The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1902-07-19
am endment of any law or laws 4

amendment of any law or laws en-
be eraa fn1s Sfase sb or which o may
all other taxes and assessments UPON
their real estate. roads. rolling stock and
ON 4tnef personal property -. pay into
centage, therein mentioned of the gros.
effoct shall hal be before tie same shall tax:
be adopted and ratified by a majority Of
the electors of the state voting at the
r1tetl9n at which the same shall be SUBJ
Under existing laws the railroad com.
panles of this state pay into the state
cent Of their gross earnings. After thor
| ouSh discussion and mature deliberations
INC leslslature passed the act above re-
ferred to; which provides that the exist
ing law shall be SO amended that the rail-
| road companies Of this state shall paw
1 INTO the state treasury in lieu of direct
| acted
The reason for the enactment was the
belief that the railroad companies under
the per cent gross earnings law were
not paying their fair share toward tho.
malntenance of the state; in other words.
slderably less was received from the rail-
| road companies than would be received II
their properties were subjected to direos
! l urge the people of our state to care
presented, which is, Shall the railroad
rect taxation, per cent Of their gross
| earnings instead Of 3 per cent, as pro-
| Vlded in the existing laws.
| The modern tendency is that revenues
should be raised for the state otherwise
| IMAM by direct levy on real estate and
personal property. If these amendments
| be taken. 1t would then be possible to
| pace upon our statute books many tag
measures m, Of vast benefit to the people.
The matter is of SO much Importance to
| the welfare of the state that I earnestly
urge every voter to bear in mind on cleo.
| ton day the obligation Of voting for tho
| proposed amendments.
| | will not close without calling your at
| tention to a question of the very greatest
Importance to the people Of our state. I
REFER to the threatened consolidation OF
| the Northern Pacific and Great Northerr
galway companies. TO this end tho
| Northern Securities company of New Jer-
sey was organized to acquire a control.
ling amount of the stock of said railroad
companies in exchange for it's own stock,
ana 1t was through this company that
/ the, unity of management was to be eff
fected
The matter was deemed of such vital
importa an that immediate me aetion was
these Companies. With that object IN
view Attorney General Douglas was re-
quested to bring suit in the name of the
state to prevent the proposed consolida-
the law is shown by reference to our
statutes. (See sections PIG, 271O. The
pest interests of our people not only re-
restricted competition for the transporra-
ton OF the products Of our farms, fac
tSr mills and mines. 1t was with this
ago passed laws prohibiting in any way
the. consolidation of parallel and COM
peting lines of railway within our state.
These laws have not only been held to BE-
constitutional by the supreme court OF
the United States, but they, also declare
a wise hs;a pu Pig policy The determination
with any spirit of hostility toward rail-
| road companies. Our state has dealt
literally with them and has decided to the
1O,50G,O00 acres of land, or more than To-,
under cultivation by our entire agricul-
tural population. In. view of this and
demand that these companies should obey
our laws. Minnesota granted these lands
and PRIVILEGES to secure the blessings e
f fp6pet5loh IN fact the FRANCHISES OF
obtained upon the implied understanding:
that they would be operated independent
cluding Alaska, is about 5000, 900 square
miles The area of the states traverseai
by the Northern Pacific and Great North
9 ern railroads is about 100000 square
STATES: 1t is only necessary to study
these figures to see the great Importance
Of tt, this question. Undoubtedly a very
world will be transferred from the At
lantlc to the Pacific ocean. The trade Of
the Orient is in its infancy. The possibiii-
that that section of the globe will be sup-
piled from the products of the Northwest
IN fact' we have begun to reap the benz
ket for our surplus wheat and -four. This.
question was deemed of so much import
ance to the entire Northwest and reali3-
proportions and that our state would need
all the help that could be secured COM
ference OF governors and attorneys gem
eral was called to meet at Helena, Mont.
Inc result Of that conference was har.
mony throughout and resolutions were
unanimously passed in opposition to said
threatened consolidation, and promising
All realized that the destruction Of com.
petition that had so benefited these states
in the past would be most injurious.
The supreme court of the United States
for certain reasons refused jurisdiction II.
the case brought by the State of Minne-
sofa, but this did not discourage the At.
torney General and his associate counsel,
courts. -. ~ -
do not believe that a corporation or.
gained in New Jersey can be lawfully
used to violate the laws of the sovereigE
state OF Minnesota and thWart the will
of the people so plainly expressed in he4
statutes. =
Owing to objections not involving the
merits, our state was not SO fortunate II
the supreme court as was the State OF
Washington; that state has a case now
pending similar to ours, in the United
States supreme court, and Attorney Gem
eral Douglas has been retained as asso.
cate counsel. ..s ~ \ = =
The attempt Of the Northern Securities
company to control these properties Il
not only in violation of the laws of thi}
state and the other states in which the3
operate, but the United States az we'll
Attorney General Knox Is quoted as say
ing: - &'- $s@.- - - =
''some time ago the president request.
ed an opinion as to the legality of tlie
measure: and I have recently given him
one to the effect that in my judgment Il,
violates the provisions of the Sherman
act of 1880. Whereupon he directed thai
suitable action should be brought to have
the question finally judicially decided"
OF the Northwest and OF the entire count
try, upon the fact that we have in the
presidential chair man who fearlessly Il
endeayoring to execute the laws. He 4
as brave in peace as he was heroic A
war, and for his courageous course We
support. q 81 ?
It is our determination to press thia
action until finally decided by the court
OF highest jurisdiction. the supreme court
Of the United States.
. In conclusion I take pleasure In statinn
that every state officer, and every depart
ment of the state government, has rem
dercd me most valuable aid during the
attended this administration is due lar9e.
" to their 1OVq1