St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-10-24
A Scheme to. Rob the State
Exposed by Hon. A. T.
Ankeny:
1t Is Concealed in the Second
Of the Proposed Constitu- Z
tiOnal Amendments, =.
Against Which the Agents of.
the Ring Say Not a
Word. -
Stories OF Harmony in the,
Tenth District Not Well =
:. Founded. -. =

how completely the great corporations
rule and direct the state government of
Minnesota, and to demonstrate the ne
cessity Of change in the officers of the
commonwealth, that evidence is fur
nlshed by the second of the two amend
ments to the state constitution upon
which the people are 70 vote at the com.
ing election. In no state not completely
III the control of corporation masters
would such monStrouS proposition be
brought forward
Ii that amendment shall be adopted,
the state tax Oh the railroads will be
reduced from nearly s1,oOO.O00 per year
to probably 100000.
And yet in the face of this what have
the Republican managers said regarding
this proposition? Have they advised
the people to defeat the scandalous pro-
position? Not at all.
In fact, at the beginning OF the cam
paign the Pioneer Press and many
other organs started out to advocate its
adoption. They soon saw that the peo-
pie comprehended the situation, and
they have since been silent. Hon. A.
L. Ankeny, of Minneapolis, after a
amendment. was Mortified at the prOpO-
sltion, and the Minneapolis Times on
Friday published bis findings. which de-
serve to be read and studied by every
good citizen. This article follows:
The people of Minnesota will be
called upon at the next election to vote
upon proposed amendment to the con-
stitutiOn, which is perhaps the most
dangerous ever before considered by an
Intelligent people. 1t reads as follows:
And there may be levied and col
lected annually tax upon the gross
earnings in this state of all railroads.
sleeping, parlor and drawing room car
companies, or owners, doing business
in this state; on all telegraph and tele-
phone companies or owners, whose
lines are in Or extend into this state:
on all express companies, or owners,
doing business in this state; on all for
elgn insurance companies doing bust
ness In this state: OH all domestic in
surance companies of this state, or
on either of such companies. q,
Cor in lieu of such tax on the gross
earnings OF such companies, or either or
any or them, an annual license fee or.
tax imposed on them, or either or any of.
them; but no tax upon the gross earn
ingS of any corporation shall be con-
any real estate owned by said corpora.
ton not used in the business of the
same. And there may be levied and
collected, i'll lieu of other taxation on,
mining property, aSpecific tax upon tile.
product of all mines in this state. But,
no such tax shall be construed to pre-.
vent the taxation by law of any real
estate belonging to the owners of such.
mine not used i'll the business of inning.
, or in connection herewith" =;
a. L, Ankenv,. who has given this.
subject much study, said yesterday: e.
''ln my opinion no more dangerous or,
damnable proposition was ever con.
cocted by any state legislature. The.
men who voted for the bill and the gov
ernOr who approved it either had no
knowledge of
Its Revolutionary Tendencies
or acted blindly in the interests of the
corporations which seek to rule and
ruin this state. In either event they
were grossly culpabe, and the only
way they can now remedy the evil will
be for them to call upon the people
everywhere to vote against the amend
mentS. 1t is prOpvr, however, to say
that when the bill was originally intro
duced the word railroads" was not IN
the bill. 1t was intended merely to
cover express companies and the
other companies enumerated, which
had heretofore been paying but a
small revenue to the state. The
original bill is not now on file in the
secretary of states office, and the
Journal of the house does not show how
the measure came to be changed. This
is enough to indicate that the whole
thing is a trick imposed in the hurry of
the closing days of the session by some
one who was working in the interest of
the railroads.
1.-The milk III the cocoanut' is con-
tanned in the language which allows AN
annual license fee,' instead of the tax
on the gross earnings of railroads. The
railroad companies in this state, instead
of paying regular taxes on their real
and personal property, have for many.
years paid 3 per cent annually upon
their gross earnings. They adopted
this policy with the state entirely in
their own interest. Then they had
large land grants with the land unsold,
and the gross earnings were very small.
But now they have
disposed of Their Lands
and the state is receiving annually
nearly $3.50 900 as the income on their
gross earnings. This sum pays almost
the expenses of the state, and in few
years more it will fully do so. To break
the contract would be bad faith with
the people, besides most serious loss
to the treasury, a loss which would then
have to be made up by taxation.
There are only about fifteen or
twenty railroads in the state. Suppose
an annual license fee were to be al
lowed. How much should it be? Ger
My very much less than they are
row required To pay, else the COM
panies would not desire to change.