The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-02-17

Opponents of the tax bill have won the
preliminary round. Tomorrow morning
will come the battle royal. It will be on
the. floor of the house, when Chairman
Wallace of the committee on taxes and
tax laws will move that the constitutional
amendments be recalled from the judi
ciary and referred to his own committee.
Mr. Wallace will not make this motion
because he wants to. He will make it I'M
der instructions from his committee, and
when it comes to vote on the motion
he will vote no
These instructions were adopted by the
committee this morning after stormy
session of over an hour. The vote was
8 to Z.
The majority, consisting of Messrs.
,Barteau, Ferris, Laybourn, Hymes, Kelly,
Washburn, Hurd, Berg and Rich, take the
position that the whole question must be
considered together and that the commit
| tee should not attempt to frame a tax
bill until it has agreed upon constitutional
amendments to be submitted next fall.
| The effect of this would be to defer the
| tax code until next winter, waiting until
the constitutional amendments are voted
on This is the position taken all along
by opponents Of the bill.
The minority Of the committee. consist
| ing of Messrs. Wallace, Torson, Larson,
Jacobson, Burns, Ward and Schwarg, want
! to frame tax bill at this session to go
| into Immediate effect. j. A. Peterson
agrees with them, but was absent from
the meeting this morning. His vote would
not have changed the result.
| These eight contend that the tax bill
| was given to the committee to frame and
that it has at the resent time no other
duty.
| Test in the House Tomorrow.
| The battle on this motion tomorrow
will be of momentous interest. The vote
will indicate how the house stands on this
main question:: Shall there be a tax bill
passed at this session or not?
"To morrow morning will settle it,
said Chairman Wallace to-day, after the
meeting. eve VIII know then whether
we are to have tax bill or not
It is freely predicted that the results of
the committees action will be that the
| house will recall the bill and consider it
on the floor, without further reference
to the committee. Mr.. Larsen, one Of
the minority members of the committee,
says 81 was in favor of amending the
bill in the committee and getting it into
shape there if possible. The vote this
morning showed that the majority Of the
committee is aginst the bill and it is no
use to leave it in their hands any longer"
Mr.. Whitford of Hastings, one of the
house members who stood up for the
committee the other day, said after the
meeting this morning: "The only thing to
do is to recall the bill and do what we
can with it on the floor. stood up for
the committee the other day because
believed that it intended to frame bill.
The position 1t has taken is not tenable
at all, and think the house will recall
the bill:''
Mr.. jacobson embraced the opportunity
in the committee this morning to trim
Messrs. Laybourn, Kelly, ct al, in his
| most characteristic fashion,. Their ire
Twas considerably aroused and when later
on Mr.. Burns endeavored to pin Mr.. Kelly
to definite declaration of his intentions,
that gentleman event up in the air. and
declared that he was tired Of the. ever
lasting practice of certain members who
perpetually impugned the motives OF those
who disagreed with them. Mr.. Burns
disclaimed any such intention.
The Preliminary Sparring.
The meeting was scheduled for 10
/ o'clock this morning, but several members
wanted totattend the house session where
| the Bobleter bill was being fought over.
This delayed the committee meeting till
11:15. 1t was held in one OF the small
rooms upstairs, hardly large enough to
hold the members in their excited state
of feeling.
For some minutes the opposing factions
I spared for wind. Messrs. jacobson and
Laybourn sat side by side passive as
lambs. They even voted together on the
j first proposition.
I Mr.. Larsen move dthat an invitation be
extended to the senate committee to hold
/ joint sessions. Others protested that one
invitation had already been extended and
refused. Messrs. Jacobson and Wash
burn contended that the house had not
contemplated such action, that the COM.
mittee must report as house commit
tee and ought not to tie itself up with
/ the senate. The motion was carried, but
when it was explained that its effect
would be to constitute a joint committee,
and the house committee would lose its
!! identity, Mr.. Larsen secured reconsid-
erati and withdrew his motion. Mean
while Mr.. Berg had moved the appoint
ment of subcommittee to wait on the
lsenate members and invite them. This
/ point decided, the committee started in to