The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-03-10
THOMAS CONLIN OUTLINES
VIEWS ON TONNAGE Tx

In letter published in the Charlotte
Republican Thomas Conlin. editor II
the Crystal Fails Diamond Drin, ont
lines some Of the reasons why the state
grange should move slowly in the mat
ter Of the proposed ioanagc tan. Mr
Conlin makes the poiu, that the tom
mage tax would be hardship for the
small taxpayer. lie writes
Are you aware that ught now there
is a contest on in almost an parts of
this peninsula To keep The mineral i'm
terests from crowdipg am unjust bur-
den of taxation uron the resident
but that tie mineral interests Mould
welcome a tonnage taN that would eN-
empt them from the burden ot sup
porting the local municipal govern
ments What they fear is a tax that
will he unjust i'm that they will have
To support the local institutions and
contribute more then their share 10
the state also. What the resident
property owners fear is that. before
this agitation ends the burden Of sup
porting local institutions viii be
thrown upon non mineral property.
If il is we might just as well walk out
OF our houses and farms and let them
revert 10 the state.
This is no overdrawn picture. The
resident property Of this school dis
trict couldn't possibly support oar
schools alone. Your people don't u0-
derstand the conditions here. In this
district there are close 10 1000 school
children. and OF that number not TWEEN
~ per cent belong 10 resident proper
ty owners. The bulk of these children
belong To the families living i'm the
houses erected by the mining COM
panieS. These people have no intc"-
ests in the community other than what
they eat. drink and wear and the mon
count. When the mines close down
they move out and when the mines
open up again they return This float
ing labor population is an asset If
the mining companies, as necessary
to the operation of the properties as
the machinery which hoists the or.
II is profitable to have this labor and
and conditions are made as inviting
rs possible, especially those condi-
lions that will result from the eXpcn-
liture Of public money. | believe that
our public money is used to better
advantage than is the money cxpond
ed in the lower peninsula, because it's !
expenditure is supervised by the min |
ing officials who seek To get MI they |
AN for the dollar. There is very lit |
lie graft in localities where the min
ng companies are Interested.
Under the present ad valorem sys-
erm the mineral interests pay tho !
Dig share of this tax. as they should, |
or. rs ! have shown, they are the ones |
hat make the expense necessary. |
Some of your tonnage tax advocates |
want 10 take the tax paid by these
mining companies into the local trea- !
ury under the nd valoreum system ana |
lav" II paid into the state treasury |
lnder the specific tonnage tav
think tina, this group of tax reform
RS is growing less because they can
zee that the local institutions cannot !
De kept up if that condition should
'ome To pass.
Then we have another iot-and
rom what I can learn it constitutes
he big bulk Of the tonnage tax advo-
'ates-who seek to put two kinds al
AVIATION i'm force. one kind To care for
he local institutions ard the other ia
leu of the state tax. the the first to
De- assessed al valoreum the last on
he tonnage.
Has ii occurred to the advocates
# this system to figure where the
tate tax apportioned to the countries
With the mines will come from? Iron
county, with it's $4,000 worth of state