Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1912-06-07
AxAII0N IN .MIN!Nf|:SO
NINETEENTH ARTICLE, THE COST
aI1;,i or GOVERNMENT IN j. j. ~ 4.
-" + MINNESOTA ~ s=::> !.

4fHow much do the people Of Mime
sofa pay per capita for the. support Of
government, including snational, =, state
and, locali What part is this sum Of
their, total wealth1;,&* Is: the; burden; Of
taxation in Minnesota increasing fast.
yer than population or wealth. :. If so,
is it due Ito the extension Of public in.
-dustries, or. how ,tia .it to be explained I
For what purposes are the vast amounts
Of money spent, which, are raised by
taxation and public. loanaf What is. the
present outstanding debt of. all grades
Of government in Minnesota, and what
is. the annual debt interest charge, or
such ;debtf:Is: current revenue sufficient
to- meet ordinary expenses, or are some
municipalities going constantly deeper
into debt in order to pay interest or
previous loans and meet running ,ex'
pensess Especially, how do the several
counties, cities and villages compare il
these respects with one another and
with similar governmental units else
where7 m -.
In a democratic county, where the
final decision in all public matters rests
with the people, every intelligent citi
zen ought to be able to answer these
questions; but until very recently, NJ
citizen Of Minnesota could hope to fine
out 50 much as the aggregate amount
Of tax which he paid, to say nothing OF
the purposes for which It was spent OF
the amount of; public debt resting up
on him.. The first serious attempt tt
furnish information on this point was
made: in: chapters XIII. of the report
of the Minnesota Tax Commission fol
1910. The interest aroused by that re
port was convincing evidence that il
met a real. public. need: .:>.:.,: 49,.
The Tax Commission has therefore
resolved to- continue the study 'of thu
cost of government, in Minnesota in its
report for 1912. To; that end, the Com
mission has created a. Department OF
Research and Statistics, and has ap
pointed as director Of it Professor E. V
Robinson, who has charge of the cou rse!
in public; finance and taxation at thu
University Of Minnesota.
The starting point in any study Of
the cost Of government must be public
expenditures. A, private Citizen :regu
lates his expenditures according to his
income, if he. means to avoid bank
ruptcy; but in the case OF, governments
what is appropriated by the Legislature
and other spending bodies determines
how much must be raised by taxation
Not 2 few citizens, indeed, denounce
high taxes yet constantly. urge thei1
representatives in Congress and the
Legislature to support bill after bill
calling for increased appropriations
Such persons apparently think it is
possible for: the government to eat its
cake and keep it at the. same time The
fact is, however, that the government
has no magic fund Of wealth at its dis,
posal, but must take from the pockets
of the people whatever it determines to
spend.
The next article will show wherein
the present investigation is more ex.
tended than the one of 1910, and why
this expansion was necessary in order
to make plain the character Of public
expenditures in Minnesota.