St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-13

aIOf Alien, palQ a nlSn tr1Dute 10 the
clear, concise and mathematical |
statement of the case made by the |
senator from Carlton, and plunged |
at once into an argument on the |
legal aspect of the case. He admit |
ted unqualifiedly the injustice to the |
counties wherein the unused and un-
taxed lands We're located, but held
it to be an unqualified and incon-
trovertible fact that the gross earn
ings tax was in lieu of all other
taxes, and that any interference with
this plan would entirely abrogate
and nullify the present arrange
ment. The supreme court of Wis
conSln, years ago, and before the
development of railroads, and when
there was no precedent upon which
to base such a ruling, had held that
the Wisconsin plan of taxation was
constitutional, but were the ques-
ton raised in Wisconsin now a late
supreme court had declared that it
was in conflict with the constitu-
ton. He read the opinion of Judge
Mitchell in the Luther case, which
was quoted by Senator Culkin in
the argument the previous day, to
show that the present arrangement
was not a contract, and proved con-
clusively by the same authority that
the agreement was a contract, ex-
plicit, definite and .inviolable.
Referring to the political aspect of
the matter, he declared that the mat
ter had never properly been submit
ted to the Republican party and if the
proposition set up in this bill had been
| submitted it would not have been
| adopted. He quoted Senator Young
as friend of the bill in support of the
theory that it would abolish the gross
earnings tax. The adoption of direct
system of taxation would, he declared
place hundreds of thousands of dollars
| into the treasury of Ramsey county
! the district represented by himself
| but this was a matter affecting the
| whole state. The present bill was not
| properly drawn. II went only half
| way; it meant neither direct taxation
nor taxation based on gross earnings
| While 1t was true that the farmers
were suffering from depressed condf-
| tions, their loss was slight compared
| to what had been suffered by railroad
companies and railroad employees DUR
| ing the Stagnation of business of the
! past two or three years. A safe prov
| erb was Let well enough alone" and
| II the present system were disturbed
| 1t was problematical whether plan
| could be adopted which would result
| in the same amount of net income
| The process of changing the method
of taxation would be tedious and diff
cult, and long time would elapse be-
| fore any revenue could be collected
| under the new plan, If adoped. The
| state might ultimately find some plan
1 to tax the railroads so that they would
| pay tax equivalent to that paid by
the farmer. but 1t would only be after
| years of litigation, during which all
| the state institutions would suffer the
loss of their revenues. The only way
to recoup the localities which suffer
by the non-payment of taxes on rail-
road lands was to pay back into those
counties directly proportionate share
of the gross earnings tax
The senate here took a recess to 2:30
an hour and half having been con-
sumed in the discussion
KNATVOLD TALKS TURKEY.
After the disposition of some routine
business the discussion upon the taxa
ton bill was resumed at the afternoon
session by Senator Knatveld, who de-
clared that, while he could not hope
to meet successfully the arguments of
the skilled attorneys who were COM
batting the bill, he yet held that COM
mon sense might be permitted to apply
to this as to other matters in the af-
fairs of state He noted the fact that
|
of the bill today were as earnest in
their advocacy of it two years ago,
and he asked these gentlemen if the
constitution had changed since then.
He held that the present system was a
discrimination against the roads not
owning lands, inasmuch as the latter
without owning a foot of land, paid
exactly the same assessment of taxes
as the road which owned millions of
acres. He quoted the opinion of the
attorney general in support Of the
opinion that the proposed law would
not in any way affect the operation OF
the gross earnings law, and cited sta
| tistics and figures to show that the
railroads paid less taxes than any 9TH
er business class. The banks of the
state, with a capital of $62. .000,000, paid
more taxes than the railroads, with a
capitalization of $600,O00000
The proposition which the enemies OF
, the bill were making to substitute a
plan to divert a part of the gross
earnings tax to certain localities was
, the unconstitutional measure. The
secondary bill, he declared, was intro
, duced merely as pretext for defeat,
ing the original measure, and he urged
l every senator to ignore the half-loa1
I and cling to the original bill.
S Senator Spencer followed Senator
: Knatvold, and repeated much that ha(
q been said by the attorneys represent
ing the opposition, adding that politica
oblivion could not come too soon if /
were to envelop him as compensation
), for the performance of a sacred duty
I A very large percentage of the railroad
: lands in st. Louis county, he said
S would not be worth the payment of /;
@ years taxes, and it would be a fiagran
injustice to place such lands on tn
tax roll. He admitted, as had the sen
ators from Ramsey and Hennepin
> that the direct tax would add to tn
I tax receipts of the counties in whicl
: the large cities were located, but !
I would be too hard on the poor countie
j., in which there was no great amour
X of railroad property.
!. Senator Keller argued that the raj
:. roads were paying taxes enough, an
- to be bothering them with lot of me-
schemes for collecting more taxes wa
l. impractical and unjust. 1t was onl
e the Populists who favored such hun
l. bugging schemes, and Republicans an