The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-10-27
The Governor Gets After the Globe
and Democratic COMMITTEE
S.. ..@ With Vigor: ..-~s..@ -...1
He Serves Notice That False State
ments Regarding His Taxes -
| Must Be Retracted. ...,-.
His Letter Shows the True Signifi.
canoe Underlying Personal At
tacks Made Upon Him.

Governor Van SAINT is on the aggres-
sive. The unwarranted and false attack
made on him by the opposition have
stirred his fighting blood. He reached st.
Paul this morning from a strenuous
weeks campaigning, and had to leave
again before. noon. He found time, how
lever, to dictate one letter.
That letter Is addressed to the st. Paul
Globe and to the democratic state commit
tee. The Globe has published news ar
ticles. editorials and cartoons, holding up
| the governor as g. tax dodger and claiming
that he paid no taxes on his steam
boats. A flaming poster issued by tho
democratic state committee has been
posted on the fences showing the farmer
bearing an increased tax burden, while
the governors steamboats, so tax free
A Straight Out Letter.
Governor Van SAINT demands Of both 4
complete retraction, and touches his de-
mand in unmistakable language. The let
ter is as follows: ...
ITO the Editor Of The St. Paul Globe,
H. L. Buck, Chairman Democratic State
Central Committee; Frank A. Day, Press
Agent Of the Democratic State Central
Committee, st. Paul, MINI.
"Gentlemen-Upon my return to the
city, attention was called to statement
published In the st. Paul Globe and widely
circulated by the democratic state central
committee in poster form, that was q
taxdodger and that our steamboats, did
not pay any taxes in Iowa. +
Il take the first opportunity to brand
| said statement absolutely false. .
Il do not personally own steamboat or
any part of steamboat, 80 do not pay
any taxes upon that class Of property in
this state. 1 do, however, own shares Of
stock In the Van SAINT & Musser Towing
and Transportation company Of Musca-
| tine, Iowa, and in no other steamboat
company. This company was organized
there before I moved to Minnesota, and
now pays. and ever since its Organization
over twenty-five years ago, has paid it's
taxes at. Muscatfne, Iowa. its home, as
can be easily shown by the. records Of
the courthouse In that city. The receipts
showing these payments are in my pos
session and are open to your inspection.
THE statement that,I claim to pay my
| taxes In Leclaire, Iowa, is false, and tho
| wide circulation of the assertion lin the
poster issued by your. committee and the
Leciaire's assessors return on said poster
is malicious and wi fuE tnnuendo to place
me in a false light before the people Of
the state You might with equal pro-
priety4 get the assessor Is return from
every hamlet on the Mississippi river > Ia
Iowa, that did not pay any taxes In said
hamlet. -.-,-E : { -, .-'..:3
II shall appeal to every fair-1ninded
democrat in the state to stamp with his
sible manner of campaigning. a.
Due to Railway Influence. .,.
"You know full well that the opposition
to me Of the st. Paul Globe and Of the
democratic state central committee does
not arise from the fact that I do or do
not pay my taxes, but because I have
done all in my power to prevent the mer-
ging OF the Great Northern and Northern
Pacific railway systems and Of the for
nation Of the Northern Securities COM
pany In violation of law.
"Why do you not discuss on their mer-
its the real issues in this campaign? Why
do you say nothing about the republican
administration of the grain inspection or
of the binding Irvine department, or Of
the state board Of CONTROL or of the tax
amendments offered to the people by the
republican party, instead of resorting to
wilful and malicious abuse of the candi-
dates? These accusations against me are
on a par with your attempt to discredit
me with the laboring classes in the al
legged interview published in your paper
in relation to the coal strike, and which
you were compelled to retract; and your
further misstatement that did not favor,
at the meeting OF the state board OF
equalization, increasing the assessment Of
public service corporations.
II regret being compelled to parade my
personal affairs in the newspapers Of this
state, but in view of the false accusation
of lodging taxes I will state that the rec
ords of the assessor and treasurer of WI
mona county show that was assessed and
paid personal property tax of $242.88 in
the current year last past. In your dilig-
ent search of the tax records of Winona
| county why did you overlook this i'm
portant fact if your purpose was not to
deceive the public? ".. &c
x therefore demand that you and each
| Of you hereby retract above mentioned
statements so published by you, for they:
are absolutely and outrageously false ;
Samuel r. Van SAM. -,