St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-24
PATERNALEsM RAMPANT.

AS might have been anticipated
from the overwhelming majority OF
the dominant party in the legis-
lature, it is taken as being a ratifica-
ton by the people of the paternal-
istic tendencies of that party, and
it's effect is already seen in the nat
ure of a large number of the bills
introduced in either house. Among
these may be mentioned the bill OF
Senator Stebbins, whose sole pur-
pose, however disguised, is to
place an obstacle in the way of in
terstate trade, and another is the
bill of Senator Barr, proposing to
create still another sinecure in the
office of a state fire marshal, whose
business it shall be to relieve indi-
viduals and prosecuting officers, and
especially insurance companies, of
the labor Of looking into the causes
of fires.
Probably the worst of the lot is
the one introduced by Representa-
tive Johns, which authorizes the ap-
pointment of a commission to in
vestigate into the methods of smelt-
ing ore and producing iron and steel,
and, if the commissioners find that
it is feasible and practicable to
smelt the ore and manufacture it
into iron and steel in this state,
then 100000 is to be appropriated
out of the treasury to be used in the
erection OF a large plant for the
smelling of iron ore and the making
Of the same into pig iron and steel
in this state at a place to be selected
by the governor and by the commits
sion.
At first glance this would appear
to commit the state to the business
of smelling ore, but another section
provides that the money shall be
used by the governor Gin assisting
and encouraging" the establishment
of a suitable plant Here again we
have the paternalistic idea in all it's
viciousness. The smelling of ore is
no new industry, nor are it's proc
eSSes strange. 1t is one Of the earli-
est and best known of all the voca-
y
where men have been watching for
opportunities to engage in it. There
is no secret why the ore of the iron
mines in the Mesaba and Iron
Range districts is not converted into
steel and iron here. The question is
so fortunately endowed as is Ala
bama or Pennsylvania, with large
deposits of coal private capital
would have gone simultaneously
with the development of iron mines
into the smelling Of ore.
1t is not yet an established fact
that among the hidden resources Of
that rugged and mountainous region
of the North there are not large de-
posts of coal, and the dicta of the
biologists that there are none are
worth no more than their former
dicta that there was no iron or gold
in the same region. But fortunately,
however, Mr.. Johns bill SnagS on
constitutional provisions. The de-
cision of the supreme court of this
state in the state elevator case will
prevent the investment of taxes in
state plant, if that were intended,
while the decision in the Topeka
case will prevent the use of money
derived by taxation to encourage or
assist in this private enterprise Of
smelling.
We apprehend, however, that this
bill is only an entering wedge to
open the way for the passage of the
bill by the same author that follows
it, which proposes to remit the state
royalty on all ore smelted within the
limits of this state. Not only does it
provide this, but it proposes to re-
lease them from all taxation what
ever by the state. This is the first
result of that movement of the mine
owners of the North of which dur
ing the last few months so many ru-
mors have been heard. Both of
these measures are only fit to be
pigeonholed in the committee to
which they may be referred, but
should their progress through that
committee be made easy, they
should be ruthlessly slaughtered in
the committee of the whole.