Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, February 13, 1917, Page 2

THE BEIDJI DAILY PIONEER PUBLISHED EVERY AFTERNOON EXCEPT SUNDAY- THE BEMIDJI PIONEER PUBLISHING CO. @. E. CARSON E. H. DENU TELEPHONE 922 Entered at the postoffice at Bemidji, Minn., as second-class matter under act of Congress of March 3, 1879. No attention paid to anonymous contributions. ‘Writer’s name must e known to the editor, but not necessarily for publication. Communications for the Weekly Pioneer should reach this office not later than Tuesday of each week to insurg publication in the current issue. SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY CARRIER One year........:...:...$5.00 Three months... . 125 THE BY MAIL Six months............. 2.00 Three months............ 1.00 WEEKLY PIONEER Right peges, containing & summary of the news of the week. Pub- &Mmflufisymflmfipoafippfidhmydflmlfl,?d- OFFICIAL PAPER OF THE CITY OF BEMIDJI, MINNESOTA The Daily Pioneer is a member of the United Press Association, and i represented for foreign advertising by the— The famous Hibbing “graft” scandal was completely exploded Satur- day and the whole thing was demonstrated to have been a gigantic political conspiracy when County Attorney Greene of St. Louis county dismissed all of the indictments. The November grand jury of St. Louis county composed entirely of Duluth men, returned 29 indictments against 14 prominent business men of Hibbing, including every member of the village council. All of the charges were l}.echnica.l, such as allowing fraudulent bills, being inter- ested in public contracts, etc. Two of the cases were tried last week and verdicts of ‘“not guilty” were promptly returned. So pitifully weak was the state’s case and so overwhelming the evidence for the defense in each case that the state threw up its hands after the second verdict and County Attorney Greene declared that he would not attempt to prosecute another case. He secured an adjournment of court for a week and on Saturday he dismissed all the indictments. Hibbing people freely charge that the indictments were the result of the long continued assault of the steel trust to oust Mayor Power of Fibbing and gain political cepntrol of the village. The swift and com- plete collapse of the state's case lends considerable color to the charge. The fight of the steel trust to gain political control of Hibbing had been going on for three years. The trust has been decisively defeated at every point. Previous to the above mentioned criminal actions, the village has won two sweeping civil suits started by the steel trust against the village. In 1915 the steel trust attempted to coerce the business men of the village by refusing to pay its taxes, but the business men stood pat and the trust finally paid all its taxes and $150,000 penalty. Mayor Power is a candidate for re-election in March. So overwhelm- ing is this latest defeat of the steel trust that it is probeble that Mr. Power will have no opposition this spring in his fifth successive campaign. C. M. Atkinson, publisher of the Hibbing Ore, charged with over- charghg in the publication of the 1916 financial statement, was found not guilty of the charges in just 43 minutes, and all charges against other Hibbing publishers were then dismissed. The whole thing was merely another attempt on the part of a gang to dominate and muzzle the newspapers of a city and finished just as all others have. There is a certain bunch in Bemidji who should take notice and profit thereby. So the little game of ‘‘coersion’ is being played, is it? Well, well, wouldn’t have believed it, hardly, if there was only one report, but when the fellows it’s being tried on say so, must be something to it. O, very well! As we remarked once upon a time, only a little more of the ‘“old stuff.” But it isn’t going to work this time. Nop! This trying to force men to vote for some one whom they' well know is not fit and don’t want and the ones trying to ‘“put it over” knowng the same thing is enough to make a decent and upright citizen hold his nose. It would indeed be interesting to know just what the game is. It would, indeed. . What is there to be afraid of if honest and efficient men are elected to office? . We rise to inquire, some more. We always supposed honesty and efficiency was desired in ANY business. And the citizen who cannot hold up his head and assert his manhood and rights, such as he is entitled to, has water instead of red blood in his veins. And just for that kind of domination there’s going to be a stinging rebuke administered. One week from today the new toboggan erected by the taxpayers of. Bemidji Is going to be dedicated with fitting ceremonies and it will be a case Of silver handles and satin lining, politically speaking, For some “politicians” who have been trying To get their feet in the bucket. And there will be mourning \And crepe for the gang ' And the band will play Pull for the Shore. So mote it be For ever— Amen! THE BEMIDJI DAILY PIONEER Neglected Colds bring Pneumonia. Look out. CASCAR@UININE ?hmf'flce. suge, easy u’i_hkeh tabg‘et g:é?—no unpleasant after effeet:.o colds in 24 hours—Grip i» 3 s e TERE & Mr. 5fTill's picture on 25 Cents. At Asy Drug Store ANTI-SALOON LEAGUE PREDICTS DRY UNITED STATES BY 1918 (By United Press) ‘Washington, Feb. 13.