The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1908-10-30

owners or onerators Of any and all mines
or of mineral ores situated in this state'
also upon the property within TINS ssa.
OF all boom companies or owners anu
all ship builders or owners doing pusiieSs
| in this state or having port thereii
| (provided, that this act shall not Apply
| to property owned by railroad companies,
| their lands and other property anu upos
| the property of either or any OIL SUI
companies or owners,-a tax as univ "
| as reasonably may be with the taxes IN
posed upon similar property in salu s'a'e'
or upon the earnings thereof within TINS
state, but may be graded or progressive,
or both, and in providing for such TAX, y,
| in providing for ascertaining the just anu
| true value of such property IL shan oo
competent for the legislature IN el'nel
| or all such cases. to impose such TAX
upon any or all property thereof within
| this state, and in either case by Taking
as the basis of such imposition the pro-
portionate business, earnings, mileage Vi
quantity of production or property no"
or hereafter existing of any such> COM
panies, persons or owners, transacted OF
| existing in this state in relation TO tne
| entire business, mileage or quantity Vi
production or property of such COM
| panieS, persons or owners as atoresalu'
or in such other manner, or by such
1 other method as the legislature may ue-
| termine: but the proceeds of such taxes
|
between the state and the various point
| ical subdivisions thereof wherein the
same is situated, in the same proportion
as the proceeds of taxes upon real prop
erty are distributed: Provided furtner,
] that nothing in this act contained snall
| operate to authorize the assessment or
| taxation of any farm land or ORDINARY
| business blocks or property owned ny
any such corporation, person, nrm VI
company except in the manner proV,oeo
| by the ordinary methods of taxation
| and to substitute therefor the following:
"Sec. l. The power of taxation shall
never be surrendered, suspended or con-
| tracted away. Taxes shall be UNIFORM
! upon the same class of subjects, anu
| shall be levied and collected for pupllc
purposes, but public burying grounoS'
public school houses, public hospitals,
| academies, colleges, universities, ana all
| seminaries of learning, all churches'
| church property used for religious pur-
poses, and houses of worship, institutions
| of purely public charity, and puohc
property used exclusively for any pubic
=, purpose, shall be exempt from taxation,
| and there may be exempted from TAXA
| ton personal property not exceeding IN
| value 5000 for each household, Individual
| or head of a family, as the legislature
| may determine. But the legislature may
authorize municipal corporations to levy
| and collect assessments for local I'M
proVementS upon property Denenteo
| thereby without regard to cash Vaiua.
| ton, and nothing herein contained shali
| be construed to affect, modify or rePeai
| any existing law providing for the taxa
| ton of the gross earnings of railroads.
This proposed constitutional amend
| ment was submitted and voted upon at
! the last election and was declared car
red.. But a contest was instituted by in
terested parties, claiming that the amend
| ment was not carried. That contest is
| now pending In the courts and it was on
| that account that the legislature decided
to e-submit the amendment to the peo-
pie, so that however the contest may be
| decided, the next legislature may nave
| the power granted by the amendment
| For the purpose of discussing the effect
| of the amendment ! will assume that the
1 same amendment submitted at the last
| election, did not carry.
| The purpose and effect Of this amend'
| ment would be to greatly enlarge the
power of the legislature with reference
| to the subject of taxation. Section one
| (D as it now stands provides that all
| taxes Imposed shall be equal-as near as
| may be-on all forms of property, and all
| property upon which tax is imposed IS
| required to have a CASH VALUATION
| equalzed throughout the state.
Section two (2) as it now stands re-
| quires the legislature to levy the neces-
sary taxes annually to defray the ex-
| the legislature without any constitutional
| direction.
Section three (3) as 1t now stands pro-
vldes that all real and personal property,
| including MONEYS, CREDITS and IN
| VESTMENTS IN BONDS AND STOCKS,
shall be assessed according to their true
| value in money.
Section four (4) as 1t now stands pro-
| vides that property employed in banking
shall be subject to a tax equal to that
| imposed on other property. This is only
| repetition of the requirements of Sec
lions one CD and three (s), as no rational
person would claim that banking capital
should be exempt from taxation.
| Section seventeen CD as it now stands
| Is not easy to understand, but it was in
| tended by that section to relieve from the
1 operation of sections one Cd and three
| (3), above quoted, property of the classes
| therein enumerated, so thar gross earn
lnes tax could be applied thereto instead
| of direct taxation.
Owing to the provisions of sections one
| U) and three (3) of the present Consti-
| tuition many amendments were from time
to time added so as to permit taxes to be
| imposed on specific kinds of property
otherwise than upon a cash valuation
| equaliZed throughout the state. We have
among these exceptions railroad gross
| earnings taxes; municipal frontage taxes;
| inheritance taxes; and the gross earnings
! taxes authorized by said section seven.
teen az.
Several exemptions from taxation are
| also provided for but as these exemp-
| tions are not changed by the proposed
1 amendment, | will make no further ref
| erence to them.
| The amendment which, II adopted,
would take the place of all of the sections
| and amendments above referred to, is
| simple and plain. No provision of the
| Constitution is necessary to authorize the
| imposition of the taxes necessary for the
| support of the state and its various poIit-
| icaI subdivisions. The power of taxation is
| Inherent In government. This proposed
| amendment declares that this inherent
| power of taxation shall never be surren-
dered, suspended or contracted away;
| that taxes shall be imposed for public
purposes and shall be uniform on the
same class of subjects. Should this
| amendment be adopted all property Of
| every kind in the state would be subject
| to taxation, according to the method the
| legislature saw fit to, adopt, provided
| only that the tax was levied for a pub.
| lie purpose and was uniform on the same
| ment every tax law we now have on the
| statue books would continue to be valid,
| because under this amendment all Iin1ita-
| tions on the power of the legislature
| would be taken away.
| The adoption of this amendment would,
| as indicated, repeal the So called Inherit