Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1924-01-24
WISCONSIN TAX LAWS UNDER
HEAVY FIRE INDUSTRIES MOVE

on what is happening IN Wisconisa
It appears that the state is now remp-
ing the consequences Of a fool systanm
Of taxation. Says the Country Gsn-
tleman:
with it's wonderful climate, les
wealth Of transportation facilities, it's
great stores of raw materials and tn
proximity to markets, Wieconaim
should be one Of the leading naanufae-
turing states Of the Middle West. It.
should continually hustle forward in-
dustrialiy and thus create home mar
kets for the products Of les farms
eBut its great factories are mov-
ling to other statea. The Palmollve
company is the latest 10 make ths
shift The executive offices Of sha
Simmons Bed company moved last
winter and there has been talk oe
moving the factory. The Green Bay
Foundry company moved 10 Michigan.
The Cooper Underwear company s9
Kenosha, when Il came time to expand
Its factory, built It In Michigan. Tha
H. w. Johns Manville company, maA-
ufacturers Of asbestos, for many yeaxs
in Milwaukee, built its new paame
across the state line in Illinois 0tiasw
Of the states industries are considek4
ing moving. Industries seeking m@w
locations look ct Wisconsin and settaa
elsewhere
'sWhy all this dissatisfaction wieh
Wisconsin, The answer givsn ia al
ways the same. They do not Ike L@-
Toilette and his radical policies Tases
find the Wisconsin system 6f taxatsom
burdensome. 1t is difficult, they aa~
ssrt, for them to nsest TIA cOmpssskian
Of rivals II Ssher states which do n@s
psnalize buslness. So they move awmv
and stay away.
'The Wisconsin tax system wms
launched with high hopes. Tt wms
hailed as great instrument Of hm-
man betterment and a model for al
to follow. Il pre-
posed, among other things, 20 relieva
the farmer OF obvious burdens and ~
sought to give labor certain advzn
tages at the expense Of capital.
"But now capital is running away
taking Jobs and payroll with It and
leaving behind the tax burden. As
usual, labor will pay very little Of this
abandoned tax load. But the farmsrs
certainly will. There were points sf
merit In Wisconsin's theory Of taxa
tion, but the plan seems 10 lack s0me-
thing in practice"
We suggest that our readers perume
carefully this editorial. The facts
are there. There can be no question
but what the Badger State is begin-
ming to reap what It has sowed IN
foolish tax laws. Wisconsin Is looked
upon by great many people as Our
most progressive state, at least in 10
far as her legislative acts are con-
cerned. II measure had the WiscOn-
sin tradAYark on Il, that stamped IL
as a progressive measure and It was
swallowed by many people The mis-
take these people make is in taking
something that is new in legislation
as being progressive They overlook
the fact that new measure may ba
It denotes progress
,nIy when it establishes Improvement
1pon the old.
Reference to this matter Is particu-
arly= timely at this time view OF
Ehat has been transpiring in Montana
turing the last several years. Mon
ana has been and is being tortured
md, in an economic sense, penalized
~ a group Of poIiticias who consider
{ the highest achievement to infliet
lpon the state a series Of pernicious
AK laws. Largely devoid Of all scien
ific understanding Of these measures
md their reaction upon the economic
development Of the state, these pcEi
icians consider they have cIinched al
when they can excIaim.
wisconsin has itl" Well, Wisconsin
has it in measure full and
lowing over. But what is more 70 the
oint is that Wisconsin is suffering.
he is slipping fast as q naanufactur-
az state and as this class Of tnxak1e
roperty is being reduced, her landH,
,hich can not be taken to neighboF-
ig state, must assume even greater
* burdens. The probabilities mxe
rat before long the peoDle 81 That
bate, having tasted fruit Of their Iew-
ilative foollshness will repudiate "
Il and return to economic sanity ~
,eir tax Legislation. Fergus Coansy
rgus.