The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1939-06-15

"A.
who was a candidate for governor be-
fore the primaries, has written letter
which has gained some circulation IN
southern sections of the state in which
DR.. Northrup, assumes to say that the
Northern Minnesota mining industry
generally should be carrying greater
portion of the total tax in the state
than it Is.
The letter was printed in the Dodge
County Republican at KaSson. Sena-
tor Fred W. BeSSette, secretary OF the
Timber Producers Association of Du-
luth and Orr, and former resident
of Dodge County, has answered the
NorthrlIp letter in vigorous and de-
tailed manner in letter to the Re-
publican in which he says:
Editor Dodge County Republican,
KaSon, Minnesota.
Dear Sir:
As a native of Dodge County read
your paper with interest whenever it
comes to hand.
On April % last, you published a
signed article by DR.. Harson A. North
rop entitled The Triumph of a Youth
full Governor" A large part of the ar
ticle was devoted to the subject of iron
ore taxation.
am not diSputing your statements
relative to Governor StaSsen'S showing
during his term to date. I do wish tc
correct some of the miSstatements made
relative to iron ore taxation. have
lived in st. Louis County for many
years and during part of the time have
served in the State Legislature. Fol
that reason I have been familiar with
some of the problems of the mining
industry and the Range towns and have
made quite an extensive study of th'
general subject of the taxation of ou
iron ore industry.
In this article, Mr.. Northrup states
with this new increased tax on iror
ore, Minnesota now gets ten cents ;
ton or nearly so, out of her iron" II
fact, Minnesota has since 1921 been col
lecting 696 cents per ton in taxes OF
all iron ore produced See Table Nc
9, page 125, of the recent publication
by the Minnesota Tax Commission en-
titled Chapters 1 to TX of the Six
tenth Biennial Report of the Mime
sofa Tax Commission" During the las
five years, the total taxes paid by tn
mining companies in Minnesota hav
averaged 81 cents per ton of ore ship
ped from the state. Since the groS
value Of ton of ore at the mouth o
the mine has during this five-year per
iod run from $2.48 to $296, with al
average of about 1910 (see Table Nc
10, same Report, the tax during tn
last five years has equaled 80 per cen
of the value of all ore produced. N
other industry in the state pays sue,
a percentage of the gross value of ii
products in taxes to the State of Min
neSota
Where Mr.. Northrop made an error
in forgetting the fact that under GU
state laws the mining industry, beside
paying the occupation and royalty take
to the state itself, must pay the ordin
airy ad valorem taxes or land taxes
the local communities. Your articl
assumes that the occupation and royal
ty tax is the only tax the mining in
duStry has to bear. These ad valorei
taxes alone amount to Sc cents per to
on all iron ore produced (Table No. 81
His next statement is that MinneSot
has a corner on iron ore in the Unite
States. just recently there was put
ished in the newspapers of the stat
an article by the United States Burea
of Mines giving figures on 1888 iro
ore production of the United State
This article showed that of the tot;
iron ore produced in the United State
Minnesota produced 81 per cent, tn
Lake Superior district as whole mir
nesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, pre-
duced rs per cent, and states othe
than the Lake Superior district pre-
duced 25 per cent.
This is long way from having COZ
ner on iron ore production. But thos
figures tell only part of the story. !
fact during the past five years 81 pr
cent of all the steel made in the Unite
States was made not from iron ore bl
from scrap iron and steel. This scra
industry is now bigger source Of ra
material for the steel industry tina
the iron ore mines, and the use of scra
is growing. In the five years frol
1906 to 1910, inclusive, 40 per cent {
all the steel made in the United State
was made from Minnesota ore. In tn
last five years, 1884 to 1888, inclusiv
only 81 1-2 per cent of the steel mad
in the United States was made froI
Minnesota iron ore.
In the 1906 to 1910 period, only
per cent of the steel was made froI