The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1909-12-22
Not Ready to Give Up Lind.
From fist page.

From Ill st page.
Southern Minnesota on the other
hand, is:
Mortified ............... 81 ,288. 600
Rochester. ......... I.Iol,uOU
Albert Lea. ......... 2,lO3,0O0
The only thing it was sought to
emphasize in presenting these fig
ures was the low rate of taxation
imposed under our present system
on mining property. A taxpayer in
Mortified, Albert Lea or Rochester
has to pay as much school taxes on
property worth $4,000 as the owners
of a mine at Virginia or Hibbing has
to pay on property worth $4,000 or
$4,000. It is the same way with
other local taxes. While they pay
taxes at the same rate for state pur-
poses it can readily be seen that the
sum of the rates of taxation paid by
the mine owner on his property is
much less than the sum of the rates
paid by the taxpayers in any town
or village outside of the iron range.
1t can also readily be understood
that raising the value of mining
property does not materially affect
the taxes levied for local purposes.
The higher the value is the lower
the rate will be. The actual money
paid would in either case be practi-
eally the same.
This only leads to one conclusion,
and that is. that in order that iron
property shall pay as much taxes in
proportion to its value as the prop
erty of the farmer or the business
man, some new way of taxing it
must be devised. In Great Britain,
where there is an income tax, this
question has been solved. There the
mine owner pays taxes in proportion
to the income he derives from the
mine. Under the system submitted
in the budget, the greater the in
come, the higher the tax rate would
be. We haven't advanced that far
on this side of the Atlantic; but
every day it is more clearly seen that
the direction in which tax reform is
needed is to make the rich man or
the rich corporation pay as high a
rate of taxes on what he owns as the
man in moderate circumstances
the plain farmer or merchant
whose property is all in Sights
compelled to pay. The reason at.
tention is specially directed to iron
property is that it is tangible-it is
in sight. Its products can be mea
sured. The taxes paid on it are
known. They are greatly less ir
proportion to it's value than the tax
es on other tangible property.
The problem presented as to how
iron property should be taxed wa.
one to which Governor Johnson fire
quently referred. 1t was admirably
summed up him in one of his inau.
guraI messages: The problem
which confronts the state in the tax
alton Of its vast iron ore properties, ;
he said, lis the practical impossible
ty of applying to these mines valu
alton and tax rate which weul(
cause them to pay just proportion
of taxes on basis of equality will
other property throughout the
state" Then. after pointing GU
that an increase of assessment would
not affect this purpose, he conclud
ed: ct is plain that if the irol
mines of st. Louis county paid al
the taxes levied for all purposes il
that county outside of the taxes paiC
by city property, they would still
pay only comparatively small pro
portion of their fair and just ia,
burden as compared with othe
property in the stase." The prob
lem referred to by Governor John
son is still unsolved.