Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, June 11, 1920, Page 8

PAGE EIGHT GOST OF THE TONNAGE TAX Will Not Profit Minnesota but WIll Kill the State’s Iron Ore Industry. 5 i The fellowing artlele s - pald advertisement prepared anf ;ub- lished by the Minnesota Falr Assgolation, an organization of the poople of Minnesota whose alm [e to eave the state from the Qvl'l‘ which will follow the enactie of a tonnage tax measure. ‘What the people of Northern Mia- nesota are .rying to do is to talk with their neighbors and fellow-citisens of Southern Minnesota—to talk to them STRAIGHT, and without the use of mediums that confuse and distort and create mutual antipathies and misun- derstandings. The people of Northern Minnesots are trying to talk straight to the peo- ple of Southern Mirnesota about the tonnage tax on iron ore—trying to talk WITH them—trying to talk it all over fairly and squarely. In the past & high wall of misunder- _standing has been bullt up because there was no effort to get the people of the two parts of the state to talking straight to each other. "So it was that a lot of people in Northern Minnesota got to talking as though the people in Southern Minne- sota were a bunch of highbinders and highwaymen bent on ruining the peo- ple of the North. So it was that & lot of people in Southern Minnesota got to talking as though the people in Northern Minne- sota were a bunch of corporation tools who were trying to help the steel trust dodge their taxes. It fan’t so. Neither end of it is so. North and South, they are just peo- ple—the same kind of people, inter- ested in the same sort of justice, helped by the same things and hurt by the same things. If tonnage tax is good, it will help Northern Minnesota at the same time that it helps South- ern Minnesota. If tonnage tax is bad, it will hurt Southern Minnesota just as surely as it hurts Northern Minne- sota—just as surely, i less vitally. » The Story of Tonnage Tax. This is the story of the tonnage tax in Minnesota: When the tonnage tax was first in- troduced in the 1907 legislature its primary purpose was to compel the manufacture of iron and steel in this state, and its secondary purpose was to compel the iron mining interests to pay their fair share of the expenses of the state government. The first tonnage tax bill was for a tax of 26 cents a ton, 20 cents to be rebated on all iron smelted within the state; this shows the primary purpose of this proposed legislation. This be- ing obviously an attempt to tax ex- ports from the state, which the Fed- eral Constitution forbids, this first measure was dropped, and the straight tonnage tax bill, followed later by & “gupertax” bill, came in. While the tonnage tax was pending in the 1907 legislature efforts thereto- fore made by Duluth citizens to in- duce the United States Steel Corpora- | tion to begin the manufacture of steel in this state were brought to a head, and when the bill was defeated, there was a promise from that company that @& steel plant, to cost $6,000,000 to $7,000,000 would be built in Duluth. Today there is in Duluth a great, up- to-date steel plant of the United States Steel corporation, costing $30,000,000 instead of the promised $6,000,000 or $7,000,000, and plans are drawn ready for immediate extensions costing $10,- 000,000 more. Though happily the tonnage tax has failed, this aim of the original tonnage taxers has been met—to the great ben- efit of all Minnesota. How about the taxes? In 1907 the total assessed valuation of all the iron mines of Minnesota was $64,486,409, on which the state in that year got a total of $179,272. This year, 1920, the assessed valua- tion of the iron mines of Minnesota is $288,987,230—more than four times that of 1907—and the state’s direct tax from this wealth will be $2,340,408— more than thirteen times that of 1907. 