Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1908-04-20
ELKO NEVADA, MONDAY, APRIL TO- 1905

member OF the senate of the Minne
sofa legislature, and his first public DO
litical work was as a member of that
body. From the first, he was fdenti.
fed with various reform measures.
which have since become law in Min
nesota.
Wherever Gov. Johnson has gone.
he has impressed men as being a man
of the Lincoln type. He has the fac
ulty of making many friends and few
euemies,
Gov. Johnscn's Legislative Results.
The governor recommended a per-
manent tax commission. The legis.
lature gave it to him and the ink was
hardly dry on the document before he
appointed commission so strong in
its personnel that the Republican sen.
ate resolved by a rising vote to con-
firm the appointments without delay.
while the equally, Republican house,
| though without the power of confirma.
! ton, express I'd by rising vote its an.
probation oI the excellence of the gov
ernor's appc intments.
In northei Minnesota are the great.
est iron ore fields in the world. The
state of Minnesota owns extensive
areas OF these lands. BY leases they
were largely in the hands of the Unit
ed States Steel Corporation and. the
| state was receiving only an insignifi-
cant income from its royalties. The
governor advised the withdrawal of
all such lar.ls from mineral leases and
the lcgislaU concu!red.
| Minnesota has enjoyed but scant in
come from the wealth Of the privately
| owned iron mines The governor
recommended a royalty tax on the out
put of these mines. He did not get it.
put the United States Steel Corpora
ton bound itself as a substitute to
establish a $20,OOO,000 steel plant at
| Duluth
The newly created tax commission,
| together with the state board of equal
iZation, which preceded it (the mem
bers of which were appointed by
| Governor Johnson). have in the four
years of Governor Johnson's admins
tration increased the assessed valua-
| tion Of the steel corporations iron ore
| holdings in Minnesota from $32, ,O00, 900
to $190,000,000.
The sleeping-car companies of Min
nesota had never paid,Ataxss in iiu-
nesota In proportion to thcir earn.Drs.
The governor recommended a change
In the system Of taxing these compan-
les and satisfactory law was enacted.
Similarly. rational law as to mort
gage taxation was enacted.
- Railway Regulation.
Taking up freight rates, Governor
Johnson In a powerful speech so ex-
haustiVely and conclusively barred ex-
islng unequal and exorbitant rates
that the railway companies voluntarily
made a reduction Of ten per cent. on
grain rates on their lines in northern
Minnesota. BY order Of the railway
commission, reinforced by subsequent
legislation, this voluntary reduction
was followed by a horizontal reduc-
ton In maximum freight rates of about
l3 per cent, and there was created
a new class Of merchandise tariff in
Whlch the rates were reduced about
~ per cent. The railways took these
reductions into the United States
courts, by enjoining the attorney gen.
eral Of Minnesota from enforcing the
law. This action has opened up some
OF the most important litigation in.
volving constitutional Interpretation
that has come before the supreme
! court in this generation.
The Two.Cent Law.
The enactment Of the two-cent pas.
senger tariff law was an example of
Governor Johnson's celerity of action.
Invited to address the Minnesota Edi.
torial association, instead of making
the usual platitudinous address on
such occasions, ''he exploded the two.
cent bomb and urged that an end be
put to the giving Of passes He talked
, on the same subject to a convention
of commercial travellers. Immediate
ly the state was sflame with this limo.
walton in railway legislation. When
the legislature met, he asked for a law
embodying this Idea and the .lesisla-
ture quickly responded. Neighboring
states followed with reductions, and