St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-10-28
RAILROAD TAXATION.
Auditor Braden Plainly States the
Constitutional Amendments

Auditor Braden Plainly States the,
Constitutional Amendment.
State Auditor Braden has prepared
a statement in relation to one of the
pending constitutional amendments,
giving simply the facts and law points
involved. The statement, addressed to
the press, is as follows:
So many inquiries have been adj
dressed to this office regarding the re-
peal of chapter II, General Laws of
1887. relating to the taxation of railroad
companies, which repeal is SO soon to
be voted for or against, that it may not
be inappropriate to answer these ques-
tions. through the columns of the public
1883, provides: THAT in consideration
of a payment on its gross earnings by
the st. Paul, Saltwater & Taylor's Falls
Railroad company it should be exempt
from all other forms of assessment and
taxation" This payment was to be
per cent on It's gross earnings for the
first three years, 2 per cent tor the next
seven years, and per cent thereafter
Section 2 of this act provided that any
company owning OF operating. or which
may hereafter own or operate lines of
railroad in this state, might file its ac-
ceptance of the provisions of this law.
and thus become subject to it. 1t will
be observed that IL was optional with
the railroad companies to accept or re-
ject the obligations of this act. Chap
ter IL, General Laws of 1887, provides
that any company owning or operating,
4 Or which might hereafter operate lines
of railroad within this state, which had
not accepted of the law of 1885, should
become liable to pay OH its gross earn
ingS as provided by said law, thus pIac-
ing all the roads on uniform basis.
Chapter 191 of the General Laws of
1889 provides for the appeal of the law
of 1887. which repeal, as required by
section 80, article 4, of the constitution,
must be submitted to a vote of the peo-
pie before it can become operative. If
the vote be yes, the law of 1887 will be
repealed, and the gross earnings tax
alton will not apply to the following
roads, which have not formally filed an
acceptance of the law of 1879, until they
do file such acceptance, viz: The Wi
mona IL Southwestern, Duluth, Red
Wing IL Southern and the Duluth Il
Winnipeg Railroad companies. all new
lines and in process of construction at
the present time.
The contention of some people is that
gross earnings tax, under the Interstate
commerce law, cannot be collected on
passenger VI freight lTalllc passing
through the state; that taxes can only
be collected on such earnings under the
present laws within the state. There
seems to be ground for argument OH
both sides of this question. The. pres
ent answer, however, is that the COM
panles do pay on gross earnings within
the state and also on traffic passing
through the state. In this connection
it might be interesting to give the
amount paid in by the companies and
also the increase i'll payment since 1880:
Amount paid in 1880. -. 49,. S.S4. $50 ~
Amount paid in 1888 49,. 49,. 673. 3O2 go
Amount paid in $50 ..-... 702. SJ3 81
Receipts from state taxes tor the
year 1889, on basis of 1.07
mills for state revenue. -. S794 663 90
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