8o the secondary purpose of the original tonnage taxers has also been met. The tonnage tax dgitation, therefore, has given the state a monster steel in- dustry, and has compelled the iron in- terest to pay taxes on a just valuation multiplying the state’s revenue from this source by twenty-two. It has served both the purposes £ which it was started. Why lhmdi{ be continued, when the threat of it leopardizes the creation of a great ustry that cannot fail to benefit eve: part of the state? Politics vs. Business. The tonnage tax had served the pur mo for which it was proposed. It reached its climax, had dwindl and had all but died—ss it sboul *ce its purposes had been served— en Townleylsm, carpet-bagging from North Dakots, exhumed it as & R/ etting issue, This {s proved by tory of the tennage in the Jegislature, The first tonnage tax bill fotro- quoed in the 1907 le m.!un'r resentative R, H, Jefferson of wood County. ot . It provided for a tax of 36 cents per ton, 30 cents to be re- | Ry bated on every ton molua within the #tate. That bein tutional, a straig t Vo-“M tax bill was oflofod flfbnfl o Joferson, joined by ,um 0. Bjoue, and wn do the {ssue eéhie baek still nuonrr in 1409, and the bill )mca both branches of the f‘lll‘un. But it was vetoed by the Inte Goverher John A, Johnson in a ritiging message which did 86 much to elear the publ "l‘mcfl on this measure that 44 an ste- it began frem that timé to dwinate. A tofibage tax bill was introduced in the 1011 legislature, but it 'u beaten h“flu house, never {ng the wen- e The bill was again introduced in the 1010 legislature, and again it wes beaten {g the Bouse, this time even more tvely, B0 far §ad fssue interest that in the 1918 nuf tonnage tax bill was even Int -=the age tax was doad; dead r cause {t had served ita purpose and be- oause people had become convinced that it was wrong. That seemed to be the end of the tonnage tax, which had threatened to divide the state into two hostile sec tions, and it WOULD have been the ond of it if Townleyism had not ¢ome into the state. In 1016 Townley, flushed with triumph from his North Dakots: vic-’ reached out for Minnesota. See- ible ‘vote-getter in the ton- nage tax {ssue, Townley dug it up and made it one of the principal planks in the Nonpartisan platform. Neverthe- less, it was defeated in the 1917 legis- lature and again in the regular session of 1919; but it was rushed through in & panic by the special session of Sep- tember, 1919, and vetoed by Governor Burnquist. It will be an issue in this campaign only because Townley has mde it an lssue. Is Minnesota, having producofl the’ results it sought with this issue and then dropped it, ready to risk deadly injury to the people of the entire state by adhering to this issue in order to help the carpter-bagger Townley pull political chestnuts out of the fire? Facts Undisputed. The people of Northern Minnesota, thru the Minnesota Fair Tax Associs- tion have conclusively proved the fol- lowing pertinent facts and no attempt has been made by the proponents of the tonnage tax to disprove them: That no state levies a tonnage tax. That every state or country that has ever had a tonnage tax has abandoned it as unjust, unwise and unprofitable. That the Iron mines are now paying taxes on a higher valua- tion than any other form of prop- erty in the state, that they are paying a higher rate on this high valuation than Is pald by any county in Southern Minnesota and that the total revenue of the STATE ALONE this year from the more than That the “steel trust” owns or controls only 32 of the 132 Iron mines of the state, that It does not own or operate a single mine on the Cuyuna rang not control ONE-| PER CENT of the iron ore known to exist In Minnesota. That the Cuywia range, Minne- sots’s newest lron range, a fleld of fow grade ores, Is | today because of ex ore taxation and that any further mineral tax, no matter what Its form, tonnage tax, profits tax or other super tax, will completely put it out of business—and this Is a sample of what such penalizing taxes will do to all low grade iron ore development in Minnesota. That Minnesota has only 1,400, 000,000 tons of commercial ore, but that it has hundreds of bllllons of tons of low grade ore; that ton- nage tax will kill-the iron ore In- dustry In Minnesota In the next 30 to 40 years, but that If the devel- opment ef the state’s low grade ore o -nowuvd iron mining In Minnesota will last for many CEN- TURIES. ‘That the iron ere Industry brings the STATE ALONE this year over five milllon dollars In cash as well as an abounding prosperity that affeots every portion of the state— a yeoarly cash payment and an an- nual prosperity which will con- tinue unabated, and probably In- orease If the Industry Is encour aged, but whioh will cease entlirely In a fow decades If the