The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1913-02-07
Tonnage Tax n.,ssIs, Before Ii. lsgis-
|atufs, Which ht Range Country is
Protesting Against Would Paralne H.
dustries alt Woun Cripple the Public
sehooIs-::Prsssstaltoa Of Facts by La.
tayste Bliss whieh Has Endorsement
Of Every School Superintendent on the
Range.

less except for it's ore content. If
the element of ore value is taken out
of the real estate-as it apparently
will be if it is taxed on a tonnage
basis, for it cannot be taxed twice
there will be nothing left to tax, for
under the present assessed valuation
in St. Louis county outside of Du-
luth 95 per cent is in the mines.
Where Danger Lies.
1t has been proposed in several in
definite ways to return to this county
some portion of the revenue OBJ
tanned by the state from a tonnage
tax. This would carry the assurance,
if the proportion returned to the
county were large enough, that some
of the communities would have the
when the mines were operated. But
we have undertaken the maintenance
u tHCoO oCHOOlo pCl u IL
der the present form of direct tax
alton we have a certain and increas-
ing revenue for school purposes. If
tonnage tax were applied only
those mines operating would yield
revenue. 1t happens frequently
that a mine or group of mines are
shut down for the reason that there
is no market for the peculiar ores
yielded. If, under the operation of
the tonnage tax law proposed, such
a condition should be Drecipitated
affecting the mines about Virginia,
for instance, the entire revenue
would cease, three thousand children
would be thrown out of school and
chaos would reign in the community,
the work of years being undone in
a few months. ltkEis a very real
danger that threatens the schools
of the iron range, for it is quite with
in the range OF possibility that
changed economic conditions might
cause all operations on the range to
be suspended. A change in the
times, a falling off or cessation in
the demand for iron and steel, is
something always to be contemplate
ed. In that event the tonnage tax
would produce no revenue and what
would prove but temporary in
convenience under the present sys-
TEN of direct taxation would be
turned into an irremediable disaster.
These conditions are urged upon
the attention Of the people of the
state and upon the members of the
legislature. We do not object to the
state taking whatever of revenue it
deems just from these mines, but the
means whereby that revenue is to
be taken is not a problem to be
solved instantly by lawmakers who,
no matter how excellent their inten-
tions, cannot possibly determine off
hand what the result of sweeping
change in the revenue laws affect
ing vast and varying interests will
be. We already have a tax COM
mission with expert advice which has
labored for many months in prepar-
ing a scheme of taxation to. apply to
this mining community by which the
constitutional and equitable rights
of all the persons and parties in
volved are respected The state
sacrifices no rights and no revenue
by leading the method of collectine o
the taxes as it is, or by making pro-
vision for a proper and deliberate
investigation of the conditions. The
state is not confronted by an emar-
geny requiring a change from the
present methods. Under the opera
! ton of the existing tax laws there
has been a progressive increase in
the assessed valuation of the mines
in St. Louis county. The following
| table shows that the development ot
the iron mines has been followed ny
! constant and large increase in the
! assessed valuation of the mines: