Minneapolis spokesman., 1962-02-02
Horn AsSoiIS
Tribune Support
Of Tuconife Plan
CONTINUED from Page l

property by condemnation, which
is one Of the most powerful wea-
pons in the hands Of any industry.
'The industry has been allowed
to hold land over a long period of
time, Taconite land, at low tax.
Too Fairly Taxed
There is no evidence that the
industry has been taxed unfairly.
We think the facts are the industry
has been too fairly taxed.
State Doesn't Know Extent OF Ore
"The State has never known how
much iron ore is owned and con-
trolled by the steel industry. When
the State has attempted to go on
industry-owned property for the
purpose of estimating the unmined
iron ore in order to arrive at a fair
basis for assessment, the State has
been charged with trespass by the
owners, and the charge has been
upheld in the courts. Imagine any
other property owner trying to
keep the assessor off his premises.
1.-THE only information the State
has ever been able to obtain on the
ore yet unmined is the information
given to it by the industry, and a
look at the record would lead one
to believe that the information has
been meager. In 1921 under the ad
valorem tax, the mining compan-
les were assessed on the basis of
1-billion tons of unmined ore de-
posits. Thirty years later, they
were still being assessed Of the
basis of 1-billion tons of unmined
high grade ore. What happened to
the taxes on the several billions
tons Of high grade ore that were
mined during that period?
Now somebody failed to pay
taxes on that ore. It could not have
been you or us, as we did not own
any Of the mined ore-at least we
assume that. Do you think this was
unfair to the mining companies?
Discoverer OF Ore Eliminated
Discovery of iron ore in this state
was made by a family called Mer-
ritt. Thanks to the praying and
preaching of two or three people,
and mostly praying. the Merritt
family was eliminated. From that
time the praying has been on the
part of the miners. The steel COM
panies brought into the area liter
ally thousands of immigrants, poor
people from Europe. They brought
them in by the train-loads to work
in the mines at low wages. So you
talk about prosperity for the min
ers. We have never known the
miners to be prosperous, and neith-
er have you.
All we have heard from the
TRIBUNE and the Governor is: "If
you don't do this or that, the min
ing companies will go elsewhere"
Such scare propaganda is ridicul-
GUS and certainly you cannot be-
lieve that. The mining industry is
in an excellent location; in no 9TH
er place is there such enriched
ore, from which Taconite can be
beneficiated. The State Of Mime
sofa is far superior to any other
area.
Same Mining Firms Satisfied
"Some mining companies have
publicly expressed complete salts
faction with the fair and under
standing treatment afforded the
Taconite industry in Minnesota.
They are not demanding that their
taxes be reduced, and these are
some of the companies that have
built and are operating Taconite
beneficiating plants in Minnesota,
one the largest single producing
plant on the continent. These COM
panies are expanding their facilit-
les NOW in order to make possible
SO per cent increase in produc-
ton.
I'm looking over the financial
statements of Cleveland-C Cliffs, Re-
public, National Steel, United
States Steel and Oliver Mining,
there is convincing evidence to
presume that over the period of
years, they have not suffered much,
but they have made money, a .tre-
mendous amount of money. They
have hauled away huge amount
of virgin high grade ore from
Minnesota that will never be re- I
placed. They have given employ
ment, but they have made excellent
profits. If anybody believes that
the poor steel companies will not
survive, we suggest you call in
your analysts and financial experts
and look at their annual state
ments.
Why Not Let People Vote On
Matter?
Why don't you let the people
vote on the matter? A newspaper
with over 100000 circulation could
almost single-handedly get the
adopted, although we
do not think you would. But the
you carry on your
front pages and in your editorials,
could easily induce the people who