The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-10-05
'F(UALIzfRS LISTEN
4
TO MANY PROTESTS
Lumbermen and Merchants OBJ.
ject to increases in ASSESS
meats, but They Stand

l
! the state, who protested against the
raise in their assessments made by the
! board during its session.
A delegation of Minneapolis lun1i5er-
men, Including Edgar Dalzel, of the C..
A. Smith Lumber company E. J. Car
penter, of the Carpenter Lumber COM
pany; w. F. Carpenter, of the Sheylin-
Carpenter company; B. F. Nelson. of
! Nelson & Tuthill and M. J. Seanlon, of
| the w. F. Brooks company, started the
I fire.
B. F.. Nelson, as spokesman, contend
/ ed that 20. per cent raise over the
present assessment on logs and luIn-
! Der was unjust, including the basis of
/ $40 per 1000 feet on lumber and SIS on
! logs for Hennepin county, as Duluth.
he said, was assessed only 81 on Hum
Der and $3.50 on logs, He said that all
| Hennepin county lumbermen wanted
was a fair deal. .ss
j. E. Cooley, secretary of the board,
/ said he thought Hennepin county was
faring well compared with other paris
| of the state, and that the Weyerhaeu-
sers at Cloquet were paying nearly the
entire tax of the county $4,000, on a
/ valuation of $408,7 06. This statement
brought the Hennepin delegation to its
| feet with the declaration that If the
| Weyerhaeusers got off with total val
uation of less than $409 900 at ClOQuet,
the largest lumber center in Minnesota,
! there was no reason for assessing Hen
nepin county $3,394397 and adding 2
! 20 per cent raise, against only 10 per
cent raise for Carleton county, in
1 which CIoquet is situated The 20 per
cent increase would bring the Henne-
| pin county valuation above 4,000.0 600.
| Gov. Van SAINT interrupted to say
| that due weight should be given the
| Hennepin county protest, and the mat
ter taken under adyisement, in order
| that an equitable adjustment could be
/ secured. + The Minneapolis lumbern1eff
| left greatly pleased and satisfied they
| had made out a good case with the aid
| of Secretary Cooley, who in an en-:
| deavor to refute their statements, had
furnished the principal argument.
! Western Union Protests ssg. &
/ Following a statement by Secretary
| Cooley that the state had for years
| been forced to arbitrarily assess the
| Western Union Telegra ph company be-
| cause it refused to make a full return
| of its property within the state, the
board listened to an argument by the
| company'S attorney, G.. M. Ferguson, in
| which he said that he believed that the
company had always made full return
| of its physical properties within the
| state and that he believed thatSi ts WAS
| on this basis that the company should
| be assessed, as it was next to inlpoS-
| sible to say what the Minnesota earn
I ing capacity of the company was. He
I declared the chairman of the board had
! said last year that the assessment of
/ his company would be raised from year
to year until driven into court, where
| little relief could be expected, as, the
assessment. had been made by the
I board. He concluded by. reading an
| affidavit made by the vice president OF
| the company. showing the assets OF the
7 company within the state to be $1,90l, :
| 900, not including the franchise; the
| taxable valuation. $1,950,0O0;. ol1tstand-
I ing stock at par, $97, 340, 600, and on the
| basis of Sc cents per share, $79,000,0QQ.
+ The cost of reproduction of the plant
| in Minnesota was $s79,0O0;' and the
maximum assessable valuation, SITS
| 00G. The net earning per mile was
! $3.50. ~ =
The assessment of the Western
Union company last year was 81, OO0,-
| 900, and it is thought that the assess
| rnent will not fall below that figure
this year. and in all probability will
be raised 10 per cent. The board
will pass on this this morning.
Minneapolis Retailers Object
Following Mr.. Ferguson. a delega-
ton of fifty merchants from Minne-
| apolis, members of the Retail rMerch-
| ants association. appeared and pro-
tested against the 20 per cent Increase
in assessment of goods and merchan-
disc in Minneapolis. Jesse Hitler.
| chairman of the delegation, read
figures showing the increases.
""The total assessment on goods and
| merchandise through the state for
| 1904" he said, sis $31, 566,910. Of this
Hennepin county is assessed $8,S24, ll6,
Ramsey county 81 ,106, 1874, and st. Louis
county $1,975,4S2, total of $17,9O5,99 81,
or more than 81 per cent of the total
| valuation of this class of property
| throughout the entire state. This, l
contend, is unjust"
| Judge Flannery, of the Powers Mer-
camille company, said that business had
been practically at standstill for the
! past year. and that the stores had all
decreased their stocks. The merchants,
| despite this, he said, had returned a
! valuation of $1,500,000, an increase OF
90 per cent over the past year, and
thought that they deserved commenda-
ton instead of another increase at the
hands Of the board Since 1902, he
said, the increase in Hennepin county
| had been AZ per cent, the highest Of
/ any except in Aitkin county. This, he
contended, was unjust and asked the
| board to reconsider the returns.
President Dayton, of the Dayton Dry
Goods company, said he had made an
honest return and asked no favors,
but asked as man to man, to have the
returns from Hennepin county recon-
sidered.
w. J. Dean, of Dean & Co., pro-
tested against the increased assess
ment on farm implements and ma
chinery. He said that in 1903 the courl-
ty suffered an increase of 20 per cent,
to this the assessor added 20 per cent,
and the board again another 20 per
cent. He said that crops had been
poor this year, and that the increased
assessment would drive many Of the
fifteen or more agricultural implement
houses in Minneapolis out Of the city
and the state. He added that within
the past year business had decreased
20 per cent, and on top of this handi-
cap the board proposed another in
crease, or three increases of 20 per cent
in all.
President Harris, of the New Eng
land Furniture company, said there was
no class of property in Hennepin coun-
ty which is not possessed in other
counties, and that it was unfair to
place the burden of assessment on
Hennepin county He said that while
the returns from the state at large
were increased only 10 per cent, Hen
nepin and Ramsey counties had been
forced to pay more than half of the
entire state assessment on goods and
4 merchandise. He stated that his house
had returned an honest valuation and
n af1So