St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-09-13

to impose sin lieu OF such tax on the
gross earnings Of such companies, or
either or any of them, an annual license
fees or tax imposed on them or either or
any of them.''
From this 1t will be seen that the
present method of taxing railroad COM
panies will be placed at the mercy or
caprice Of the legislature, which would
be equivalent to its total destruction,
for up to the present the railroad
companies have obtained such leg
lslation as they desired. and
are able to do SO again il
the people permit it. In the face of
sections l and of article 9 of the con-
stitution, which provide that all prop
ertY be taxed at its true cash value in
money, they have built up and main
tanned system of taxation for them
selves, which enabled them to escape
taxation on all their property, including
their vast land grants, by paying into
Inc state treasury percentage on their
gross earnings. This was in the past
greatly to their advantage. the state was
undeveloped, their earnings small, their
taxes light, but their property which
thus
Escaped Taxation
was very large; and, while this ratio be-
tween their earnings and their property
existed, they jealousy guarded and
st0utly maintained the present system.
Ihey had their agents in and around the
last legislature, but none were heard to
OBJECT to the Insertion of the word rail-
loa In the aforesaid bill-of course they
didn't! = for the conditions are now
changed; their lands are, or in the near
future will be. pretty we'll disposed of,
Wnlle their gross earnings have become
very large and are annually increasing.
10 illustrate: The railroads paid into
the state treasury as tax on their gross
earnings S56,505.5 81 in 1871; S415, 222. 80 in
1881; S743, 075.S7 in 1890. When we add
to this the further fact that less than
one-fourth of our state is now deyel-
oped, and that within the next twenty
years we can confidently expect to have
tWlce our present population and a
vastly Increased railroad business, and.
the railroad lands disposed of, it needs
no farther light on the subject to show
whose Interests would be subserved by
change IN the present system, and,
therefore, at whose instance the word
railroad was interpolated into chapter 2
OF the General Laws of 1891. just as the
words land others" were fraudulently
inserted i'll the famous House File l57 of
1887.
LIN the past the state needed railroads
Tor Its development, their earnings were
small and probably they were unable to
pay taxes upon vast tracks of idle land.
We find no fault with, rather commend.
what has been done in the past, but
their gross earnings have now become
large, over 100000 for the year end
ing Dec. 81, 1890, and they will in the
future pay far more than by the direct
taxation of their property. Let them
compensate the people in the future for
the lmmunities they have received in
the past. The total valuation of all the
aSsessabe property in this state for the
year 1889 was 1868, 36l,512, on which
there was paid in the state treasury a
little over S1,000,000. Assessed by the
same standard of valueWith other proper
fY.the asSeSSable property of the railroad
companies, exclusive Of their lands,
which they would not hold long, would
not aggregate one-third the valuation
of the other property of the state, and
still the railroad companies paid in that
year tax OF S69S, 229. 20, and in 1890
S743. 015S7.
Then, to preserve the present system
whereby the people, iron this time for
ward, will be justly relieved from large
burdens of taxation, and to save the
state from all endless difficulty and To-
cal inequalities that would necessarily
arise from the direct taxation of rail
road property, the proposed amendment
should be defeated.
We think it the duty of every elector
to vote mo- and scratch from his ballot
the word yes" and if the bill contains
other provisions which ought to be
adopted, the next legislature can submit
those to the people for their ratification.