The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-26
TAX AND TAX LAWS COMMITTEE
IGNORES THE PROTEST. OF SIT.
LOUIS
IN THE TAXATION OF ORE.
A TON Is A LITTLE
STEEP.
And With That Change the Fight
VIII BE Transferred to the
House Itself.

The house committee on taxes and
tax laws gave an hour or more late
yesterday afternoon to the considera-
ton Of the bill sent in by
Representative Reeves a day or
two ago providing for a tonnage
tax Of eight cents on iron ore mined in
this state. The bill is intended as a
substitute for the original Reeves bill,
making the tax on assessed valuation,
and which was so altered when in the
committee as to have been practically
committee bill.
The bill met with considerable oppo-
sitiOn from the members Of the st.
Louis delegation, but was favorably
recommended, it being understood that
Mr.. Reeves will, when the measure
comes up in the house, agree to a re-
duction Of from eight to six cents as
the tax. P. C. Schmidt, who is not
member of the committee made COM
prehensive talk against the bill as it
stood, taking the ground that the rate
was exorbitant and would have the
effect of closing the mines or impOs-
ing an unjust and additional tax on
big corporations he assumed the bill
was designed to tax more than at
present. He believed in tonnage tax,
but not such big one. The independ-
ent mine owners were a myth, and if
any legislation could be made to reach
and affect only the big fellows who
owned the mines, railroads and steam
ers, and leave out the little fellows,
he would stand by it.
The people of his county were not
seeking to avoid any just and fair por-
ton Of the taxes Of the state, but he
made 1t quite clear that when it came
to a matter of taxation they resented
vigorously the plan to take away from
the local county board the right to as
sess the value Of the mining proper
ties, and give the matter to the state
board Of equalization. Her people, he
said, had done nothing which would
show them incapable of adjusting these
matters fairly and honorably; in fact,
on one occasion the state board had
found it necessary to lower the as
sessed value in several instances. The
ST. Louis county people insisted that
they should be allowed to do this and
that the right to appeal to the state
UOdIO was CNS1 plC SC41I liz AAAe~~AO q
strong plea for what he regarded only
as the rights Of the people in what
they considered discrimination.
Mr.. Reeves replied to Mr.. Schmidt In
substance that a tonnage tax on ore
amounted to simply one tax, whereas
the tax as levied according to the plan
which obtained in the case Of other
kinds of property was made annually.
He did not believe that the tonnage. tax
of 21h cents or even cents was nigh
enough. Eight cents might be triha
high, although he agreed with Mr..
Scott that a cent or two per ton did
not make much difference to the big
mine operators. AS to the right to local
management of the assessment Mr..
Reeves said that, while in no sense re
hecting upon the st. Louis county
| commissioners, not even upon the rep
resentatives, he knew that officials
working so close to monster corpora
tons were more or less subject to hyp-
notism and that, when in this cOndi-
ton, all actions might not be quite
regular.
In reply to this Mr.. Schmidt pointed
that even for the sake Of argument
allowing this was so, was there not
always the appeal to the state board
in case matters were not properly han
died? In reply to Mr.. Jacobson's init
nation that Mr.. Schmidt's predecc;-
sors from the head of the lakes coun-
try had persistently fought all efforts
to make that section stand it's share
of the taxes, Mr.. Schmidt asked mildly
if the three members in the house
and one in the senate could not have
been voted down, if they had opposed
that which was right.
Mr.. Laybourn, who had presented
resolutions from the Duluth chamber
Of commerce, explained that his people
wanted a tax on assessed valuation,
and also wanted badly to be allowed
to manage their own affairs as at pres
ent, and under the same rules which
govern the milling and the lumber and
the jobbing interests of other counties
and cities.
According to the present Reeves bill,
providing for a tonnage tax, it is also
provided that unoperated mines be
taxed as other real property, and an
amendment was inserted in the bill
providing that no fake" mining for
the purpose Of escaping either or both
taxes would be considered as exempt
ing the property therefrom. After a
number Of queries from the members
of the committee, Mr.. Vail, Of the Du-
luth delegation, rose, and, while he ia
vCred tonnage tax and thought the
one named in the bill excessive, he
said that, whether the tax was S cents
or II cents a ton, the people where he
lived insisted upon being allowed to
make their own county valuations I'M
der the usual surveillance of the state
board, to which appeal could always
be taken.
Before the vote was taken on the
motion to favorably report the BILL it
was stated by several of the members
that the tax was perhaps trifie steep
The motion was carried, however, after
which Mr.. Jacobson said he had de-
sired to amend by reducing the rate
from to cents. Mr.. Reeves agreed
to make this change when the bill came