The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1908-10-09

III - buiidcIS vi OWHtIS oOiie paSAHS>
in this state or having a port therein
provided, that this act shall not Apply
TO property owned by railroad companies,
their lands and other property; and upon
the property of either or any or such
companies or owners,--a tax as UNIFORM
as reasonably may be with the taxes I'M
posed upon similar property in said state
or upon the earnings thereof within this
state, but may be graded or progressive
or both, and in providing for such eaX OF
In providing for ascertaining the just ana
true value of such property, it shan De
competent for the legislature in either
or all such cases. to impose such TAX
upon any or all property thereon witnin
this state, and in either case by taxing
as the basis OF such imposition the pro-
portionate business. earnings, mileage OF
quantity of production or property NO"
or hereafter existing of any such coth-
panies, persons or owners, transacted OF
existing in this state, in relation. 10 inc
entire business, mileage or quantity vi
production or property or Sucn coIn-
panies, persons or owners as aforesaid
or in such other manner, or by such
other method as the legislature may DE-
termine: but the proceeds of such taxes
upon mining property shall be distributed
between the state and the various polil-
ical subdivisions thereof wherein inc
same is situated in the same proportion
as lIIt pTOccSuS VI TAXES upOii ASS.A r.
erty are distributed: Provided further.
that nothing in this act contained shal
operate TO authorize the assessment or
taxation Of any farm land or Ordinary
business blocks or property owned by
any such corporation, person, firm or
company except in the manner provided
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, ana
shall be levied and collected for public
purposes. but public burying grounds
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 public
property used exclusively for any public
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 benefited
thereby without regard to cash Valua-
ton, and nothing herein contained shaH
be construed to affect, modify or repeal
any existing law providing for the taxa
ton of the gross earnings Of railroads. &
This proposed constitutional amend
ment was submitted and voted upon ar
the last election and was declared car
rled. 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 1t was on
that account that the legislature DECIDED
to re 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 l will assume that the
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
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
equalIzed throughout the state.
Section two (2) as II now stands re-
quires the legislature to levy the neces'
sary taxes annually to defray the ex-
penses of the state. That is the duty OF
the legislature without any constitutional
direction.
Section three ~ as II now stands pro-
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
a repetition Of the requirements of Sec
tions one (1) and three (3), as no rational
person would claim that banking capital
should be exempt from taxation.
Section seventeen 90 as it now stands
is not easy to understand. but 1t was in
tended by that section to relieve from the
operation of sections one % and three
(3), above quoted, property of the classes
therein enumerated, so that gross earn
Ings tax could be applied thereto Instead
of direct taxation.
Owing to the provisions of sections one
(D and three ~ 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 G7).
Several exemptions from taxation are
also provided for, but as these exemp-
tions are not changed by the proposed
amendment, | will make no further ref
erence to them.
The amendment which, If 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
ical 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 sub ect
to taxation, according to the method the
legislature saw fit to adopt, provided
only that the tax was levied for pub
lie purpose and was uniform on the same
class of subjects. Under this amend
ment every tax law we now have on the
statue books would continue to be valid,
because under this amendment all IImta-
tions on the power of the legislature
would be taken away.
The adoption of this amendment would,
as indicated, repeal the So called Inherit
ance tax amendment, and the gross earn
ings tax amendment adopted In 1896, as
contained in said Section seventeen on,
but In their place this amendment would
Give the LEGISLATURE greater authorifv