The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-04-01
WARRING INTERESTS
Steel People Propose to Show the
Bio Railroad Magndte Where
lie Gets off at
TONNAGE TAX FIGHT
Lively Clash Over the J. N. Johnson
Bill to Prevent the Watering
of Stock

ST. PAUL, March 30-The steel trust
crowd has prepared a nice mess Of
crow for one James J. Hill, and pro-
pose now to show him where he gets
of at. That's what their support OF
J. N. Johnson's bill to prevent stock
watering means. They propose to
show the railroad people that they
will not be permitted to back on 9th
er interests just when they feel like
it,. If they don't get out now and
fight for the tonnage. tax the steel
trust crowd proposes to do in the
senate what they did in the house and
thus enact law which will compel
railroads to submit new projects to
to the railroad commission and pre-
vent the issuance of stock which does
not represent dollar for dollar money
invested in railroads. b..
Before the Johnson bill came up in
the house for passage, and it was a
special order for Friday last, the rail-
roads got wind of the fact that the
steel trust crowd had their knives out
for the@railroad people and were going
to get even by voting for the Johnson
bill, which the railroad fought tooth
and nail when it was introduced two
wears ago, and which this year was
the only measure they thought it
worth while to make . determined
stand against. On learning this they
went at once to the Duluth senator.
They threatened them that if the
steel trust crowd was not called off in
the house there would be all kinds of
things doing in the senate when the
tonnage tax bill came on. This threw
the st. Lonis delegation into panic,
and they posted of to the house to
see Congdon. who is the regularly de-
legated leader in the fight against the
tonnage tax. Congdon was in no hui
NOR, however, to be bulldozed He
had mapped out his campaign, and
the answer he sent back to the rail
road people, which is said to have
been embellished with considerable
emphatic and picturesque language,
was to the effect that they could go
to thunder. He didn't propose to be
dictated to, and he made up his mind
that the program he had mapped out
was about right and he was going to
carry it out. And that's just what
he did. With the aid of steel trust
votes the Johnson bill passed the
house and has been put up to the sem
ate, where the tonnage tax bill
awaits the action of the solons.
''Now," said the sporting member of
the st. Louis delegation. "we'll see
whether>or no Jim Hill will play ball"
There are avariety of opinions as to
what will be the result of Congdon's
bold move. Bob Wells, who himself
knows thing or two about politics,
says 1t means the defeat by the senate
OF both the Johnson bill and the tom
mage tax bill. The railroads and the
steel trust, he says, will not bite off
their noses to spite their faces. Mad
as their managers may be they will
get together and help each other out.
Others aren't so sure. Mr.. Hill they
say, is the very ID, when he is eros
sed. He hasn't forgotten that Joe
Cotton bitterly denounced the
management Of the merger roads in
his campaign on the range against
Governor Johnson last fall. He don't
take kindly to the story circulated by
steel trust papers that the tonnage
tax proposition was really scheme of
the railroads to ward off any legisla-
tive attempt to increase the gross
earnings tax by providing revenue
! from other sources. 1t is known that
his attention has been called to that
famous passage in Mr.. Congdon's brief
in which it is said that the Great
Northern lease was mot an ore deal,
but an operation in high finance ?
which was polite way of indicating
that Mr.. Hill had got something for
nothing out of the United States steel