The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-27
WHY TAXED IN IOWA ONLY?

At length admitting that Gov. Van
SAINT pays no taxes on his steamboats,
in the state of Minnesota, the Repub-
lican state central committee comes
cut with the statement that the gov
ernor pays his steamboat taxes at
Muscatine, Iowa, 100 miles down
stream from st. Paul, and 800 below
Winona, the governors home and place
OF business.
The theory heretofore has been that
the governors steamboat taxes were
paid at LIE Claire, Iowa; but when the
assessor down there came out with
written negative Of that theory, that
of course was abandoned, and now the
committee has fixed upon Muscatine.
The Clio b is as willing and ready
to accept Muscatine, as it was LIE
Claire, as the place where the governor
pays his steamboat taxes. That LIE
Claire has been accepted as the place
of that payment is shown by the fol-
lowing written statement given out by
the city assessor of the governors own
city:
In answer to your inquiry of recent
date concerning the assessment of
steamboats,, ETC., against Samuel r.
Var SAINT, I would say: That two
years ago, that is, in 1900, when I ask
ed Mr.. Van SAINT to make return of his
boats for taxation purposes, he in
formed me that his boats were all
taxed in LIE Claire, Iowa. This year I
did not see him personally, but sent
him three separate blank returns for
him to fill out, but all the word we got
from him was from his son, who sent
word to assess him the same as last
time. He is not assessed anything in
Winona city or county for steamboats,
or tugs. Yours truly,
e. w. Rebstock,
"City Assessor Of the City of Winona."
There may seem to be a question of
veracity between the city assessor Of
Winona and the Republican state CEN
trai committee as regards the locus of
the governors Iowa steamboat assess
ment. AS between the two eminent au-
thorities, T. Globe will not at
tempt to decide, for they are all honor
able men. Possibly both sides have
tole strictly the truth; simply getting
different versions.
But the main question is, not wheth-
er the governor of Minnesota pays his
steamboat taxes in LIE Claire or in
Muscatine, or fails to pay in either of
those Iowa towns; but why he does not
pay part of his steamboat taxes, at
least, in Mime Sota.
If Minnesota is a good enough place
for the captain of the fleet to reside in
and establish his place of business,
why is it not a good enough state in
which to pay at least part of his
steamboat taxes?
Capt. Van SAINTS boats do business
on the Mississippi at practically every
point between the Iowa boundary and
Saltwater and St. Paul. Certainly as
large a portion of his business origi-
mates in Minnesota, as in the case of
ahe Chicago railroads doing business
in this state. If the Van SAINT fleet is
a foreign concern and not a Minnesota
institution which the Republican
state central committee seems now
bent on proving-so are the Chicago
railroads, and yet every one of them
which derives dollars worth of bust
ness from business pays taxes here,
some of they paying into the state
treasury of Minnesota all the way from
several thousand up to quarter of a
million dollars in taxes per annum.
II Capt Van SAINT finds Minnesota a
good enough state in which to do bust
mess and establish his steamboat head