr.. Hahn, permit me
to say, from beginning to end, from first to
last, in everything that pertaned to these
tax matters. has consulted with me, gotten
his facts from me, conferred with me about
the law, ami acted on my suggestions from
the very beginning. letter or two will
show how much truth there is in this, and
waen he comes forward and says L am claim
ing credit in this don't deserve, l deem it
! not only proper, bit my duty, to call atten-
ton to this. He says, in one CT his letters to
me, dated st. Paul, Oct. %, 1884,
Hon. Thomas Wilson: Dear SRI have
just tried the tax case VS.. st. Paul & Sioux
City railroad. Ii not too much trouble will
you be kind enough 10 indicate, in brief, your
views of the legal question | endeavored to
Stnte to the court what supposed were your
ideas, but have the right to file brief and if
you will indicate as above, will .embody the
same in brief. Yours truly,
W. J. HAHN.
LET ME READ ANOTHER.
ST. PAUL, May 2. 1SS5.-Hon. Thomas Will
son: Dear SRI hand you statement for
500 as retainer in tax cases. This, of course,
is a mere nothing for the argument you will
make, but, if possible, | will add something
more. Now, as to the line of argument. As
to the st. Paul Chicago (case), L must say
that am at an utter loss how to formu-
late any argument that is at all sound.
The only course that suggests itself is this:
To claim that they had no authority to issue
the preferred stock. But that leaves US
worse off than if they had. Will
you be kind enough to say, in a brief way,
the points that suggest themselves to you.
Aud so he goes on. That is the case which
we gained in the supreme court, by the way.
I returned him the 500 retainer, but went
ahead and made my brief, and went to St.
Paul and argued the case in the supreme
court, and the supreme court-contrary to
hat Atty. Gen. Hahn here indicates-re-
verSed the Judgment OF the court below and
ordered 100000 acres Of land put upon the
tax roll Here is another letter;
ST. PAUL, Nov. %, 1885, Hon. Thomas Will
son-Dear Sir: Judge Clark has noticed the
case of the st. Paul Sioux City Railroad
company VS.. Mcdonald. ETC., for trial at the
December term of the district court OF Hen
nepin county. L desire you to assist me in
the trial of the case, aud sincerely hope you
can do so. 1t will be necessary that imme-
date steps be taken to prepare testimony for
trial. Please send me the name of any wit
nesses that you think should be subppnaed,
and if foreign witnesses, who, before what
notary public, and what line of examination
should be followed, in your view of the recent
decision Of the supreme court. If you think
it best, will go to Winoaa and see you rela-
tive to above, at any time that will suit your
convenience.
Now, remember that all this is being done
BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
when was not receiving farthing for the
advice was giving. and when it was no more
my duty than it was yours to take part in
this thing. Comment cannot be necessary
No one can fail to see who it was that was
bsck of the attempt to tax these lands. No
member of the legislature, or state officer,
for the past four years who is possessed of
grain of truth or honor will deny that instr
tuted these proceedings, advised and pointed
out the steps to be taken, and without fee or
rewsrd:,took on myself the brunt of the battle.
In the Legislature such men as Senator
Knudson, Senator Comstock and many others
slways were anxious to aid and second every
movement-but they always looked to me to
take the lead in the fight which l had COM
menced. And Attorney General Hahn never
took single step in the courts touching this
matter without first writing to me coming
to me to consult and get my suggestions.
Here is another letter:
The case of the ST. Paul & Sioux City Rail-
way company VS.. f. S. Mcdonald ct al. will
come on tor trial at the April term Of the
district court of Hennepin county. l would
II Il. 7