The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1902-01-31
Mr.. LAMBS VIEWS.

Mr.. LAMBS VIEWS.
Editor Free Press: The question is
often asked, ";What do you think of
the new tax law2i can not see any
great Improvement over the old.
There may be few things in the new
law that are improvements but that
could ali be done by amendments. The
st. Paul Pioneer Pre- IS and SINE other
papers find a good deal of fault with
the new law assessing property at its
full value. Our old law has that pro-
vision and could have been enforced if
the state auditor had done his duty.
We should have law that all mort
cages and contracts should be recorded
within certain number of days and
if not recorded they should be null and
void. We should make law COMPEL
ing the creditors to give full name
and address SO that they could be To-
Gated. We should have all offsets
alike. A money loaner should not have
any preference over merchant or any
other business. The greatest fault
has been that money and the creditor
have not been paying their proportion
of taxes, and for that reason the kick
has been made. We should have a
law compelling tie register of deeds to
report all creditors that come under
his observance to the county auditor
and the county auditor should be COM
PEELED to assess the same. We should
have law compelling every one to be
assessed under oath ara a penalty at
tached to every person who failed to
give full list of his property, and that
penalty should go to help pay tee tax
ferret, for professional tax ferret is
necessary to catch a professional tax
dodger. The state auditor S report for
1901 says that in 1897 the total asse S.
ment of personal property was S1O5,
612, TIC. In 1900 the assessment was
$3.50, AL, Gal, but a closer scrutiny of
the statement reveals some strange
facts. While the number assessed and
the total amount of personal property
has steadily increased, the amount of
money, item 81, and credits, item
%, have decreased. as the following
figures show: 1898, money So, $50, GIL ;
credits, $40, $50, III; 1899, money 3d.
1856, 623, credits SO, $40, $50; 1900 money
SO, 1913, $50, credits So, 105, 321.
These figures show I'm mistakably
that the owners of money and credits,
those who can best afford to pay taxes,
willfully perjure themselves and re-
fuse to bear fair share of the public
burden. This must be so, for it is a
matter of common knowledge that
Minnesota has shared abundantly in
the prosperity that has blessed the
country in recent years Where. then.
do we get the increase in the total as
sessment noted above? It comes from
the farmers and manufacturers be-
cause the personal property owned by
them cannot be hidden. Horses,
cattle, hogs, sheep, agricultural i'm
elements, manufactured articles and
raw materials and other items of tan
gible property show the major portion
of the increase. The farmer cannot
hide his horses, cattle and sheep, nor
the manufacturer his finished product
or the material from which it was
made. Therefore those men who give
stability to the nation and employ
ment to labor are paying more than
their proportionate share of taxes.
How long will the honest tax payer
submit to such gross injustice2 Have
they not right to demand of their
law makers that laws be enacted to
compel the tax dodger to do his duty
| We should keep the exemption at 800.
Cutting down exemption ia blow tc
the poor It would not effect the rich.
We should oppose three state commits
sioners. One is plenty, and If he did
not do his duty he would have no one
to lay it to. Our three railroad com
missioners are a fair example, an
who of the three are to blame2 thin
the county commissioners coming
from FIVE different parts of the county
are better board of review than the
one suggested by the new law. They
might all come from one precinct.
Minnesota has good tax law now
Ii has been tried and some good de
cisions have been handed down from
the courts ALI you want is to make
few amendments and enforce the law
and as the state auditor has failed WI
should recommend state commission
composed of one man and if he does
his duty you would see the cash ant
credits of the state paving their share
of the taxes Assess all property at it
full value. Poor old st. Paul would
not have 3, 500 children with no place
to go to school. The tax dodger Nigh
kick and the twin city merchants
might howl. If they did they could
come to Mankato and other parts o
the state and we will guarantee the,
can do business.