—That the entire United States will be voted dry by the end of 1917 was the pre- diction here today of the Anti-Saloon League of America. The claim is based on the following: Pending dry legislation, will passed at the present session of Con- gress, as a result of the “undisputed”’ growth of public sentiment in favor of it, and the 139 new House of Rep- resentatives members will swell the ranks of the “197 members of the House who favored the Hobson na- tional prohibition bill.” - Many of them, it is pointed out, have been elected from states which have recently “gone dry’’ or have de- clared their intention of so doing. Virginia, Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska and Michigan have adopted prohibi- tion laws since the vote was taken in Congress on the Hobson Constitution- al amendment bill. “It is reasonable to assume the movement will have all of the con- gressional votes of these states—a gain of 15.” WILL MOVE HERE Mrs. J. Mercy and son,” Bert, of Grinnellstone City. Mich., are in Be- midji making arrangements to move to this city. Mr. Merey is in the employ of the Soo railroad. Famous Wash D. D. D., the greatest of skin remedies, will remove those unsightly and trouble- some skin afflictions that have made your life a burden. That intolerable itching, burning and discomfort will disappear un- der the magic influence of this remedf. It has cured many cases pronounced incu able and will reach your case. It will take just a few moments to step in and ask us what our experience has been in the way of satisfied customers. We want you to ve D, D. D. a trial. 25¢, 50¢ and $1.00. our money back unless the first bottle relieves you. . D. D. Son;ll Ekeeps your skin heaithy. Ask us about it. D. D. For 15 Years o the Standard BARKER'S DRUG l!O!I is the new science, that, adjusting the abnormal conditions, makes possible Nature’s best gift—Good Health. Have you personally tried or inves- tigated CHIROPRACTIC? We invite you to visit us and learn about its merits. A. Dannenberg, D. C. First National Bank Bldg., Bemidji Office Hours: 10-12, 1:30-5, 7-8 Phone 406-W would you like to have the landlord give you the house in exchange for your rent receipts? Sathre Does That Phone No. 2 C. W. LaMoure Co. 800 Line Building Wood For Sale Birch Jack Pine Tamarack Prompt Deftvery | ’ H 1 TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 13, 1917. An Open Letter From J. J. Opsahl To the Minn. S’@te Tax ‘Commission Bemidji; Minn., February 10th, 1917. To the Minnesota State Tax Commission, St. Paul, Minnesota. Gentlemen : B Ten years ago, I contributed my little mite to help create your commission, with the hopes, and for the purpose of getting a more equal taxation on all property throughout the state. The last month I have spent, a great part of my time in the Iron Mining district of Nor- thern Minnesota, and find quite an excitement about the Iron Ore tax legislation now pending at St. Paul. To a man up a tree, it seems there is more excitement or hysteria about the name of the proposed legislation than there is an effort by the people in this mining district to secure a modi- fied method that will mean a fair and just taxation upon the Iron properties that would tend to- wards actual development, instead of as your past eight years’ method has been towards retard- ing development. ] From information commonly peddled in the mining districts, it appears that the unmined: Iron ore beds ten years ago were assessed at about $70,000,000; and at present, after eight years: under your guidance, the proven iron ore beds are assessed at approximately $300,000,000, which is supposed to he based upon a tonnage in the ground equal to approximately forty years of the normal mining output from Minnesota, for the last two years. It also appears without question, that a ton of ore in the ground this year, will be a ton of ore forty years from now, it will not burn up, run away, decrease in weight or increase in weight to any great extent, and from inform- ation gathered, it appears that an average assessment on several of the range properties is based' upon 35 cents per ton, for each ton of ore blocked out in the ground. In some mines the assess- ment is claimed to be quite a bit higher. If these figures are not correct, I will be pleased to be: advised from you as to the exact figures on all of the Minnesota Iron Ore beds. According to these facts, your commission has for the last eight years been administering: your tax power on a pure and direct tonnage basis, as near as controlling test reports could block. out the properties, and the facts also seem to bear out that you are assessing unmined ore om a: tonnage basis to the extent of forty years’ supply, based upon the high rate of production for 1916, . . " If 85 cents per ton is a fair average assessment on the average unmined ore for each year, the operator or owner who has the railroad facilities, equipment and market, or owns the furn- aces, will naturally get his percentage of this forty years’ supply out of the way first, and the first one-fortieth will pay taxes on a valuation of 35 cents per ton. The ore that will be mined the fifth year will have paid taxes on an assessment of $1.75 per ton, and the ore mined the tenth year: on an assessment of $3.30 per ton, and the ore mined the twentieth year on an assessment of $7.00 per ton, and the ore mined the fortieth year on an assessment of $14.00 per ton. ] ! While the cold figures stare us in the face, with the Pittsburg prices ofi ore delivered at the furnaces, after the advanced cost of labor and supplies is taken out, in reality are as low, if not lower today than they were ten years ago, and the chances are that the furnace prices on ore forty years from now will be practically the same as they have ruled in the last ten or twenty years. : If such facts will come true, then it appears to me that the small or independent operator: who may own part of this present blocked out forty years’ supply under your present tonnage taxation can be taxed out of house and home as well as Iron property, if he attempts to keep up his taxes for forty years under rules such as have prevailed around Hibbing the last three years. In the last five or six years, Northern Min nesota records will show that a large number of iron mining leases have been cancelled by the steel corporation as well as independent furnace owners, and when you follow up carefully the reasons for these concellations, especially on: the Mesaba range, it appears that the