Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1901-02-21
TO RA1sD REVENUES.
The Special Committee ON Ways
and, Means submit Their Report
to the Senate.

[ no SVeSS1ak SOMlultVGS On WHyA
4 and Means submit Their Report
to the Senate. f
February s. 1901.
Your special committee appointed to de-
Use ways and means to augment the
port as follows:
! classification 1,-sinking Fund. The
oonded indebtedness OF this state
amounts to SS45,3OO, of this debt $153,O
5f the insane asylum bonds being ~
per cent interest, will mature May l, 1902
and $15O,OOO of the revenue bonds 10 de.
tray extraordinary expenses bearing AZ
i.U5 ~
Section 1872 of the state constitution al
lows for levying, u tax to pay the IN
tereSt on the publlc uebt seml-annually
and the principal within thirty. years.
1t Is the prevailing opinion based on
| the tact that THESE bonus We're ISSUED
and outstanding prior to statehood. that
TAX can be levied III one year sun1clent
to pay off the $153.UOO bonds maturing
May /, 1902, prOVlulng a proper law Is
enacted for that purpose.
Your committee recommends tnaC
law be enacted providing tor this levy,
and that the state board OF eduallzatlonl
the me levy at the IAN se
1901, and that these bonds be paid at
maturity after which new ones can be
issued Tor $l53.OOO and remain WITHIN the
uebt limit. the proceeds OF which can be
placed in the general fund to meet ex-
lraordinary expenses.
Thus classification 1, providing u prop
err law is enacted, and the levy made, will
prouuce $l5s.OOO within the present BIZ
The $15O,OOO bonds maturing April %.
| 1905, were Issued after the Adoption OF
our constitution ana provisions only can
be made for their payment on the thirty
years basis. under section 49, of the con-
stitution. requiring a tax levy sufficient
recommend that this levy be not made
In 1901 on account of the heavy tax, to
retire. in that year, year, the he's $l55,9o d bonds;
apply towards redeeming them at their
maturity, when new bonus for $S4,525 can
be issued and the proceeds put into the
April Is. 1905. will produce $237, 525.
classification Assessment. The
present assessed valuation of the state.
real and personal nr to t fae
the general fund at 3.S mills about $445,-
Suppose that in 1901 after the classit1ca;;
personal property OF the state the as; as
sessed valuation amounts to $40, 10Y, GOO,
then. add to this ~ per cent Of +, ITSELF SM
Soo MAKING Mia total of Which
will only increase the state tax, the
counties, cities, towns and schools levy
Ing a specific amount in dollars. Except
ing 2-mill levy for county school tax.
At 3.8 nils on the dollar, state tax, on
S132, 100000 will produce annually $501,;;
600; we receive on the present assessed
70 yai per cent increase s5sc66; and for the
biennial period, $11320O.
Your committee recommend that this
INCREASE as,s b be IN, made: p,n,,o lands We
of the commissioner of university and
school lands in his report for the period
Sale. of Lands-By reference to III the ne
of university and school lands, You VIII
made by the Commissioner, is one. to the
held in It'll the fall of 1898; and also that
The pre ech sa the ss aI
ter was brought to the attention Of the
board of university and school lands In
June, 1890, and the commi s sr,T urged ea
board took the matter under cons1dera.
ton and after full discussion decided
that it would not be best ito, FOR the ToMr
est Of the state to noid suca SAFE ,h , no1r
ter up with the board this year, with
the result that such board mas issued m
structons to procure list OF the sale ape
Griggs and Sargent counties, with a view
of holding a sale in as many OF these
disposal will permit.
I'VE believe that the trainers Of the
school laws of this state intended that
whenever any school or institution ,t ;1s
price and sold, that it became the duty
of the board to offer such lands Tor
sale. Especially is this true, of the lands
situations that are leased for hay and
pasturage purposes For instance, dur
ing the past three years about an aver
age price per acre for such lands as rem
FOL hoS exceed three
there is the cost Of advertising lands for
lease. which is conslderab ,I ~ item, az
al fund of the state, it. not being deduc7,
ted from rentals received from school
lands. Were such tracts Of land and TO pc pc
minimum price, which is ten dollars per
acre, or sixteen hundred dollars per quar-
ter section, upon the sale OF a quarter
section there would pc pahla ed ane9 an, ,ng
twenty dollars for the permanent lunu,
and this amount invested in bonds at
four per cent would bring in a revenue
Of twelve dollars; and eighty cents It's per er
year; the four deferred payments for i've
years would bear six per cent interest," res
and yield a revenue of seventy.elght , COL
a a. total rev 7S derived from interest
for the first five years on the sale Of a
quarter section at the minimum price
Of ninety-one dollars and sixty *, ,s cents,
the land only five dollars and sixty cents
for the same period. AT the end of
twenty years the total amount OF Prln-
cipal, sixteen hundred dollars, would be
paid in, and this invested In bonds ut
four per cent would yield revenue OF
sixty-four dollars per year.
.'There is still q further reason why
institution lands should be sold as soon
as they can be sold under the law, and
that is this: In the counties OF Wells.
Foster, Benson, Ramsey Towner and
Cavalier, there have been selected by
this department in former years thous-
ands of acres of land in each of these
counties in satisfaction of the grant to
the state for educational and charitable
purposes and of the six hundred and
sixty-eight thousand and eighty acres
granted to the state for the foregoing,
the majority Of the land has been sell
ected in the counties before mentioned
The result is that in a great many town.
ships the state has title to one-half OF
the land in the township. This retards
the settlement Of the county to a certain
extent and throws the entire burden of
taxation for an entire township upon the
settlers Of one-half of the township. AS
soon as the state lands, are sold they are
subject to taxation and we believe that
it is only simple justice to these coun-
ties to sell all the lands that the state
can whenever it is assured that the min
mum price will be bid.
In connection with sales of lands we
would say that the department for the
past two years has been flooded with in