The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1899-02-17
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The present legislature has developed |
some very worthy and timely mea-
sures, and for these it is to be COM
mended Its effort to more euuitably |
distribute the burdens of taxation in |
the way of bringing onto the tax rolls |
certain corporations that have hither-
to escaped the assessor and to increase
the gross earnings tax of railroads |
from to per cent are measures which |
will receive the endorsement of the pub
lie and result in greatly popularizing
the members who championed them
But as is nearly always the case, bad
or inexcusable legislation gets mixed
up with good and wholesome acts, and
under the guise of great general
good too often finds place on our
statute books.
A feature of proposed legislation
that fails utterly to appeal to the sup
port of the Free Press and as we be-
lieve is nothing short of special legisla-
ton and hence contrary to the state
constitution, is that granting bounty
of 90 cents ton On iron smelted with
in the state. The smelling of iron is
purely and emphatically a private en-
terprise. If an industry of this kind
will pay in Minnesota it will be able
to survive without drawing fifty or
seventy-five thousand dollars annually
out of the state treasury. If we under
stand the system of taxation Alright, it is
for the purpose of raising revenues suf
ficient for conducting affairs of govern
ment, and is not intended for, and
should not be diverted to, the building
up of private industries to fatten the
pockets of individuals, Our people are
already FESTIVE under the burden impos-
ed by taxation for absolute necessities to
maintain state expenditures, and the
legislature should take care of its own
wards before attempting to railroad
a bill through that will pour
a fortune every year into
the pockets of few individuals at the
head of the lakes at the expense of the
tax payers.
1t is contended by the advocates of
this measure that it will be a great
thing for the state" that it will give
added employment to labor" etc No
doubt this is true. The milling in
terests of this state are a great thing
for the commonwealth and give EN-
lployment to thousands of laboring men.
But these interests never had the gall
to ask for bounty on their output.
They are located in the wheat belt of
the greatest wheat producing section
in the world, and those who are con-
Quoting the mills are doing so on their
own capital. Duluth is located at the
head of lake navigation and at poin
where.all the great iron interests of the
northwest find an outlet to market. 1t
has been claimed, and the claim is no
doubt wells founded that iron can be
smelted there and the finished product
put onto the markets of the great west
at much less cost than is required in
the transportation Of the ore from the
docks ( in G Duluth to the east
and the return of the same
in its finished state. This
being true there is no good reason why
capital cannot be induced to invest in
smelling works and roller mills at Du-
luth without subsidy. And the time
is not far distant when it will do so.
In any event the Minnesota legisla-
ture has no moral, and we do not believe
has any legal, right to take money be-
longing to the people and apply it to the
benefit of any private corporation. There
are crying needss now confronting the
financial committees of both branches
of the legislature that demand
attention, from interests that are
wholly dependent upon the state