The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1937-06-17
Tuning In on The Minnesota
Legislature
By SENATOR VIM WEBER

! GIle CITY OF MOOrnedQ. Even the llttlS
towns of Mountain Iron had per capits
expenditures of $4,000 and Buhl. 500
as compared with per capita expendi
lures of $500 for Pine City and $50:
for Brainerd, much larger than either
of the range towns.
Had the committee the time to seel
further information they would have
found even more startling things. Co.'S
of school maintenance per month woulc
startle the average person, running close
to the hundred thousand mark, pei
month, in Hibbing. In my own town
of Slayton, with over 400 students, the
expenditures do not aggregate so large
an amount in two years.
OF course the range municipalities
and school districts have problems far
different from those in other sections
The completely of their society is a
tremendous problem. To this writer's
knowledge there were 26 different ma
tionalities represented in the student
body in the Hibbing school but a few
years ago, and doubtless that condition
still prevails.
The climate, too, has its disadvan-
tages, while whatever OF beauty there
is for the greater part artificial.
But to south state legislators the
wholesale spending of money is little
short of criminal. Why, they ask, does
the Superintendent of Schools in Hib-
bling receive $750000, a salary as large
as that of the Governor of our state and
far larger by twice, than the average
in the state. And why is it necessary
to have a school building, the cost of
which totals more than the City Hall
and Court House in st. Paul
The voters on the range care little
what they vote in the way of taxation
for the mining companies pay better
than 80 per cent of the total tax BILL
and since most of the leaders in the
community get their tax money back
out Of the mining companies by hold
ing village, township or school positions,
1t makes no difference to them whether
their tax is ten per cent of the total
or fifty per cent.
Rep. Stockwell, of Hennepin, was 80
years old Monday and was given due
tribute. While few agree with him in
his socialistic theories, everybody loves
him and wish him many years of use
fulness to his home city and his state.
But few, if We are any judge, wish
him success with his usual bill, the So
called Hydro-electric bill, which would
eventually bankrupt the state. Mr..
Stockwell would appropriate a cool
fifty-five million to get his pet hobby
started and would leave to the future
the appropriation of another $780,
100000 Or 200 million to complete it.
This bill has been introduced session
after session by Rep. Stockwell, but as
always suffered the same fate that it
undoubtedly will this session-defeat.
The House is not disposed to swallow
the House intermin committee tax bills,
If the slaughter of interim bills is any
criterion. In any event not single
bill has been passed as sponsored by the
interim committee.
The House committee, no less than
As members, is pretty fair cross
section of that body and of the state
and the membership looks with trepid-
alton upon the coming election should
they incur the wrath of the electorate.
The Homestead Exemption bill came
through, but only after several compro-
misses were made. This bill, chosen as
the campaign issue, is apt to prove a
boomerang. The impression has gone
out that the exemption includes all
taxes on homeSteadS, whereas the House
bill merely relieves the homestead from
the state tax. 1t has been pretty well
agreed that the rate for the next BIZ
ennium will not exceed 10 mills. If this
be true then the homesteader will save
but $1,000 on his homestead taxes.
It was the Senate that brought some
real relief to the homesteader back in
1888, Sen. Rockne pointed out the other
day. In that session a bill was intro
duced and passed reducing the valua-
ton on which taxes would be paid from
40 per cent to Is per cent. This law
saved the homesteaders of the state
millions of dollars and continues to do
so. If the liberal House wants to be