The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-10-02

SundneSS, chief chemist for the Snyder
Mining company at Chisholm, spoke
before recent luncheon meeting OF
the KiwaniS club, not as the spokesman
for the mining companies but as an
individual citizen. He also spoke to
the Hibbing Chamber of Commerce and
representatives of the Virginia and
Eveleth Chambers.
Mr.. SundneSs spoke in part as fol-
lows:
IT am going to show you something
that I do not think has been publicly
explained in Chisholm or any other
place on the range before to my
knowledge. am going to expose to
you a mining company cost sheet and
show you what it costs to deliver our
ore to Lake Erie and show you the
price that is paid for it. I am going
to show one good reason why under
ground mines here are not operating
and am going to show you how it is
within your power to assist in getting
them to operate. Before I do this
wish to say that I am talking to you
as a citizen and not as representative
you will be only in the nature of a
suggestion which must be worked out
by you as best you can.
Taxes Affect All.
I'VE are all prone to think of taxes
in an abstract way-an indefinite
something to which attaches curse
according to everything we hear and
read about it-but something that af-
fects us personally in only small way
when we pay our little tax. Many of
us even bliSSfully say Il don't pay any
taxes but I make the big fellow pay
and I make industry pay" Industry
pays. Industry, that is another alb
Stract term. 1t is a term that is alb
solutely meaningless to many people
1t means only great big something
existing away out somewhere; that it
has an indefinite capacity to pay taxes.
I come here to try to show that in
duStry does not pay the taxes. Taxes
are an item of cost and must be paid
before industry can show profit, and
they are passing on to the ultimate
consumer and keep piling up step by
step in each process of manufacture
and you are the man to pay. Probably
not always in money but in loss of
employment to your community if it
moves out of your locality.
1.-THE tax burden which is slowly
sitting industry and is doing more in
my mind to prolong this depression,
would be eaSed, would be ightened,
if everybody would realize that in
duStry is just exactly the same kind of
men as you are.
The Tax Burden.
do you realize that since 1918 our
tax burden has increased from three
billion dollars to over twelve billion
dollars and that in 1882 it will prob
ably be $14,0O0,OOO,OO0? Yes there are
nine ciphers in those figures; there
are so many cipherS that when great
many people look at the figures they
see only the cipherS and the figures
mean nothing to them Taxes now
consume nearly 20 per cent of the
national income, 20 per cent of the
collective earnings of all the peoples
in the United States.
William Bennett Munro, of Harvard
University, in his study of tax ex-
penditureS, is responsible for the
statement that 40 per cent of the tax
dollar is wasted. Forty per cent of IL
billion dollars is nearly II billion dol
lars in waste.
Nov we are, locally and nation
ally talking more taxes in the shape
of bond issues for unemployment re-
liefS. I think we are wrong. 1 think
the limit has been reached and the
pendulum must begin to swing in the
other direction. A prominent man in
Duluth made statement that tax re-
lief was more important than unem-
ployment relief and he has been
roundly criticized for it. He has been
criticized by those whom I wish to
designate as unthinking people; people
who do not possess the power to an
alize problem to its final depths;
people who accept for facts the I'M
reliable figures given out by persons
whose tongue wags at both ends, who
are not responsible to any one for
what they say and who have no
legitimate or reliable source of infor-
nation. 1 want to tell you that I for
one, heartily agree with this man His
idea is to get tax relief so that industry
can get by and work with a 100 per
cent dollar instead of using the gov
ernment'S 40 per cent deficient dollar
and in this manner afford permanent
relief to labor and the whole country.
Were Happy Then.
Let us look at our local situation.
Twenty years ago all our streets and
alleys were not paved; we did not have
our beautiful Community building; we
did not have our wonderful schools or
our half million dollar park. Neither
did we have an annual outlay of over
100000 for bonds and interest But,
we had work You merchants were
being paid for your goods even though
the customers came into your store
with muddy feet and every one was
happy the year around because there
was an abundance of underground
work
II want to show you one reason why
those mines are not working today
and leave it to you to work out the
remedy.
Before do that want to mention
the st. Lawrence waterway Selfishly
I don't like it. I don't see where it
is going to do this country any good.
With the waterway an accomplished
fact we are to meet right at Cleveland
high grade foreign ore, produced by