The Irish standard., 1908-10-03


government" or divided respon- E.
sibility," the great extra sum :.
e. Of one dime.
.................
The Other Fellow Pays lt-And More.
And now it becomes my solemn
duty to deprive my worthy opponent
OF the satisfaction that it may give
him arising from this extra tax bur.
den CT ten cents a head per annunl.
For | want TO say that this extra dime
that has been collected has not come
from you-that is to say, unless you
are an owner Of iron mines, or logs
and lumber, or of street railway, gas
and lighting company stock, or Of
water powers and stumpage, or Of
elevators and telegraph stock, or are a
stockholder in the United States Steel
Corporation. II YOU are financially
fortunate enough 10 have large hold.
ings in such classes of property. the
increase in your assessment taxa
tion has caused you to pay into the
state treasury u good many extra
dimes and dollars during the past
three years. But If you are a plain
farmer, store-!ieeper, shop.owner, me-
ehanic or householder, you have been
compelled to pay not even your extra
per capita dime for the public i'm
provements and reforms Of the past
four years Of Democratic govern
ment" and divided responsibility"
Public Improvements Cost Money.
Granting an increase of revenue to
provide for the increased improve
ments-for public Improvements are
like private improvements, they can
not be made without an investment
for labor and materials-the practi-
cal question which confrcnts YOU is
this:-Who has had to pay the extra
taxation? Has the general taxpayer,
who Is already over-taxed, been corn.
PEELED to shoulder the burden, or
have the large interests who SO often
succeed in evading their share,
thanks to their influence with the
political bcss and machine, been
finally coraIled and brought into the
tax-paying fold? Mr.. Jacobson calm
ly assumes the former: am pre-
pared to demonstrate that the lat
ter is the truth.
United Responsibility and the Steel
Trust.
Take the case of the iron ore in.
terests. and that greatest holder Of
iron ore properties cn the globe. the
United States steel corporation. In
1904, the last valuation made by a
Republican state board OF equaliza-
tion placed the total assessed value
OF all iron ore and mining properties
In the state at just S42,OOO,oOO. This
valuation multiplied by the tax levy
or 1904 for state purposes, would
bring into the state treasury STA.
geo.
That was the last and greatest
volume of taxes paid into the state
treasury by the iron ore and steel in
terests before you imposed upon the
state what my opponent calls Demo
cratic government" and divided re-
sponsibility"-just $111.OOO Of state
taxes from all that vast array of min
eral wealth. the greatest on the face
of the globe.
"Divided Responsibility" Boosts Trust
Taxes.
Well. what has been achieved in
the intervening four years? In the
first place. the new board of euualiza.
tlon appointed by me, and of which [
am a member, proceeded at its first
session to raise this S42, 10000 val
uation up to $7O.Ooo.0OO, or an in.
crease OF seventy per cent But this
sharp raise was looked upon by me,
as stated In my review of the sub.
lect in my message to the 1907 leg.
islature. as only a minor fraction of
the raise to which the general tax
payers Of the state were entitled.
Finally, the last legislative session
gave US tax commission, and the
first act of this board after it's ap-
pointmcnt by me was to make a
thorough valuation of iron ore and
mining properties, admittedly the
most scientific and thorougl-going at
tempt at the valuation and taxation
of iron mines yet made in this coun-
try. What was the result? The S42,.
100000 valuation of 1904 was raised
to $t90,Oo0,000 In 1eo7-an increase
OF $149,0o0,0o0, or three hundred and
fifty per cent. in the brief period of
three years.
A Further Raise on Iron Ore Val.
uation.
On the $19Q.000,O00 valuation, the
iron ore and steel interests pay into
the state treasury $6Gl,2OO of taxes
this year, as compared with $114,6OO
under the valuation OF four years ago.
Here is a net increase of over one.
half million dollars Of state revenue
brought into the treasury within four
short years from this one source,
Thus is the greater part of that ten
cents per capita extra. charged to
Democratic government" and "di-
vided responsibility" wiped out in
one fell swoop.
Divided Responsibility Benefits the
People.
But look at the difference in re-
suits as between taxation of the great
iron ore and steel properties under
divided responsibility" and taxation
under the political monopoly of
single party machine. Three years
ago that steel corporation and other
iron range property paid one
twentieth Of the taxes for state pur.
poses; while this year they pay over
one-sixth of the total state tax.
Other Corporations are Raised.
Not only iron ore and steel inter.
ests. but street railway, gas and
electric lighting companies. lumber
companies and timber stumpage own
ers. elevator companies, telegraph
companies. owners OF water-powers
and sundry royalties and franchises,
have all had to pay largely increased
shares of both state taxes and local
county and municipal revenue. In
four years, it is safe to state. the
aggregate assessed valuation of these
classes of properties has been raised.
through the action OF the state board
of equalization and its official in
fluence upon local boards and asses.