The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1906-11-03


ttacteds away. Z axes s shall be uniform
upon the same: class OF .subje
shall { be- levied and collected for public
public school houses, public hospitals;
academies, colleges, universities, and All
seminaries. Of learning, all churches
institutions of purely public charity, and
public property used exclusively for any
public purpose, shall be exempt from tax
taxation personal property not exceeding
in, value 500 for each household, lndl-
yidual or head of a. family, as the legls-
lature may determine Prox'aeu ,;nicinai
corporations to levy and collect assess
ments for local improvements upon prop
erty benefited thereby, without regard 10
that nothing herein contained snall nS
construed to affect, modify or repeai
any existing law providing Tor me taSa
ton Of the gross earnings OF railroads..
The purpose: and nect OF this
ame ndmemt would he to greatly en-
large the pOwerw"f the Aee."
with reference to- the subject OF
taxation. Section one o. ~ 1T now
stands provides that all taxes aha-
posed shall he eQual-as near n may
be-On all forms of property, ana All
property upon which u tax II I'M
posed In required to have Cesh
VALUATION equaliaed throughout
Section two ~ 1T now stand re-
duires the lexaslature to levy the
necessary taxes annually to Ae1fnS
the expenses of the state Inat ~
the duty Of the Legislature WITHOUT
any constitutional direction.
Section three ~ 1t now stnnai pro-
vides that all real and Pernom .e
property, including MONEYS, CRED
ITS and INVESTMENTS IN BONDS
AND STOCKS, shall he assessed ac-
cOrilinx to their true value IN
money.
I Section four 1t now star pro-
vides> that, property employed i"
banking shall lie subject to n TAX
equal to that imposed "n other
property. Thi. Ia only a repetition
of the require me nts of Sections one
and three. a. n0 rational person
would claim that banking capital
should he exempt from taxation.
Section seventeen as 1T now stands
IL not easy TO- understand. but 1T was
intended ,x that section to relieve
from the operation Of ~ectiOns one
and three. above quoted. property
Of the classes therein enumerated,
so that \ gross earnings tax c""ia
be applied thereto instead OF direct
taxation.
Owing to the proviaions of sec
lions t,ne and three OF the present
| were from time to time added 40 a"
to permit taxes to he Imposed ON
| specific Kinds of property other
wise than upon a cash SaluatlO"
! e4ua1ix throughout the state. We
have among these exceptions rail-
road gross earnings taxes; mun'ci-
pal frontage taxes; inheritance
taxes, and the gross earnings taxes
| authorized By said section seven
teen.
Several exemptions from taxat10h
are also provided for. hut ~ these
exemptions are not changed by the
proposed amendment. II will make
/ NO further reference to them.
The amendment which. If adopted,
| would take the place of all of the
sections and amendments abOve@re-
| ferred to, ts simple and plain. No
provision of the Constitution IL
! necessary to authorize the Ina
position Of the taxes Hecessary for
| the support Of the sta<@ and Its
various political anbdivtsion... Tse
power OF taxation IL inherent In
government. This proposed amend
mont declares that this Inherent
power OF taxation shall never ne
surrendered, suspended or COM
tracted away, that taxes shall he
imposed for public purposes ana
| shall be uniform ON the same class
| Of subjects. Should this amend
| ment be adopted all property of
| every kind In the state would be
subject to taxation, according to
| the method the legislature saw MT
! to adopt, provided only that the
| tax was levied for a public purpose
and was uniform on the same ella -
| Of subjects. Under this amendment
| every tax law we now have On the
| statute books would continue to be
| valid, because under this Amend
ment all limitations on the power
| of the Legislature would be taken
| away.
The adoption of this amendment
! would, as indicated, repeal the so
! called inheritance tax Amendm emit,
and the grQ1s-earntngs tax amend
! ment adopted in 1896 ~ contained
in said section seventeen, hut In
| their place this amendment would
/ give the legislature greater author
| ity. Under this amendment the
power to impose inheritance taxes
| would be unlimited, and any form
| of -, gross earnings tax would be
valid. The gross earnings tax ON
| railroads would not be affected by
! this ann en- dmeMt, az the Constitution
! provides that 1T can not be changed
/ without n vote of the people. But
| with this amendment various new
! forms of taxation could be Inn posed,
notably an income tax and N regis
| try tax on mortgages. Under the
| present Constitution we can impose
| mo- tax ON mortgages owned by nom
residents. A registry tax, which
| would be valid under this amend
! ment, would reach all mortgages
alike. While all subjects of taxa
4 ton are required to have a cash
valuation with the tax cqualized
fhroueAeat the state, mo- proper i'm
| come tax could be imposed. Such u
/ tax, If imposed, should be pro-
gressive, which would be valid
! under this amendment. ~:
SECOND PROPOSED AMENDMENT.
! The second proposed amendment IL
! contained i'm Chapterz212 of the.
! Laws Of 1908. 1t ise sought by this
amendment to repeal Section 10 of
Article g. of the Constitution, which
10 ~ follows. = =: H., 49,.
Section 16. For the purpose of lending
] aid in the construction and improvement
| OF public highways and bridges, there is
! hereby created q fund to be known as
! the State Road and Bridge Fund Said
fund shall include all moneys accruing
| from the income derived from invest
! ments in the internal improvement land
i fund, orr that may hereafter accrue to
/ said fund and shall also. include all