tonnage tax prevalls. The issue today in Minnesota fis whether we shall greedily grab a few millions each year for a few years while our high grade ore is being taken out or whether we shall bend our energies to developing our enor mous deposits of low grade ore and so maintatn Minnesota's supremacy i the iron ore industry for more than & thousand years. In our greed for ready cash shall we tear down the greatest fron ore business in the world, or shall we develop it to its utmost and con- tinue the wonderful prosperity ft brings the state practically forever? “We .want this tonnage tax money 20w, We want to spend it today, We don’t care anything about the future,” declared s tonnage tax advooate. If that is the way we manage the state's business and our own prosperity, we might, {2 we care nothing for justice, be for a tomnage tax, but if we do oare for the future, it we want Minne- gota’s vast iron ore prosperity to oom- {inue and to ingrease for many oen- turies to come, then we ought to be against the tonnage tax with all “our might 1= ADVERTISEMENT =~ o vt ared unmlfi BlG CONFERENCB To TRAIN CHURCH LEADERS New York, June 11.—The Inter- church Movement announced Thurs- day that its activities this summer will iriclude eight great conferences to train some-of the 100,000 leaders needed for the expansion program of the Protestant churches in the next five years, county survey meetings all over the country, and a series of schools for rural ministers. The first large conference starts at Blue Ridge, N. C., June 25, and runs to July 5; and this is followed by conferences ‘at Silver Bay, N. Y., July 9-19; Estes Park, Colo., July 9- 19; Asilomar, Calif., July 12-23; Ocean Park, Me, July 20-30; Lake Geneva, Wis., July 23-August 2, and Seabeck, Wash., July 28-Aug. 7. THE BEMIDJI DAILY PIONEER small conference at Winter Park, Fla. closes today. The county meetings are to reor- ganize and make more efficient the local church work, and to cover un- evangelized areas. The schools for pastors will train them in most up- to-date methods. QUEEN FROWNS ON BARE BACKS|: (By United Press.) Londoa, (By Mail.)—Queen Mary is branching out as a modiste. In order to prevent any bare-backs from attending Court lunctlons, Her Majesty has designed a number of evening frocks which she considers suitable. Dressmakers or ladies about to attend Court, are asked to inspect them, and for this purpose A [they are now being exhlblted in the e e i 20 $12.00 SUITS are $15.00 SUITS are $18.00 SUITS are are Money Cheerfully Refunded i) .$9.00 ..$12.40 ..$14.40 $20.00 SUITS .$16 Glll Bros. O T T f e i PER CENT llJJUlllllllllJllUll“ll[]lJl_lllUuJ_UJ_LluLllllllUUlU IR uuuuumuuummummuuuumuuumuuuumu JILULLLTLLL FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 11, 1920 Lord Chamberlain’s office, St. James Palace. The Queen’s designs show a broad- minded desire to compromise between the elaborate dresses of the old draw- ing rooms and the advanced undress- es of today. Long trains and feathered head- dresses are ruled out, and by this cconomy Her Majesty contrives to retain a suggestion of sleeve and sufficient material to cover part of the back As an official of the Lord Chamberlain’s department, put it to the United News: “The designs arc modern. but not ultra***” A generous V is allowed in place of the bare-back, and the three styles of dresses are designed for debutante, a young matron, and a dowager. fHE PIONEER WANT ADS BRING RESULTS A famous dis- covery in 1835— famous ever since —and lately more famous than T "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII|lI||I||||IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllll||IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII||III|III|III|I|II|IIIllIIIIIIIIII||I|IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlIIIIIIIII|I|IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE GILIL BRIOS. LU LT O L LT DT ] DISCOUNT SALE LLLLLLLL UITS cmcl Overco ats HAS TAKEN THE TOWN BY STORM 0 Entire Stock MEN’S’CLOTHING AND YOUNG MEN’S GARMENTS PER CENT REDUCTION BEMIDJI, MINN. $35.00 SUITS and OVERCOATS at. $40.00 SUITS and OVERCOATS at. $45.00 SUITS and OVERCOATS at. $50.00 SUITS and OVERCOATS at. $60.00 SUITS and OVERCOATS at. $70.00 SUITS and OVERCOATS at. $75.00 SUITS and OVERCOATS at. Mail Orders Promptly| Filled i e 0000000000000 OO0 =