The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1924-04-25

banks on a Saturday night. Young
men and women, middle aged peo-
pie even, seem TO be depositing their
money in savings accounts with q
prodigality that is shocking.
In the old days of booze the
banks were dark on a Saturday
night and the saloons were swarm
ing with wage earners who had Just
been paid off.
Now the saloon buildings are oc-
cupied by restaurants, stores and
Greek shining parlors and hat clean
ing establishments. It's awful the
amount of money that is being
spent for clothes, shoes and food In
Minneapolis. The picture shows get
their share, too, and the refresh
ment vending drug stores.
But the banks, all brilliantly
lighted and with extra help work
ing, seem to be taking away most
of the wage earner's money.-Min-
netonka Record.
Sit Up And Take Notice.
The following from the Hibbing
Daily Tribune applies to all, not to
Hibbing alone:
Mr.. Citizen of Hibbing. this means
You.
Elsewhere in the Tribune today
appears an Associated Press dis
patch from st. Paul voicing a de-
mand for the absorption by the
State of all revenues from iron ore.
Mutterings Of this thing have been
heard for a long time. Its ad-
vocates, and they are many, are now
getting out into the open with a
vigorous drive to rob the people Of
Hibbing and other range towns Of
practically all of their tax revenues.
This movement is the direct, in
evitable result of the tonnage tax
plus the extravaganza and wasteful-
ness of the range towns.
When the Minnesota Fair Tax
association was organized upon the
iron ranges to fight the tonnage
tax many people on the ranges
themselves thought it was a move
ment of the mining companies to
escape taxation. They are now
slowly beginning to realize that it
was nothing of the sort, that, in
stead, it was a concerted attempt
to save for the localities of the iron
ranges taxable revenues which the
state was threatening TO absorb.
Those who organized the Mime
sofa Fair Tax association to fight
the tonnage tax had to beg and i'm
plore the people of the ranges for
support. Many absolutely refused
to give any support whatever; they
said the people were not concerned,
that mining companies could afford
to pay the tonnage tax.
The mining companies can afford
to pay the tax, but we are now be-
ginning to have it demonstrated TO
US that we cannot afford to have
them pay it. The people are con-
cerned, vitality concerned.
It is only the beginning Of other
inroads by the state upon the tax
revenues of Hibbing and every other
range community. The ultimate aim,
now frankly stated, is the absorption
gy the state of all tax revenue from
iron ore.
We cannot now avoid the tonnage
tax. 1t is an accomplished fact be-
cause we failed to unite against it.
But we can unite to fight this
new and greater menace-the at
tempt of the rest of the state to
strip US clean.
And he first thing to do is to set
our house in order-to quit being
an offense in the nostrils of the
state, to end our orgy of reckless
spending, to show the state that we
are getting something besides graft
for our tax moneys.
It's big job.
But let's make no mistake about
it-either we will do the job or the
state will finally take from Us all
that we have to spend.
The two horns Of the dilemma
may not either be very pleasant
but one merely entails a reasonable
self-restraint, the other is absolute
ruin.
Take your choice while you have
any choice to take.
Keep Tax Money Al Homei
On another page Of the Mesaba
Miner viii be found an article deal
ing with a proposed law to take
away from Northern Minnesota
towns the tax money levied on iron
ore on the ranges. This appears to
be innocent talk by a professor in
the University Of Minnesota but it
is charged with most dangerous pos
sibilities.
Northern Minnesota, the range
section at any rate, is in an entirely
different situation from any other
section Of the state. Other sections
have diversified Observation-Disclosures,
manufacturing and other affairs.
The range has but one-mining.
The support of the fine institutions
of the range is dependent upon tax
money.
The towns on the ranges have
been called the richest villages in
the world, and to a large extent
this is true. But range communities
are faced with a problem entirely
different from those Of Southern
Minnesota. Here are large crowds
of foreigners and foreign born. The
problem here is to educate them and
their children in good citizenship.
For that purpose it is necessary to
have the best equipped schools in
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