The Redwood gazette., 1902-03-05
R I D ! En- I D !!
Jacobson Bill Taxing iPub1ic
Service Corporations
Passes.
Franchises Taxed and a Tax Of
S Cents Per Ton on
Iron Ore.
People Gain a Big Victory Over
Corporations in the
House.

The Minnesota House of Repre-
sen tatives killed House File No. l
on Tuesday of last week. It was
the bill providing for the enactment
into law Of the tax code prepared
by a commission composed of three
of the ablest men in Minnesota. On,
Friday the House of Represents
tives redeemed itself by passing
the Jacobson bill, composed of GER
tain portions of the tax code, and
which will, if passed by the senate
and signed by the governor, place
at least $24O, 900, 900 Of property on
the'tax rolls of this State which has
not heretofore been placed on the
list, and which will reduce the
State tax to mere nothing.
And the most peculiar feature
the whole transaction is that thief
enemies of all legislation Con the tax
question got what they didn t want.
They didn't want house file No.
passed for the reason that it con
tanned provisions which affected
their interests, and after creating a
false sentiment against that bill,
they succeeded in getting enough
members who honestly supposed It
wrong, to join with them and kill it.
But then it was that Mr.. jacobson,
assisted by the friends of tax legis-
lation, including ]. A. Peterson Of
Hennepin and Larson of Redwood
and number OF others, took out
from the tax code the features i'm
posing tax on franchises, on pub
lie service corporations, aud in
creasing the tonnage tax on the
iron mines of ST. Louis county, and
placed them in a separate bill and
made them special order for 1890
O. clock last Friday morning, and
after four hours of fighting, in which
the friends of the tax legislation
continually had the best of it, saw
the bill 90 through the house by a
vote of "a to 25, amid the whoops,
| plaudits and hurrahs of one of the
largest crowds that ever gathered
in the house. And the strangest
part OF the entire vote was that the
representatives of the country dis
tricts who had voted against house
file No. l were almost unanimous in
supporting the Jacobson bill, which
places a tax on concerns almost
wholly confined to the larger cities
OF the State, In other words the
st. Louis county delegation, and
those members of the Hennepin and
Ramsey delegation opposed to house
file No, |, and also opposed to the
Jacobson bill, would have been al
great deal better off if they had
passed file No. l, which sought to
make taxes equal all over the State.
than to have had passed house file
No. 56, agreed upon by the friends
OF tax reform. The enemies of that
reform were SO jubilant over the
defeat of house file !, that they were
willing to concede almost anything,
and as result Mr.. Lay bourn, the
leader of the opposition, allowed the
new bill toreceive it's first and second /
readingunder suspen sion of the rules
and be made special order for last
Friday morning at 1890 OF clock. As
d result the friends of tax reform
gained almost a week in time, con-
sidering that the bill would have
otherwise gone to the committee on
axes and tax laws.
It was at the opening of this spec
al order that the rupture occurred !
two of the best political |,
riends Minnesota had previously