The true northerner., 1901-01-04
To the Honorable, the Senate and

TO the Honorable, the Senate and
House of Representatives:
Michigan enters upon the long high
way OF the twentieth century in the
van of the procession of the states of
this great republic. Yours, gentlemen
OF the Forty-first legislature. is the dis
tinction of being the first legislative
assembly of this century. trust your
record viii commend you each and all
to the good graces of the people whom
you serve and in whose behalf you leg
islate. 1t is my privilege, as governor,
to address you on this occasion, and
as we read the glorious history of this
peninsular state we know there has
been put upon us burden of response
bility by reason of the position to
which we have been elected. believe
we shall aeqult ourselves as men; that
we shall bear in mind at all times that
every officer and emplOye of the state
is public servant.
The problems of state management
presenting themselves TO the Forty
first legislature being chiefly non-po-
litical, require in their solution the
same kind of common sense used in
the ordinary dispatch of business.
Michigan is prosperous, its people well
employed, and the great strides taken
Sn development point to a future of di-
versified industries. In the way of leg
islation nothing should be done tend
ing in the least to impede the progress
or to hinder the welfare of the state.
Reason and not prejudice should be
the guide.
Standing upon its record of progress
and prosperity, Michigan. at the be-
ginning of the twentieth century, faces
the most splendid decade in its history.
The state expects at your hands an
honest and decisive settlement of the
taxation question, 50 that the people,
assured justice has triumphed, may
devote themselves in security to the
pursuits of business and the earning
of a livelihood.
Reform i'm Tax Laws.
I ask the legislature to give its care
full attention to the tax laws, 80 that
every dollars worth OF property shall
bear its fair and equal proportion of
the public burdens. If there are
wrongs in taxation, they should be COR
rected. As Republican governor,
urge that the party pledges he carried
out, TO the end that all property may
be taxed equally, believing that under
perfected state supervision Of taxa
tiOn there will come an end to the in
equalities that have prevailed. There
is no better way to secure the inter-
ests of the people than by legislation
which does equal and exact justice to
all
Believing that the people desire that
all property now paying specific taxes
shall be assessed in like manner with
other property, recOmend that the
legislature provide the necessary ma
chinery for the assessment and collec-
ton of taxes on this property upon an
al yalorcm basis There should be no
hasty consideration of this important
question, however. for the interest of
hundreds Of millions of property is no
slight one. 1t is not necessary to re-
hearse the steps that have been taken
in legislation Of this kind for the duty
devolving upon us is plain. and we
should discharge it and properly ac-
quit ourselves Of our obligations
At the hands of the Fortieth legis-
lature certain railroad charters were
repealed, and l recommend that this
satisfy itself before ad-
journment that no further legislation
is needed to make absolutely sure that
these special charters have disap-
peared from Michigan.
One of the most important problems
i'm the admistration Of the state gov
ernment is the increasing cost Of the
state institutions and the growing de- /
mand for the multiplying Of these
great public works. There are two
horns to the dilemma, either greater
appropriations or the paternal and
work OF the state must
come to a partial halt. Under the sys-
tenn Of taxation in vogue, only real es-
tate and personal property are as
sessed to meet the expenses of the
state The proceeds Of taxation from
what are now known as specific tax
are distributed through the
primary school fund and applied for
school purposes The use of primary
school interest money is prohibited for
other purposes than the payment Of
teachers wages. Information collect
ed by the retiring auditor general
shows that in many districts the one
mill tax added TO the primary school
money dlsbursed was in excess of the
amount paid for teachers wages all
the way from % to 80 per cent. Should
there be increased taxatiOn of all the