The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-12-30

sessed valuation, but has several times
voluntarily increased it's own return Of
valuat1on-and this in no trihing fash
Ion, but by adding tens of millions to
the tale Of its showing. The writer has
found no similar evidence of dispo-
sition to share the public burden dis
played by other corporations or indi-
viduals in Minnesota. -s~. ".25.
And this is a state Of affairs that is
not to be met by the proposition that
the Steel corporations tax is an in
significant morsel as compared to the
huge bites it is taking Which latter is
not true. Under no conceivable circum-
stances is the sum of $2,5OO,OO0 or more
to be regarded as insignificant, and that
Is about the amount which will be paid
by the corporation in taxes in this state
on this years assessment. Two and
half millions would represent the value
Of the entire industrial resources of the
state little more than a generation
ago. It is not so many years since it
would have sufficed for all the expenses
of government in Minnesota. All the
expenses Of the state government proper
are but twice that sum- If Minnesota
had twelve other taxpayers paying. as
much money as the Steel corporation,
the entire burden Of taxation for state,
county and municipal expenses would
be lifted from the shoulders of the rest
Of the state. >''.
- .@ .r><r =. H. Is
4 4 +
These attributes are not accidental
They constitute the evidences of ascare-
fully formulated policy of operation.
They are as much a part Of the plan Of
procedure Of the Steel corporation as
are the processes whereby the ore is
taken out of sthe ground by methods
reduced to the last degree of economic
practice. They are part of the general
policy which anticipates the claims of
workmen and keeps the employees not
only satisfied, but thoroughly in SYM
patty with the big machine Of which
they are made to feel that they are
necessary and important parts. The
same spirit of fairness has been SO
demonstrated in the dealings of the
company with the men who explored the
range that there is nowhere arcom-
plant that any man has been treated
with any but the greatest iberality in
his traffic with the company. IN Du-
luth and on the range every original
discoverer or fee owner who has DEAL
ings with the Steel corporation will tell
you outright that he got or is getting
more for his discoveries or his ore than
he hoped to get few years ago; or
than he could possibly have got prior
to the entrance into the operating field
Of the United States Steel corporation.
The present writer was once pro-
foundry impressed by the delicacy of
the mechanism operating 100-ton
hammer, which was SO carefully ad-
justed that, a watch being placed upon
the bed, the enormous weight was
dropped and it's career checked Just as
1t reached and rested upon,. without
crushing the case Of the timepiece.
That delicate mechanism was clumsy
makeshift compared to the delicacy of
this ponderous machine known as the
United States Steel corporation, which
is SO finely adjusted that it operates
the tremendous industrial engine neces-
sary to mining upwards Of 100000
tons Of ore in the Minnesota field
every year, transports that ore to the
furnace-utilizing the labor Of thou
sands Of workmen, taking care, Of
dependent population Of 100000 persons,
requiring the services Of scores Of To-
comotives, thousands Of cars, literally
hundreds Of great ships and thousands
Of sailors-and doing all this without
so much as disturbing the interests Of
its neighbors. The adjustment Of this
machine is a miracle Of nicely; it has
reduced i friction ret in operation to 50 in
significant q factor that it may fairly
be said to have disappeared altogether.
+ i
The United States Steel corporation
Is simply an organized and capitalized