increasing burden of taxation on property that was not needed for mining purposes for years to come, was becoming so oppressive that the furnace own-- ° ers made up their minds that the individual fee owner, whether he was a large or small one, could not, in most cases, build a furnace and go into the iron manufacturing and mining business in com petition with the present furnace owners, nor could they move their ore beds or destroy them, but the furnace owners would find these ore beds in the same place when needed, forty-five, fifty or one hundred years from today, and in the meantime the local fee owner would have to carry the tax- burden, and would be far better able to keep down taxation than a foreign corporation, as well as. that the local fee owner, on account of oppressive taxation, would be compelled to carry his iron property and lose interest upon a fair value until such a time as the present supplies of blocked out ore would run short and new fields needed for actual mining. As a concrete example, I can quote a statement from one of the residents of Cohasset,. Minn., who owns a part of a 160 acre tract in the Pokegama lake iron district on the western Mesaba range. Several years he leased this tract.to one of the furnace companies at $5,000.00 per year minimum royalty. This royalty was paid for several years. He stated that the taxes were gradually raised by the local tax officers and the tax commission to $12,000 per year on this 160 acres of low grade, rolling, sandy grazing or farm land. At the time the steel corporation started their method of cancellation of leases, a notice was given to cancel this particular lease. The Cohasset and Grand Rapids owners are now in full possession of the 160 acres, they are not receiving any $5000 per year royalty, and if they were compelled to pay $12,000 per year taxes for the next fifty years or more, (presuming that the taxes would remain at this figure, instead of being raised like they have been in the past, while the lease was in the hands of a foreign corpora- tion), it would be a simple and plain impossibility for them to do so, as they could not raise the money from any bank or trust company on the property, nor could they raise it and pay it out of their other business income. Therefor, the present tonnage tax method on this property, if car- ried out, would simply mean confiscation by the state, as the owners were plainly told by the corporation who held the lease, that when they needed this particular body of ore, and were ready to mine it, they would be glad to enter into a new lease and pay the taxes and the royalty from the time they commenced operations. . Under the present method, presuming that there would be no new ore bodies blocked out, and that last year we had reached an average output, the party who was unlucky enough not to be able to mine or sell their one-fortieth of the present tonnage as assessed, would be called upon to the extent of a $14.00 valuation per ton, as against the lucky man’s or mining man’s 35 cents per ton for the first year’s assessment. This does not appear to be an equitable way of assessments, and it seems to me that after careful consideration that the present methed can be greatly im- proved, both from a point of encouraging development and of fairness and equality, and I feel sure that your board’s aim is to work for a just, fair and reasonable method of taxation in the northern, central as well as southern port of the state. A ton of ore once removed from the ground never comes back, while a ton of clover or wheat or other farm crops removed from the ground, by proper cultivation will come back per- petually. These facts should be carefully considered. If the point at issue is to raise additional revenues from the lands, whether they are in nor- thiern, southern or central Minnesota, would it not be just as fair to figure out a-forty year crop- cycle basis for assessment on all lands, and start out, First—With assessing all the ifon ore in the ground every year that is needed by the world’s market for the next forty years. Second—To assess all the available potato lands in the state based upon the value of the crop, that can be raised from these lands for the next forty years. Third—To assess all the available clover lands on a basis of the total value of the clover each year, that can be raised on each acre for the next forty years. Fourth—To assess all the available wheat and other grain lands on a basis of the value of the wheat that the statistics will prove can be raised, under a high state of cultivation, each year, on each acre, for the next forty years. and when a man would appeal from such an assessment, to your cominission, stating that his: lands are idle and unimproved, it would no doubt be proper for you under such conditions to answer, that according to investigations his land was“lassified as clover, potato or wheat land, that the crop was in the soil, provided he would prepare for mining it, and just because he was not in shape to do so, or unwilling to do so, would give him no exemption from the general Minnesota ruling of taxation. This assessment example may not seem fair to the man who is in the business of digging crops from the sail, but I contend that it would be just as fair to the potato miner as the present method for the last ten years has been to the iron miner. And on that account, T am satisfied that the farmers of western and southern Minnesota will be entirely fair in helping to put into working shape, a modified, but just and fair taxation basis for iron ore properties. And I furth- er contend that it should be the duty of the people interested in mining as well as the duty of people interested in farming and manufacturing to get together, and in co-operation work for - fair and equal taxation on all properties within the state. And to any outsider who will carefully (Continued ou Page §) Dafartive