St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-03-26
TAXING MORTGAGES.

The first has already passed the senate
ana is likely to pass the house. unless
some man of courage and ability shall
block Its way. If it gets to the governor
he will sign it. The GLOBE is not in
the loaning business, but it advises
people who may want to borrow money
| in the next few months to bestir them
selves. There is probably going to be
some confusion and reluctance in this
industry for little while after the new
law goes into effect.
The law taxing mortgages was started
by Mr.. DONNEILY in an impossible
shape. The GLOBE riddled his bill, and
1t withered and died. Senator TAWNEY
copied the statute on the subject which
is to be found in the public laws of Mas
sachusetts, and added a remarkable sec
ton of his own invention which made
it cheaper to borrow money at seven
per cent that at six. This came up for
| consideration in the senate Oh Monday
late in the afternoon. when everybody
was tired because of the bad air and the
endless Jawing of the senate chamber.
1t was summarily disposed of, and the
general scheme was supposed to be
dead.
The following day on its grave
sprang up a new exotic. which was
recommended to pass, and which now
| awaits its third reading to become a
| law. 1t is very important measure,
the effect of which, If it prevails, will
be the most far reaching. 1t has not as
yet been printed, but it deserves the ut
most publicity, that it may be widely
understood and discussed. 1t has seven
enacting sections, and the GLOBE epit-
omizes them one by one, that its readers
may see what it IS proposed to do.
Section 1 provides that, if any tax
able real property in the state is ell
| numbered by mortgage. the mort
! gagee'S Interest in it shall be assessed
as real property and the mortgagor
shall be assessed only for it's value aft
er deducting the mortgagee's interest.
Section 2 provides that no mortgage
shall be entitled to record until it shall
| first have been presented to the county
auditor, and listed by him for the pur-
| poses of taxation.
Section provides that before the 3Oth
day of April i'll each year the owner of
| every mortgage shall file in the Office of
| the county auditor a statement under
| oath OF the full amount remaining I'M
paid On his mortgage, and, if he fails to
dose. the amount stated in the mortgage
of record shall be conclusive evidence
of the amount due Hereunder.
| Section 4 provides that for the pur-
poses of taxation mortgag ors and mort
gagees shall be deemed joint owners of
the real estate in which they may be in
| terested.
Section 5 provides that the payment
of the tax on the mortgage and on the
equity shall both be enforced according
to the provisions of the existing laws
relating to the collection of taxes on
real estate.
Section 6 provides that if any mort
gagor or mortgage shall fail to pay the
tax assessed against his share of the
real estate, the other may pay it to pro-
tect the property from sale. If the
mortgage pays the mortgagor's share
he may add it to the mortgage debt. II
the mortgagor pays the mortgages
share, he may deduct 1t from the mort
goge debt. 1t is further provided, how
ever, that an agreement by the mort
gagor to pay the total tax, as well
that on the mortgage as that on the
equity, shall not be construed as an in
fringement of the usury law.
Section Z ab0lishes the present tax
imposed on mortgages.
Here is the law which it is proposed
to engraft on the statutes of Minnesota.
| What does the public think of it?
| --zez
AN IMPORTANT CHANGE.
A local literary exposition Monday
night determined that Nautilus was
an exploded dreamer, and the world
will never be OyerpOpuated. The
human waves would continue, as in the
past, to undulate from one continent to
| another, but no occasion would arise for
| killing off an uncomfortable surplus.
1t was believed that there had been
little change in the aggregate totals for
1000 years; but peoples had come and
disappeared often leaving re al estate in
tereSts ruinouSly depressed. The pres
ent population could be multiplied
many times without being put on such
rations as some recent explorers up
about the North Pole are reported to
have failed to enjoy, as did some prede-
ceSSorS in that unprOductive region 1t
was believed that the shifting proc
esseS would go on, and new re-
gions be opened up or old ones
reclaimed. This outlook is quite en-
cOuraged by the alleged recent dis
covery of scientists that the equator is
moving north. This is insisted on as a
demonstrate fact by Prof BLAKE, OF
Cincinnati, and other sayantS The
immediate value of the discovery will
be measured somewhat by the CELEBRITY
Of the northern migration. and it is not
understood that any exact time table
has been arranged. 1t is not material
as to the incentive to this migration,
but accepting it as continuous Incl
dent, it Will be seen that it involves
serious consequences to the people who
reside on this side of it, and somewhat
to the interests south of the line.
Both of the poles must move with equal
steps. If this does not lead to their
discovery, it will open up navigation to
the sites they have occupied and so
successfully entrenched themselves in.
Those valleys in the northern region
that are now filled with snow mile
or two deep will be cleared out and take
on verdant drapery and invite teeming
millions to possess them and bask in
sunny delight. Perhaps Col. DOMAIN
and the other radiant seers in Dakota
have had visions of the coming era to
inspire their theories of bananas and
other tropical fruits in their goodly
land. Let the equator come far enough
northward and all the productions of the
far South will luXuriate in this latitude.
There will be bananas and alligators in
Dakota, and cotton and coffee fields in
Minnesota. This will play hob with
Mr.. BLAINE's reciprocity. New tariffs
will be needed to protect rising indus