The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-15

other producers or Dealers; For this gEea-
son the lunlbermen pay relatively larger
taxes than the others.
"'rhe lumbermen pay a heavy tax on
their timber lands in the leyylng ana eH-
pending of which they have no represen-
tation, and no particular interest IN the
or salary list"on which the
money is paid out. They pay taxes on
their logs which they have left on their
hands on the first day OF May. Some5of
these were cut two years Or more before
the time of levy. Some were railroaded out
of the county in which they were cut as
fast as they could be cut and loaded.
Some OF them were sawed into lumber
within three days after they We're landed
at the mills. Large quantities We're landed
in the Mississippi at Brainerd, or up t
Swan River. or i'll other rivers or
streams out of the county. They also pay
taxes on their lumber which at this sea-
Of the year is generally a considerable
part of their stock. They pay taxes also
their mills, yards and their other prop
erty. making as it now stands, a rela-
lively larger tax ON their years business,
taking raw material and manufactured
product than is i'll any manner the case
with. farmers III their years produtX or
other manufacturers or with the jobbers
or retail merchants
An Unjust Measure. %ss
"This bill proposes to increase this by
making them pay on all the years stock,
whether in the store or country, the first
day Of May When rightly analyzed and
understood the proposed bill stands in the
front rank of all the unjust tax propo-
sitions of recent years. --- -
1.-THE law referred to, requiring banks
to pay taxes on all their stock without
reference to where the owners live is
not different from the law requiring lum
ber firms to pay their taxes on all per-
sonal property owned by the firm, includ-
kI,,t 0f 11NS.
lived in the city or elsewhere. The tax
is levied on the company or corporation,
at it's fixed manufacturing point, just the
same as the banks are taxed on their
stock.
Next we are told that this bill is
framed simply to get at logs which escape
taxation. That is, to some extent, true,
and in this fact 1t becomes very re-
markable example Of legislative discrim-
lnation. Supposing Mr.. Cole should amend
his law so as to require every farmer in
the state of Minnesota to pay full taxes
on every bushel of wheat which he raised
in the state whether he had any Of it OH
hand the first day Of May or not. This
would certainly catch a great, deal Of
grain that is shipped out of the state that
escapes taxation. Supposing then he adds
another amendment, applying it to all
the manufacturing concerns, in the state
and requires them to pay taxes on all
the materials which they have produced
or purchased in the state during the pre-
Vious year-or during the previous six
months It might be carried a step fur
ther and require the merchant to pay
taxes on all the goods which he handled
during the year.
I'VE are told again, Minneapolis will
lose nothing by way Of taxation if my
bill becomes a law I hardly know what
sort of inhabitants MI. Cole thinks he is
speaking to in making such statements.
The lumber firms here are required to list
the logs which they have in their boons
or on the way down the river or rail from
the upper, country, OH the first day of
May. This includes the old logs carried
over which constitutes only fraction Of
the stock on which the tax is to be levied,
and to now claim that if this new stock
is al taken out Of the county tax list, the
remnant left In Hennepin county will be
just as large the whole tax is absurd.
1t would be only a fraction Of it and thru
the agency Of this bill, Hennepin county
would lose a very large part of the money
collected from the taN on logs. The same
is true with reference to Brainerd. Still
| water, Little Falls. Duluth, Crookston.
Winona and Red Wing. The legitimate
takes that these cities would levy OH logs
carried. over on a rate of valuation and
| property is rated, all over the state, would
amount to only fraction Of the tax now
| collected.
Amount Affected. ..
"All the logs carried over in the Missis-
| sippi and Rum river booms are not taxa BILE
at Minneapolis, only a fraction. Bra inerd,
Little Falls and Winona. take large per-
centage.. Minneapolis assessed logs last
year to. the extent of over 300. 900, 900 t
81 thousand, making something over
s.. 100000 of levy, and collected tax of
about -$55,o00. 1t would amount this year.
according to estimate, to about $75 900
for Minneapolis. To take out all the new
logs and collect on only the, old, it would
be probably a quarter as much. and the
same would be true in a general way as
| to the reduction on the other manufacture
| ing points. and vet we are told that it
will not reduce the Minneapolis tax.
Minneapolis firms carried about seven
ty-fve or eighty million feet of logs this
last winter. and yet paid on over three
hundred millions last spring and the Gus
tom is in log matters. in all others, not
to put the quantity full measure the same
as is done in all other personal property
| taxation.
"Mr. Cole figures on all the annual cut
OF logs on the upper Mississippi and then
figures only on the taxation of the logs al
Minneapolis, which constitutes, altho a
| large amount, yet only fraction of the
whole stock or years run.
as ~ TIE std dlG1IleHL LnaC the TAX or
the logs will be deducted, from the ia,
on the land by the counties where it |!
cut, this is incorrect. The lumberme1
have generally paid taxes on their cut
over lands the year after. as the assess
ment is not made between the time 0
cutting and the first day Of May, an,
there have been but few attachments made
and that never enough to cover the ia,
on the logs. '".-> e.
In the house Mr. Cole made a YER
special plea in favor of giving this ia:
money to the upper counties in conse
quence of the large expenses incurred b.
: these counties in consequence of tn
crimes committed by the men sent int
the woods by the log contractors to Gu
logs, but who devote a large proportio
of their time to liquor drinking and de
:, bauchery in the saloons and dens Of tn
:. frontier towns. And for this reason, h
i argues. additional taxes should be con
ceded to these counties. In the first place
l these bills are paid almost wholly by th
y flumbermen thru their land tax. At leas
= a very great majority of the taxes-a gree
Z deal larger amount than any sums tde
voted to anything connected with the lun7