The Saint Paul globe., 1899-03-29
oath to support the. constitution to at
tack that document on the foor of the


tack that document on the fioor of the
senate.
Senator Young, referring to Gov. Iind,s
letter. declared than Ii hwas an enoroa oh .
ment on the legislative prerogatives when
the executive department of the sta+a
tried to dictate tor the legislative The
letter was not written. by John Lind as
governor, but by Johr' Lind, as LAWYER
1t tried to tell thsrsenate what. the la W.
was, but the judiciary department had
been constituted thesl LEGAL adviser Of the
legislature. The seRatescould get the la "
from the statutes and, the decisions Of
the supreme court The manifest purnose
of this letter was to influence votes.
AT this point recess was taken. Sem
ator Young yielding the floor: When the
senate creconvened "a call was had Sen
ator Young then resumed his discussion
of the constitutionality, of the bill, read
Ing from several decisions of the supreme
court, Including the Parcher case referred
to in the judiciary committee report. He
took issue with. Govs Lind in his inter-
probation of some of the decisions oi1ot-
ed by him in the Haiyorson letter He
emphasized the necessity of the consent
Of the railroads to any legislation over
turning the present system of taxation
The Illinois Central was. not a. fair basis
of comparison. as it's 7 per cent tax was
paid In return for a grant that was one
of the richest in the country.
Senator Snyder (Rep.), Hennepin, re-
gretted that he had not had the benefit
of the legal arguments before the Judi
ciary committee He did not believe that
the railroads were sharing, their proper
burden of taxation. The Just valuation
of property for taxation was Its yalua-
tion for sale, or income He did not think
the per cent gross earnings. tax was
an equitable tax on such valuation, as
INV
erty In the state. Senator Snyder con-
ceded that the state supreme court had
held that the charters Of the original
roads granted them perpetual Immunity
from taxation other than on the gross
earnings basis, but he believed that If the
issue was squarely presented to the Unit
ed States supreme court. that court, in
line with Its previous decisions must hold
that those old charters had lapsed. SEN
ator Snyder read a number Of decisions
involving contracts in support of his con-
tention that the bill could properly pass,
among them the Minneapolis transfer
case, where the street railway company
contended that its franchise created a
contract. He thought the law should
pass. - IA
Senator Benedict a(Rep.), Blue Earth,
thought the decisions quoted did not
touch the real heart Of the question. He
believed the old charters had been abro-
gated and that the state had the right
to increase the gross earnings tax at will.
He believed Gov Lind;<ha sent in his
letter in good faith, and he believed he
was right. = lsn
Senator McGowa1f 'tDem9, of Hennepin,
said he had not heards refuted the fig
ures presented by the author of the bill.
He thought the bill was entitled to bet
ter treatment by the committee. 1t had
passed the house by an almost unanimous
vote.
Senator Halvorsofi resented the insinu-
alton of Senator Young that the bill was
introduced for political capital He had
lived in the state thirty-two years and
had never been a Candidate for a poltt-
ical Office until last falls He moved that
the bill be placed on general orders.
Senator Greer (Rep), Wabasha, said
those who had advocated the bill ought
to have had plank inserted in the state
platforms. He cited number Of states
In favor of the gross earnings tax at
present existing in this state, and declar-
ed it fair SeIfshness said beat the cor
porations, but Justice said treat them
fairly. He thought the Wisconsin plan
averse to any experimenting until there
was greater demand for the increase of
the taxation on railroads.
Senator McGovern ;(Dem.), Waseca, OBJ
jected to the form of the ballot as mis-
leading, as 1t conveyed to the voter the
idea that the bill merely provided for
the increase of the sgroSs earnings tax,
without giving any information as to the
alternative proposition.
A call of the senate was had. and the
roll call resulted: