The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-04-05
JACOBSON BILL KILLED ~ A VOTE OF
80 10 81.

Minneapolis Journal:
The senate yesterday afternoon adopt
ed the judiciary committees report kill
ing the jacobson gross earnings tax bill,
by vote of "a to go Mr. Jacobson an
nounces that he will now give more at
tention to the house.
The defeat of this. measure, which was
drafted by State Auditor Dunn and advo-
Gated by Governor Lind, was foreshad-
owed in The Journal of yesterday; but
the very close vote was caused by the
skillful support of the bill which was
given by Senator Snyder.
After Senator Young had defended the
report of the judiciary committee on con-
stitutional grounds, Senator Synder at
tackled the report and spoke for the bill,
using the very same arguments and cit
ing the same cases and decisions that
Senator Young had used. He was con-
WINGED and succeeded in convincing many
senators that the railroads had long been
paving taxes on a contract made since
the territorial charters were granted in
asmuch as they had accepted amendments
to the original charter. This being true,
there could be no constitutional objec-
tons to the passage of H. F. rs, and as
for the expediency of doing so he, for
one, was willing to take his chances on
that proposition. Even if the railroads
did revert to the direct tax, he was sure
the state would at least get as much as
it was getting now, while the railroads
were certainly not paying their just pro-
portion of taxation now.
Senator Benedict put himself on record
as favoring the bill and wanting to turn
the committees report to the wall.
Senator MCGOWAN laughed at the idea
of the railroads reverting to the direct
tax and thus causing the state to lose
money. Ii they were going to do that
they would not be lobbying so strongly
and their agents appearing before the
house committees and talking against the
BILL Even if the bill became unsatisfac-
tory it could be repealed. But decision
to kill this bill meant that the state was
binding itself to abide by the per cent
gross earnings tax for all time.
Senator Greer said there was no call
for the bill in his or many districts Of the
state. Increased taxation would not only
retard railroad construction, but would
cause a raise in railroad rates.
Senator McGovern was opposed to the
popular decision clause of the bill since
the general public had little conception
of what it was voting on when it voted
for or against measure. The bill should
be so amended as to make it plain that
the railroads had an alternative OF direct
tax on their property.
During the speeches the leading men,
bers of the opposition got together in the
committee-rooms, and at $50 were ready
for a vote on the report of the judiciary
committee Upon the adoption OF the re
port and the killing OF the bill the vote
stood as follows:
Yeas-Barker, Brewer, Buchanan, Chill
ton, Dart, Daugherty, Greer, Hawkins,
Horton, Hospes, Ives, Jepson, Jones, E.
J., Jones, J. D., Lord, Macarthur, McCar-
thy, McNamee, Potter, Reeves, Roverud,
Ryder, Schaller, Schellbach, Sheehan,
Shell, Sivright, Smith, E. E., Smith, J.
H., Stockton, Young-31. .
Nays-Baldwin, Batz, Benedict, Col
Ter, Daily, Dickey, DuToit, Everett, Fitz-
patrick, Grindeland, Grue, Halvorson,
Johnson, Knatvold, Larson, McGill, Nc
Govern, MCGOWAN. Meilicke, Miller,
Myran, Nixon, Snyder, Somerville,
Stockwell, Sweningsen, Thompson, I'm
derleak, Viesselman, Wilson-3o.
Senators Gauzewitz and McKusick,
who were absent, would have given the
committee their votes.
Democratic senator's assert that Cover
nor Lind's statement OF the case was not
instrumental in making single vote for
the minority, although it might have
made some Republican votes for the bill.
1t will be noticed that Senators Dart,
Ives, McNamee and Schaller of the
(Democratic) minority voted with the
judiciary committee and against the bill
and Governor Lind. The committee itself
was badly divided, the following members
voting against the report and for the bill:
Baldwin, Daily, Collier, Benedict, Wilson,
Thomson, Somerville.
~
1t was a sad day for the governor, the
state auditor and Jacobson. The senate
closed the days work by indefinitely post
poning the bill, advocated by the COVER
nor, drafted by the auditor and introduced
and engineered through the house by
Jacobson, to increase from three to four
per cent the tax on gross earnings of rail-
roads. 1t was close vote, 81 to 80, in
favor of adopting the report of the judi
ciary committee for the indefinite post
ponement of the BILL
This result created sensation the like
of which has not before been witnessed
during this session. The friends of the
Jacobson bill in both houses looked upon