Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1920-06-09

$500 8 svsv Il sn11eoe v19hin a.
1tsts. That being declared uncoastl
tutional. straight hvs-csnt tonnage
tax bill was offered BY Representative
Jefferson. Joined BY Representative n.
Q. Bj0rge. and was defeated.
But the issue came back sttll
stronger in 1909. and the bill passed
both branches OF the legislature. But
It was vetoed by the late Governor
John A. Johnson in q ringing message
which did 20 much to clear the public
Judgment on this measure that al an
issue It began from that time to
dwindle.
A tonnage tax bill was introduced In
the 1911 legislature. but It was beaten
In the house. never reaching the SEN
ate. s,ss .5:ffzS=...<Fss '
The bill was again introduced in the
1913 legislature, and again it was
beaten In the house. this time even
more decisively. .s..r.
So far had this issue paled in public
interest that in the 1915 session no
the tonnage tax was dead; dead be.
cause it had served its purpose and be-
cause people had become convinced
that 1t was wrong. *sz s5ga-.s.s
That seemed to be the end of the
tonnage tax, which had threatened to
divide the state into two hostile Sec
tlons, and it WOULD have been the
end Of it If Townleyism had not come
into the state. ".
In 1916 |Townley, flushed with
triumph from his North Dakota vic
tories, reached out for Miny sofa. See-
ing a plausible vote-getter in the ton
mage tax issue, Townley dug it up and
made it one of the principal planks in
the Nonpartisan platform Neverthe-
less, it was defeated in the 1917 legis-
lature and again in the regular session
of 1919; but it was rushed through in
panic by the special session of Sep
| TENDER, 1919, and vetoed by Governor
! Burnquist. liz
It will be an issue in this campaign
only because Townley has made it an
! issue.
Is Minnesota, having produced the
results it sought with this issue and
then dropped it, ready to risk deadly
injury to the people of the entire state
by adhering to this issue in order to
help the carpter-bagger Townley pull
political chestnuts out of the fire?
Facts Undisputed.
The people of Northern Minnesota.
| thru the Minnesota Fair Tax Associa-
ton have conclusively proved the fol-
lowing pertinent facts and no attempt
has been made by the proponents of
the tonnage tax to disprove them:
That no state levies a tonnage ,
tax.
That every state or country that
| has ever had tonnage tax has
abandoned It as unjust, unwise and
Improbable.
That the iron mines are now
paying taxes on higher valua.
tIon than any other form Of prop
erty In the state, that they are
paying higher rate on this high
| valuation than is paid by any
county In Southern Minnesota and
! : that the total revenue of the
I STATE ALONE this year from the
iron ore business Is more than
100000.
-. That the "steei trust" owns or
controls only 80 of the 1872 iron
mines Of the state, that it does not
own or operate a single mine on
the Guyana range, and that It does
not control ONE-HALF OF ONE
| PER CENT Of the iron ore known
to exist in Minnesota.
That the Guyana range, Mime.
sofas newest iron range, a field
Of low grade ores, ls languishina
today because Of excessive iron \
ore taxation and that any further
mineral tax, no matter what ito
/ form, tonnage tax, profits tax or
other super tax, will completely
put It out OF business-and this 10
a sample Of what such penalizina
taxes will do to all low grade iron
ore development in Minnesota. r..
That Minnesota has only 1,4oo-
100000 tons of commercial orc,
| but that It has hundreds Of billions
= Of tons Of low grade ore; that tom
mage tax will kill the Iron ore In
dustry In Minnesota In the next 80
to 20 years, but that II the deveI-
| opment Of the states low Grade
ore 10 encouraged iron mining In
| Minnesota will last for many CEN.
TURlEs.
! That the iron ore industry brinas
the STATE ALONE this year over
five million dollars In cash 40 we'll
40 an Astounding prosperity that
affects every portion Of the state
yearly cash payment and an an
! nual prosperity which will con-
tlnue undated, and probably In
crease II the Industry 10 encour-
aged, but which will cease entirely
In few decades II tho tonnage tax
| npAuala