Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1920-06-09
TAX
PROPAGANDA FUNNY
Advertising of Fair" Tax Asso-
citation Declared tumble
of Half Truths
(By A. B. Gilbert)

Advertising promised by the Min
nesota Fair. Tax association to the
local newspapers of Minnesota
against the tonnage tax is now in the
hands of the editors, if not already
before the reading public.
And it would appear that the asso-
citation expects that the money so
handed out to local editors would do
more in rounding up votes for the
steel trusts candidates than the ad-
vertising itself. For the advertising
is clumsy tumble of half-truths and
plain misstatements which any voter
could see through.
Let us look, for. a>moment, at a
few of the statements which these
advertisements display in bold-faced
type:
(1t THAT the steel trust owns or
controls only 32 of the 1872 iron mines
OF the state, that it does not own or
operate a single mine on the Cuv-
una range, and that it does not con-
troll one-haf of 1 per cent of the iron
ore known to exist in Minnesota"
! have before me full 1919
report Of the mining operations
of the United States Steel COR
poration, which is issued Only TO
so Of the most important officers
in this so-caIed trust. This re-
port shows that the trust has SO
mines in Minnesota and these
So mines shipped 56.6 per cent of
the total iron ore shipped from
Minnesota in 1919. In 1918 the
trust shipped SIG per cent, In
1917 55.3 per cent, and in 1916
59.4 per cent.
Consequently, it is obvious that
these So mines mine more ore
than all the rest put together:
Immense Ore Reserves
This confidential report also shows
the ore reserves of the steel trust on
the Mesabe range to be 974,325,9 ,905
tons Of standard ore Of $500 per cent
or better. It also has a vast amount
of sandy ore there which can be made
profitable with little washing. On
the Vermillion range it has 10,704;874
tons of standard ore of 62.21 per cent
iron or better
The state tax commission in 1917
reported the remaining tonnage in
the whole state as only 1,386,291, 1853
tons.
The steel trust evidently ought to
let it's publicity agents know what the
real facts are before they start work.
And it would look as if the tax COM
mission were somewhat shy on the
real facts too.
(2) "That the Guyana range, Min
nesota's newest iron range, a field of
low-grade ores, is languishing today
because of excessive iron ore taxa
ton and that any further mineral tax,
no matter what it's FORM =
will completely put it out of busi-
ness"
The ad valorem tax now levied, con-
trary to the above statement, tends to
encourage mining because the ore in
the ground is taxed whether it is min
ed or not, that is, providing the as
SCISSORS have done thir work properly
If the law is enforced, the owners of
the Guyana range ore are hustling to
get as much ore mined as possible in
order to prevent paying taxes out of
capital.
Only Profit Taxed
1nasmuch as the tonnage tax pro-
posed by the progressive forces of
Minnesota is tax on the net earn
ings, it could in no way reduce min
ing operations on the Guyana range.
II there are no net earnings there is
no tonnage tax. The above point,
which only paid publicity agent could
fail to note, also answers the argu-
ment that the tonnage tax would dis
courage the development of the low.
grade ores of the state but 1 would
like to add here a point which will
clear up good deal of misinforma.
ton offered to the public in regard to
the cost of handling these low grade
ores.
The total washing cost per ton OF
concentrated ore in the steel trust
concentrating plants in 1919 was 14.S
cents ton. One hundred pounds of