St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-05-28
ANTI-PoVERTY TOPICS.
The Abolition of Il Personal Prop
erty Tax Advocated.

There were so many people in at
tendance at the anti-poverty meeting
held last evening in Window hall that
the seating capacity of the hall was not
sufficient to accommodate them. The &C.
cason of such large turnout was ow-
ing partly to the desire to hear Rev.
KriStofer Jansen, who delivered an adj
dress, and partly to the growing inter
est which is being taken in the move
ment inaugurated by this society to
have the next legislature submit to the
people an amendment to the state con-
Stitution abolishing the personal prop
erty tax.
The meeting was called to order by
A. J. Buell. who stated that he had dur
ing the past two weeks seen about $50
OF the business men of this city and had
asked them to sign petition, which is
to be presented to the next legislature,
asking to have this question OF abolish
ing the personal property tax submitted
to the people, and he was glad to say
that in nearly every instance he found
them in hearty sympathy with the
movement. and obtained the signatures
of over four-ffthS of them to the petit
ton.
when presenting the petition for
their signatures, | made it a practice to
ask them this question: DO you not
charge Just the amount of your tax more
for your goods than you would if there
was no such tax Levied and in every
instance they have told me that they
were compelled to do so, or else go out
of business. 1t is the same way with
the money l0aners, they add the amount
of this tax to the interest which they
demand, and consequently the man who
is so hard up that he is forced to mort
gage his home, is also obliged TO
pay this tax in addition to the
interest which he is compelled to pay on
the money loaned, while the money
loaner, by making a bogus assignment
OF the mortgage to some nonresident. is
enabled to obtain just the amount of
the tax on his mortgage more than he is
entitled too. In consequence the inter.
est demanded in this state on money is
2per cent higher than it would be if the
tax was abolished"
He then introduced Mr.. Jansen, and
stated that he would make an address
on the land laws of the ancient Jews.
Mr.. Jansen started out by calling at
tention to the old Mosaic law, which
only allowed the Jews to sell their farm
and pasture land for a limited time and
which permitted them to again take pos
session in the Jubilee year, which came
dIOullu OllCe Ill my years. thereby cduS-
ing the buyer to cultivate the land in
order to get any return for his money
and etfectually doing away with the
system of holding large tracts of land
for speculative purposes and making no
use of it. He also called attention
to a provision which compelled
the holders of land to allow all land to
lie fallow during the Sabbath year,
which was every seventh year, thereby
allowing the land to recuperate and re-
main fertile. Under these laws the
Jewish people were prosperous and
paupersm was unknown, and these land
was all cultivated: bnt after the Romans
conquered the country and this land
laws were abolished every thing was
changed, and we find in the time of
Christ the country swarming with beg
CARS and the laboring people oppressed
by wealthy, ariStocratic and monopo-
listic class of people, who possessed the
country. 1t was this class which Jesus
referred TO, when he said that it was
easier for a camel to go through a
needles eye than for a rich man to
H., =