Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1907-04-13


tonnage tax on iron ore was defeated
: in the House. The story is interest
ing. both because of the principle and
the politics involved. But first con-
slider the vote.
When the roll was called on this
bill, the passage of which would have
given Minnesota a million and half
annually in taxes from great and
mighty corporation which should con-
tribute that much and more to the
support of the state, the House mem
bers voted as follows.
Affirmative Adams, Bendixen,
Bicknell, Bjorge, Dorsey, Effertz,
Carlton, Davis, Denzer, Burdoff, Carl,
Emerson, Friedman, Hanson II. O.,
Haugen, Higgins, Holmberg, Horton,
Holten, Howard, Jefferson, johnson
A. w., johnson G. E., Johnson J. c.,
Knutson, Libby, Lobeck, Melby, Mork,
Nagle, Nelson o. B., Noble, Nolan w.
A., Opsahl, Peters, Peterson, Rachie,
Saugstad, Scrooten, Spencer, Spooner,
swendson, Thayer, Thompson, Thun-
dale, Tighe, Welter, Wescott, White
H., Wilmer, Void.
Observation-Disclosures, Allen, Austin,
Bills, Bouck, Brady, Brown, Case,
Christensen, Conroy, Dalzell, David
son, Dover, Foreman, Gates E. W.,
Gates j. A, Glotfelter, Handlan,
Henry, Hollister, Hugo, Johnson A.
G., Johnson J. T., Knox, Lewis, Lom-
men, Mccoy, Mcneil, Miller A, Miller
c. B., Morse, Murphy, Nelson S., No
Ian W. l., O'Brien, Orne, Phillips,
Putnam, Randall, Rines, Robertson,
Rockne, Rodenburg, Rowe, Saari,
Sawyer, Stokes, Timberlake, Walz,
Webb, Webster, Wells, White F. T.,
Wood, Wright, Young, Zelch, Speaker
Johnson.
If it is not now generally known it
soon will be that the steel trust with
probably half billion dollars worth
of property in northern Minnesota
has been paying less than $500, 900 a
year in taxes. This tonnage tax bill
provided the most logical and the
fairest system of taxation for this
great source of natural wealth and
the annual revenue from such a law
would have been about Million and
q half. 1t imposed no local hardship
and would have worked no injustice
to any interest, private or corporate.
What killed the bill? The steel
trust How was it omplished7 The
Lord only knows. But few human
beings are fully informed concerning
the ways and means involved and if
you asked them they would refuse to
tell.
To begin with, the steel trust con-
trols the situation in st. Louis county.
And it is about time to conclude that
the House delegations from the other
two large cities can be counted in on
about any and every thing of this ma
ture. Only one Minneapolis man vot-
ed for the bill and Ambrose Tighe was
, the sole st. Paul representative who
did not say no to the proposition.
With the three city crowds practically
solid it only remained for the enemies
of the tonnage tax idea to round up a
few country members. This was ac-
complished in variety of ways, chief
ly thru trading.
A member of the st. Louis delega-
ton informed us few days ago that
the members from Duluth and that
district were tied hand and foot. They
could not take the initiative with any
important measures Or even fight
strongly for anything, however merit
orous it might be. The st. Louis
county delegation were compelled to
lay low and make "dealsD whereby
they might obtain votes against the
tonnage tax. And the result would
justify the conclusion that "deals''
were numerous.
Politics entered largely into this
fight. Duluth people, outside of the
legislature, puffed the mselves up and
called attention to the fact that the
republican party received only about
half its normal vote in st. Louis county
last year and emphasized the threat
that the other half would vote demo
cratic next time if the republican leg
islatnre tried to compel the steel trust
to contribute reasonably to the tax
burden of the state. This would imply |