Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-10-13

ing OF the amendments. / went at once
TO the governors Office and found there
the attorneys General Cole and Hon.
John N. Gilman) the governor and Mr..
Chamberlain and according to my best
recollection, Gen. Sibley. l then and
there wrote out the amendents which
were assented to by the other parties
present and at once sent up to the house
to be offered by Col. Hicks. l was in
formedrby Mr.. Fletcher land I agreed to
it, that 1t would not do for me to intro
duce the amendments; that the governor
and his friends must have the honor of
reducing the interest. 1t is but justice
to Dir. Fletcher and the other gentlemen
named, but especially to Mr. Fletcher, to
say that but for his and their %interven-
ton and emphatic action, these amend.
ments could not have been carried
through the house. They did pass the
house and were adopted by the senate and
in pursuance of the agreement the state
officers who issued the bonds fixed the
rate of interest at four and one-half per
cent. =
SAVED BY JUDGE WILSON'S AMENDMENTS.
Let us see how much these amend
ments saved the state and cost the bond
holders. The bonds to be issued under
the bill as above stated were about g.
30O, 600. BY the bill before the amend
ments it was absolutely provided and re-
quired that the bonds should draw five
per cent interest. Therefore one-half of
one per cent was saved on the bonds is
sued, viz: $21 500 annually and (if the
bonds run as long as it is provided they
may,) there will be saved by this amend
ment to the state $645 900, and BY the
other, reducing the interest from seven to
five per cent for a little over two years as
before explained, over 5000, 900. Indeed
this does not state nearly the full amount
of the gain to the state for by the amend
ments thus made the state saved interest
from January 1882 to January 1884. A.
ter this, even if this were all, it could not
he expected and l well knew that the
railroad companies would not look on me
with favor.
Farther, during the former session of
the legislature, when | was a member of
the house and senate, the attempts-(gen-
orally successfully to ecu swamp land
grants in aid of railroads were very nu-
merous, and many other bills partial to
corporations and granting them special
privileges were introduced and urged, as
the records will show and as any honest
member Of the legislature, to whatever
party he may belong, will testify. / OPP
posed them one and all. Such bills were too
numerous to he referred to particularly,
but l think that [ may be pardoned for
referring to one or two other transactions
that will explain the feeling towards me
OF the railroad companies and the CAPT.
talists who control them and of corpora
tons generally.
TAXING RAILROAD LANDS.
AT the session of the legislature in Jan
uary, 1881, it being suspected that extern
sive tracts Of land, in reality owned by
private parties, were being held illegally
untaxed, in the name of different railroad
companies, q resolution was offered by
me in the House, for the appointment of
q committee to investigate and report
"whether any lands granted by the state
in aid of the building of any lines of rail
road have been or arc held exempt from
taxation, after the same have been sold or
contracted to be sold, or after they have
become the private property of any per-
son or persons, natural or artificia]; or
whether by any device or subterfuge any
OF said lands are held exempt from taxa
ton, in violation of law"
The resolution having heen adopted,
and the committee appointed, of which l
was chairman, upon investigation q. ma
jority of the committee became satisfied
that on a large scale certain persons were
holding their property in the name of
some railroad company, and thus illegally
shielding it from taxation. They there
fore reported, and recommended that
'"The State Auditor be instructed, by the
House, to cause to be placed on the tax list the
lands granted to the St: Paul 4 Chicago Rail;
Co, Sioux city 4 St. Paul Railroad Co., the
saltwater 4 Fergus Falls Railroad Co., and
opart Of those granted toy the Southern Mime
10 this report was added, as a conces-
sion to those who opposed the report, a
prOvis0 that the "majority report of the
committee be submitted to the Attorney
General, and that he may in his discretion
stipulate with the different companies
mentioned, for the bringing of test suits
to determine the %taxability of the lands in
said report mentioned; and in case said
course is agreed upon that the other lands
Of such companies, not embraced in such
test suits, may, in 1.-THE discretion, and on
the direction of the Attorney General, mot
he placed on the tax roll until such test
suits are determined" This report and
resolutions were adopted by the House.
Subsequently suits were brought in Hen
nepin county to enjoin the taxation of the
lands of the St. Paul s. Chicago Railroad
Company and a block of the lands of the
st. Paul e. Sioux City Railroad Company;
but these suits were not decided in the
district court until the winter of 1885,
when that court held in both cases, the
lands exempt from taxation.
At the extra session of the legislature
in the Autumn of 1881, it was understood
that the taxation of these lands would be
resisted on the following among other
grounds, viz:
l.. That the resolution of the house afore-
said, not having the force Of law, the state
Auditor would not be justified IN placing the
'a1d !SS ON the The tax ns,! list IN haR% "FsS'an;ee , to it: n
the lands not owning the fee, it would be ille-
gal to taa kheJee.
). That there was no law requiring. or justi-
therefore though best to introduce q
bill to obviate these and other possible
objections. It was also deemed necessary
under the sverest penalties, to require
the railroad companies to report to the
State Land Commissioner such transac-
tions as gave to their stockholders, or
other persons, the fee or any fees interest
in such lands.
While to those who were most earnest
in urging the taxation of the lands it did
not then nor does it now, seem that any
further legislation was absolutely neces-
sary, yet to avoid any embarrassment and
to remove any chance for defeat on any
legal technicality or bubble, a bill vas
introduced providing that:
"Whenever any railroad company, to which
lands have been granted to aid in the build
ING of it's lines OF road in the Territory and
State of Minnesota, land which lands nave
been by law exempted from taxation, until
leased, contracted or sold by said company
has sold, assigned, transferred or disposed of,
or shall sell, assign or transfer or dispose of,
any estate, right, title, or interest therein, or
thereto, the right, title, estate or interest of
such purchaser, assignee, or holder, by what
ever mode or In whatever form, such sale
transfer or assignment is, or may have been
made, shall become and be taxable and shall
be assessed and taxed as other real property
In this State; and the taxes on such right,
title, interest, or estate shall be collected and
enforced as taxes on other real property.
stock, or any other writing, or instrument
whatever. is or has been issued by any rail
road company, to any person or persons, with
View or Intention to thereby grant, transfer,
or secure, to the person to whom such stock,
or instrylNlqnt. ia iSSued or delivered. any In.