The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-11

made to the county auditor; and where
| they are situate within more than one
ttoulty, the statement is to be made to
| the county auditor.
| Gas, water, electric heating power
! wharf and boom companies are escaped
! together. Like other public service com
! paliesi these are required to make re-
| port appropriate to the nature Of the
business transacted by them respectively
Inc valuation of franchises of such com
! panles is ascertained by adding together
the value OF the capital stock and funded
| or bonded debt, from which is deducted
| the value OF any real ard personal pro
/ erty which the company has rendered
Tor taxation; and the residue is used as
| the franchises
! Telegraph, telephone. express. sleep
| ing car freight line and equipment COM
! panios are grouped together. These are
also required TO make report to the state
| auditor. The auditor, upon receiving such
| statement, will deliver the same to The
! tax commission which is to make exam
| NATION thereof and may, when necessary,
| call for additional statements or informa-
ucn The tax commission having re-
| YlSed the statement is to place the same
before the state board of review at it's
| session in September
/ In brief the state board of review first
ascertains the true cash value of the en-
| tire property owned by such company,
| taxing for that purpose the aggregate
| value OF all the shares of capital stock, if
81
wise taking the actual value Of such stock
| or OF the capital of the company where
| II mas no shares of stock. and adding
! thereto the funded or bonded debt if any
! The aggregate amount thus obtained is
| to be taken as the basis for ascertaining
| the valuation of the property of the com
| panY.
Having obtained such total valuation.
| mileage valuation is thereby obtained
| by a simple arithmetical computation and
the valuation OF the property is distribut-
] ed for accuracy of computation to the
poIltlcaI subdivisions of the state in which
I the company has mileage, and in proper
| ton thereto. The amount of tax which
| the. company would pay, if subject to or
alnary taxation for general or local pur-
| poses-in the several taxing districts into
| or through which it's mileage extends is
! then ascertained, from which an avera ge
| rate upon the total valuation of the COM
| pany Is computed.
| The company is required to pay into
| the state treasury taxes computed accord
| ing to such rate which will thereupon be
| IN lieu of all other taxes for state and
| local purposes upon its property, except
| such as is not properly promotive of it's
| ordinary business The rate thus obtained
| VIII be as nearly accurate as it is pos
| s1ble to be made
Mining Companies.
'Tn providing for the taxation of the
! mining interests of the state the commits
| sion was seriously handicapped by the
| provisions of our constitution In 1895
| article of the constitution was amended
! Tor the purpose of permitting greater
! freedom on the part of the legislature in
| the taxation of certain companies and in
| terests, including mining properties No
constitutional provision was ever more
| unhappily framed than the one in uues-
| ton. So far as it applies to mining prop
| critics its provisions are so extremely
vague as to invest with doubt the mean
F., ing intended. Although it may be ulti-
mately held that a true construction Of
1 the constitution authorizes the m inn
| OF a tonnage tax upon the output of
mines, the commission was unwilling to
assume, IN view of the uncertainty at
tending the subject, that such authority
| exists. In being thus compelled to re-
train from providing for tonnage tax it
mad no alternative than to provide for
the taxation of mining properties by the
ordinary method. No one regrets such
restraint more than the members of the
commission, for it is their unanimous
opinion that tonnage tax is the only
appropriate means for the taxation of the
output of mines. 1t is unquestionably true
that the state has been great loser in
the past from want of wisely framed
measure providing such form of taxation
r-that class of property"
Railroad Companies.
''In view of the long established policy
of this state to impose upon railroad com
panies a committed system of taxation in
the form of payment into the state
treasury OF percentage upon their gross
earnings, a system authorized by the con-
stitutional amendment of 1871 the COM
mission determined that it would be be-
yond the scope of its duties and also m
| JudiciOus to provide in the bill any pro-
visions designed to regulate the subject
| The legislature at it's last session. ana
subsequent to the passage of the law by
which the commission was created pro
Vlded for the submission to the voters of
the state at the next general election the
question whether the gross earnings tax
imposed upon the railroad companies
shall be raised. The measure thus to be
submitted cOntemplateS that all of the
provisions of the existing law relative to
the collection and enforcement of the tax
shall remain applicable to the tax as
| thereby enlarged. Wisdom, therefore, sug-
SeStS that these provisions should not be
changed, otherwise unfortunate and un-
looked for consequences might result
Inc utmost extent to which the commits
sion could prudently go was to incorpo-
rate unchanged into its bin the various
provisions of the existing law regulating
the manner and the enforcement of the
payment of such taxes. BY reference to
the bill 1t will be found that such course
was pursued.
Taxation of Incomes.
While it is not permissible to impose
an income tax under the present consti-
tuition, the subject is too important 10
be disregarded in the deliberations of the
commission or omitted from this report
1t IS due the Legislature and the people
Of the state that they be advised Of the
views of the commission upon the sub
Ject. AS it is a coming question it's study
cannot be too early begun or too thor
oughly pursued by our thoughtful clti-
ZenS.
The commission states the argument
for and against the income tax at con-
siderable length.
The commission discusses the urgent
necessity for the enforcement of state
from local taxation. This can be ac-
complished, it says, only by one of two
methods; the raising of revenue for state
purposes by other means than an ad
yalorem, or the distribution upon an
equitable basis of the burden of such
revenue among the several counties or
the state. AS neither of these methods
IS now available under our present con-
sututlon no attempt was made in the
commissions bill to elaborate provisions
suitable therefore.
Constitutional Amendments.
The commission says thdt no fact is
more firmly impressed upon the mind
OF the commission than the necessity for
an early amendment to article No. OF
the constitution of the state by which
the powers of the legislature to levy
taxes shall be. considerably enlarged.
The commissions bill makes some radt-
cal changes in the inheritance law. The
differences are stated as follows:
l. The bill adopts the Language of the
| constitution and imposes the tx upon
the inheritance, devise, beques-, legacy
or gift.
2. 1t reduces the amount of exemptions
to $1,000, thus insuring substantial
amount Of revenue.
8. 1t provides for the payment of ex-
penses and refundments out of the state
treasury, instead of the county treasur-
er, inasmuch as the state is to receive
the whole tax, and should therefore de-
| fray the expenses of its collection.
4. It arranges sections in their natural
and logical order.
5. 1t eliminates many provisions which
were wholly unnecessary and tend only
to confusion and uncertainty.
Concluding Remarks.