The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-08
RATES OF TAXATION
FIXED IN REGARD TO EXPRESS
COMPANIES, SLEEPING CARS.
TELEPHONE COMPANIES.
FAST FREIGHT EQUIPMENT.
FIVE PER CENT ON GROSS EARN
INGS OF EXPRESS AND TELE-
PHONE PEOPLE.
THREE PER CENT FOR sLEEPERs.
THREE PER CENT FOR sLEEPERs
The Last Named to Be Based Upon
Valuation of the
Property.

The special order of the house in
the afternoon was a sort of omnibus
taxation measure. under the form of
five bills, as follows:
H. F. 357 Oyer)-For the taxation of ex-
press companies.
H. f. 500 committee on taxes and tax laws
For the same purpose.
H. F. 81 (Anderson)-For the taxation of
sleeping cars, etc.
H. F. S76 OIeGrath)-For the taxation of tel
H. F. 933 Ferris)-For the taxation of
freight line and equipment companies.
These bills originated in and were
passed by the legislature two years
ago submitting the matter to the peo
Ple in the form Of a constitutional
amendment, which was adopted.
The two bills for the taxation of ex-
press companies, one by Mr.. Dyer and
the other prepared by Mr.. Smith, of
Iennepin, chairman Of the committee
on taxation, were taken up together
and in a manner explained by Mr..
Smith. He stated that both bills were
copies of Ohio statutes, both having
been carried to the supreme court of
the United States and both having
been sustained as constitutional The
Dyer bill was copied from what is
called an excise tax, which provided
for taxation of per cent upon the
gross earnings within the state of Ohio.
The Smith bill provided that the prop
eTty of express companies should be
assessed at the same rate as all other
property in the state is taxed, the value
of the property to be aScertained by the
state board of equalization. Mr.. Smith
showed that in Ohio both systems were
IL.
loren tax was sufficient and equitable
TO the express companies and to the
state.
Z After this explanation by the chair
man, Mr.. Dyer further elaborated his
bill, which, he said, was a copy of the
Ohio law except that instead Of 2 per
cent it fixed the tax at per cent of
the gross earnings.
Mr.. Scott also spoke in favor of the
Dyer bill and against the Smith bill,
because he thought the income to the
state would be much more certain in
its result. 1t was generally under
stood that the express companies paid
40 per cent of the gross earnings to
the railways. This would give the state
3 per cent on the so per cent remaining,
and it was reasonably certain what the
return would be.
Mr. Smith replied that the express
companies could readily change their
contracts with the railway companies
to 70 or 80 per cent of their gross re-
ceipts and that left the matter in an
entirely different position; for this rea-
son he urged the ad valorem tax as
the safest and best.
MIR. Meyers made an argument for
the Smith bill, and in support Of this
proposition he sent up to the desk to
be read the decision of Justice Brewer,
of the United States supreme court,
March Is, 1897, sustaining the constitu-
tionality Of the ad valOrem tax imposed
by the Ohio legislature. Mr. Donnel-
ly made the point that there was no
machinery in the tax system of Mime
sofa to assess such companies; that it
was outside the province of the state
board of equalization; this was not an
assessing board but an eQualizing
beard. Mr. Smith said the Ohio law
was carried out by the Ohio board, and
that in Minnesota the taxes of the tele-
phone and telegraph companies were
also assessed by the state board
Mr.. Douglas spoke for the Dyer bill.
saying that it had been estimated that
the 5 per cent gross earnings tax would
net the state from 3C,0O0 to $40, 900
I Mr.. Foss moved the third reading of
the Dyer bill. Mr. Meyers moved as a
substitute that H. F. 822, by Mr.. Smith,
be taken up. This motion was lost.
The Dyer bill was then passed by a
vote of SO to 0.
The Smith bill Oh. F. $500 was then
indefinitely postponed and the house
took up the taxation of sleeping cars.
as proposed by the Anderson bill, H
r S11.
This bill. as reported back by the
committee on taxation. had stricken
out a provision in the original bill
relating to the licensing of sleeping
dining and drawing room cars. This
was explained by Mr. Smith upon the
ground that there was some question
about 1t being a good legal proposition
10 combine a license tax and a gross
earnings feature. The proposition had
been to make each company pay
- license fee of $500 a year which was
1ost by striking out this feature.
The bill as reported, provides for a
tax Of 3 per cent upon the gross earn
dngs. Mr.. Jacobson moved to amend
by increasing the tax to 5 per cent
and the house resolved itself into a
class upon constitutional law for sew
efal minutes. The question arose
whether sleeping cars could be taxed
at rate different from other railroad
property, which the majority of the
house seemed to doubt Mr. Jacobson
wanted to have the question settled by
"a trial, If necessary, of the question
of whether the gross earnings tax can
not be changed. The jacobson amend
ment was voted down and the bill.
placing 3 per cent tax upon the gross
earnings of sleeping and similar cars,
WAS passed by vote of So to 0.
Ihe next taken up was the McGrath
bill. H. f. SIG, providing for a tax
of 8 per cent upon the gross earnings
pr telephone companies or owners. Mr..
baltimore moved to change the bill
SO as to make the tax per cent upon
the gross earnings Mr.. Basford said
that the telephone companies of the
Sfate were now paying tax of nearly
per cent. which was enough to tax
such new companies are are now strug-
CLING for a foothold against the big
companies in the cities Mr.. Dahl
Bald that per cent tax was none too