The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-09-30

SC. Louis county Is Mills, ana II YOU
make a raise of s., 900, 900 it doesn' t
amount to more than 100000. The
rest will go to st. Louis county The
small property holders in that county
and of DulE<h should be glad of this
proposed increase Of assessment. 1t
was suggested that it should be in
creased to s8,OOOOOO. but we only ask
for Sc, 126,0O0."
Mr.. Cooley said it was a formidable
resolution TO spread before so august
body as the board, and it contained
many irregularities.
This list OF assessments, he said.
IF it passes, will be one of the rankest
inJustices ever done by board ofequal-
ization. The Mahoning mine, for in
stance, is a surface mine worked by
steam shovel. 1t is proposed to raise it
only 5eper cent, while others that are
more difficult and expensive to
operate are raised Is per cent. The
proportion is not within a thousand
miles of being right. There are mines
here that would be paralyZed by the
assessments proposed. l don't want
this resolution passed. 1 want the as
sessments to stand as they are now"
Joseph B. Cotton, counsel for the
Lake Superior Consolidated Iron mines,
said he respectfully protested against
the passage of the resolution.
There is an impression" he said
that the iron mines of this state do
not pay taxes. That is wrong. The
NermiliOn range began shipment but a
few years ago. Prior to 1896 the mines
were taxed per ton of ore produced
which was clearly unconstitutional
Then 1t was proposed to value them as
other real property, and they were so
ass esSed. For the entire lifetime of the
Mesaba range it has paid taxes on the
real estate basis. Only. three took ad-
n no 10 Ia
In 1896 the mine owners did not pro-
test against the new tax, but submit
ted to II. The 1-cent tax was intended
10 foster the mining industry and to
encourage, foreign capital to build the
iron range railroad. 1t served it's pur-
pose and the state has been the gamer
Perhaps those enterprises should now
pay the same rate of taxes as others.
They have been doing so since 1896 The
lands were placed on the tax books Of
st. Louis county. After the local board
had valued the mines as real estate
and their property as personal prop
erty, the whole question was taken up
in open session in Duluth and the
court commissioner told the different
interests to get together and agree
upon the relative values of properties.
There were several different interests
represented. They succeeded in agree
ing upon the relative values of the
different mines. No one can tell better
than the operators the value of the
mines. They went to the board and
presented a list, and the board then
determined the values of taxation by
adding 80 per cent to all the mines
generally. The result was the aggre-
gate valuation of the producing mines,
$500, 0O0, and the unproducing, $500, coo.
The result was that for 1896 all the min
ing interests aggregated $15O,O00,
The gain over 1895 was 100000.
That is due to the fact that the
mining industry was opened up The
MeSaba range was not opened up until
1893.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY MINES.
1--WE find the value of the st. Louis
county mining lands is 81, zoo, 900, which
is more than the auditor has on his
books. The total assessed value Of these
interests is $5,021,0 SO the mining
Industries of st. Louis county will pay
$l20,0OO this year
Il claim that there is no excuse why
this board should raise any mine. Take
the Mckinley mine. 1t never has ship
ped ton Of ore and cannot be mined
today, yet this board is asked to raise
the valuation 800 per cent, or to $780,
600. We own four-fifths of the mine
and [ know what it is worth It only
has test pits to show the quality of the
ore. Fifty thousand dollars is a.
fair comparative value Of the
Mckinley mine. The men who
went before the local board of review
knew more about the matter than any
one else. If you cannot be satisfied Of
that, then shove up all Of them
certain percentage. You don't know
anything about the ores. Some are not
marketable. Some are -Bessemer
ores and cannot be worked The VAL
uation this year is $4,000, 900. The total
Shipments OF ores last year was $780,
COO tones. The ore in the ground is not
worth a cent ton, but you can buy
the best BeSsener ore for 10 cents in
the ground. Many Of these mines are
owned by Minnesota men and are leas-
ed by the companies who have to pay
royalty of % cents a ton. The average
value of iron ore on the Mesaba range.
Is Az to ~ cents ton, when it is in
lilies ready for shipment. So the value
Of the ore for taxation purposes is only
about 81 cents. These mines are now
paying and 219 cents a ton on the
ore shipped away.
There are three iron ore roads there
Two pay per cent of gross earnings
to the state and one only per cent to
the state. These roads pay from to
212 cents ton. Every ton Of ore
shipped from Minnesota contributes
from four to five cents a ton.
MIR. DUNN'S RETORT.
Mr.. Dunn said that Mr. Cotton ul,-
derstood his business.
is ST. Louis county sacred?" he ask
ed. Must it be left alone? Deal with
1t as with others. If you raise other
interests 80 per cent, then raise the
mining interests 80 per cent. The mine
owners nave no more rights than the
farmers and the 1umbermen I have
no doubt that many interests in the
state escape their just taxation. How
much does ton of wheat pay? 1t pays
more than ten tons of ore The rail-
roads pay per cent of their gross
earnings to the state.
Its hard to get an expert mine ex-
amlner. L don't know anything about
them and 1 don't think there is any one
on this board who does. The man who
made this estimate has had years or
experience in making mining reports 1
don't want the mine owners eXOrbitant-
ly taxed. When they were held I'D in the
legislature two years ago 1 fought for
them and would do it again"
Dwight e. Woodbridge, of the Iron
Age. who made the assessment list.
was questioned about the manner IN
which he arrived at the valuation Of
mines. He said he received informa-
ton about the Mckinley mine from
men who sold It,
Mr.. Cotton said the money invested
in the mine was double what it was
worth.
What do you think would be the
true value Of the Mckinley mine ?" Mr..
Woodbridge was asked.
About $780, 00, said Mr.. Wood
bridge.
''YOu have to estimate the ouantiry