Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1918-10-16
OBSERVATIONS s; E R ' 4
(ey a cornfieId PhiIosopher.)
Vll.-The Problem of Taxation.

rived?" We have the national govern
ment and its vast expenditures to sup
port and the State. as we'll as county
and local governments and the schools
The national government. is almost
unlimited in its scope; 1t can tax any
thing-even the air we breathe If it
could be measured, so far as It's power
is concerned, and we gladly pay these
taxes because they are being largely
used to carry on holy war against
seliishness and greed and devilish
design against not only American
ideals but even Civilization itself.
State Taxes.
But the State tax laws must con-
form to a constitution adopted more
than a-half century ago and entirely
out-of-date. We raise a goodly sum
of money yearly to support the various
activities of the State of Minnesota.
In 1917 the total appropriated fifty
three millions of dollars. This is al
most SIS for every man, woman and
child in the State. This year the sum
will likely exceed sixty millions and
we are told members of the tax COM
mission that taxes must stillgO higher
That is where differ with the tax
commission. We have, roughly speak
ing, three classes: tax payers, tax
eaters and tax shirkers. would COM
mence with the latter class and put
them all on the assessors rolls in
proportion to their wealth. If the Non
Partisan League can accomplish this
result it will cut the tax on farm prop
q lrn0 in in fho mid nd
earn or at least deserve the gratitude
OF every honest taxpayer in the State.
AS might be expected, the biggest tax
shirker in Minnesota is the biggest
business interest, that is, the owners
of the iron mines and smelters gener.
ally called the Steel Trust. AS mat
ter of fact the mineral wealth of Min
nesota is greater then all other classes
OF property combined. Much of this
wealth is undeveloped. 1t is located
in some eight counties-most Of it in
four: Lake, st. Louis, Itasca and Crow
Wing. Just why rich man should
seek to avoid paying his due share OF
the taxes is puzzle to me. 1t is not
true of all of them but seems to be
a failing with majority. If man
should obtain a piece of land from the
State for a mere song and then find
valuable mine upon it, unknown tc
the seller at the time it was sold
we would naturally think he would be
glad to divide up at least to the ex
tent of the legitimate taxes that would
acrue under the law. But no, he glee
fully tells a prospective purchaser il
is worth from 500 to $500, or ever
$1,000 per acre, but would
like to make the assessor believe that
it's true value" is $40 or less. The
big owners of mineral lands own, con
troll or influence big newspapers and
| have powerful business or politica
connections or both. Rash, indeed
would be the public official who would
dare to seriously antagOnize them
Their attorneys and lobbyists, mer
and women, swarm around the legis
lative chambers during the session ant
| by ways we'll known to them, seek tt
influence legislation and kill obnox
| ious measures-and alas, too Otter
| succeed!
The Tonnage Tax.
The present law provides that iro1
| ore should be assessed at SO per CEN
| of it's real and true value but under
| this act, common ore is valued at less
than 20 cents for taxable purposes
| Under the bill introduced in the
last legislature, so ably supported
by representative Bjorge of Beck
| err, Charlie Warner Of Aitkin
Henrik shipstead of Pope, and others
and which passed the House after {
hot fight, only to be killed In thu
Senate, it was proposed to assess tai
of per cent on the value of al
merchantable ore at the mouth O.
the mine. This meant that every TOT
of ore taken from Minnesota must con
tribute to the support of the State
| The value was to be determined large
ly by: first, the royalty; second, thu
labor; and third, by the price of thu
finished product. While the State sell!
it's ore (about one-tenth of the whole
output) for Is cents per ton, yet pri
vate parties exact a royalty which il
the price in the ground of $1.O0 o.
more per ton. The average labo
cost of bringing it to the service cal
be readily ascertained. Prior to tn
war, iron and steel billets and struc
tural forms ran from $500 to $3.50
per ton, jumping in 1915 to almos
500. President Wilson finally fixet
the price between $51.O0 and $500
This increase in the price of tn,
finished product should at least double
the value of the raw material. 1t wa!
estimated that at the present rate O.
production-about seventy millions O.
tons annually-a two per cent tai
would bring in revenue of nearly
two millions every year. The prin
ciple established, the rate could bt
raised, so that ore property could be
assessed on substantially the same
| basis as farm lands and other species
of property. Among the Senators who
voted against this tax and who had for
merly supported it was Hon. Ole Sag
eng of Ottertail county. In my judg
ment, no man who voted against The
Tonnage Tax ought to be elected tC
the next legislature as it will be one
| of the principle issues, and for this
reason Hon, H. o. Bjorge of Becker
should receive the solid support OF
all the voters in his district who be-
lieve in a square deal in matters Of
taxation.
Terminal Elevators Lightly Taxed.
The next class of tax shirkers, in my
judgment, are the owners of the big
terminal elevators All Of these ele.
vators in Minneapolis have never
been able to find out the exact mum.
ber-were assessed in 1915 at little
over $4,000 Besides, grain, wheat
and fax in these storage places pays
tax Of approximately one cent on
forty bushels, while the same grain
found in a farmers granary on the
first day of May will be taxed at about
one cent on each bushel.
Big lumber and milling companies
come in next on the list. Saw logs
are assessed where the priciple mill