The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 22, 1917, Page 10

Victory for the Steel Trus People Were Not Well Represented in Minnesota Legislature—SOme Anxious to Stop Exposure of Facts About Railway Board ‘(Staff Correspondence of the Leader) T. Paul, Minn, March 17— The fact that the State of Minnesota needs the Non- partisan League was empha- sized more strongly here this week than it has ever been before, when in the case of the will of the people of the state of Minnesota versus the steel trust, the case was decided in favor of the latter in the state senate, ‘when by a vote of 40 to 27 it killed the tonnage tax bill. Since the opening of the session the lobbies of the St. Paul hotels, as well as the corridors of the capitol, have been crowded with steel trust lobby- ists. And many the legislator that has been led up on to the mountain. Every conceivable form of persuasion has been brought to bear. All kinds of tac- tics have been used, yet because of the fear of the Nonpartisan League the bill passed the house by a narrow mar- gin, and it remained for the senate to put it our of business. WHY PEOPLE WANT A TONNAGE TAX BILL The leading argument of the friends of the tonnage tax bill which we dis- cussed in the columns of the Leader some time ago were: that the iron ore is a heritage of the state; that the mines are fast diminishing in value; that for every ton of ore taken out of the mine there remains just that much less of taxable value, and that further- more there is just that much less revenue producing power to the mine. They contend further that the ad valorem system of taxation is inac- curate, inefficient and in numerous in- stances little short of a farce. To sup- port this contention they submitted evidence to show that in a great num- ber of mines more than twice as much ore has been removed as these mines were estimated to contain, and that, therefore, it is perfectly proper to raise the tax on this class of property. They point to the fact that in a few Yyears these mines will be mere yawn- ing gaps in the earth; that on the other hand the farms in the state will remain taxable for thousands of years; that their value instead of being depleted is constantly being raised from yeéar to year. They also pointed to the fact that a double taxation is being imposed on the farmers at the present time; that after the farm itself has first been taxed, a tax is again imposed on the grain in the farmer’s granary which has been produced on his farm; that after this grain had been fed to the livestock they are also taxed, and that whenever a farmer has to borrow on ‘either his farm or his personal prop- erty, the mortgages given by him to cover such loans are ‘also taxed. PITY SAD PLIGHT OF HARASSED STEEL TRUST The opponents of the bill contended that it was classs legislation; that it was an occupational tax; that it was aimed at and would discriminate against a certain section of the state; that it was just as unfair to “impose an additional tax on ore production as - it would be to impose such a tax on the clay pits of Red Wing, the stone quar- -ries of Mankato and Kasota, or even the products of the lands of the Minne- sota Valley. They made their main plea against the tax as independent mine owners, and contended that the steel trust-was not fighting this tax. However, this point was not taken too seriously by those who saw the mag- nificent array of steel trust talent that was lined up against the bill. They also contended that the Minnesota ore was placed in competition with the ores of Chili, Cuba, our own eastern states, and of British Columbia. They even went so far as to compare this tax with the English stamp tax, and vividly portrayed the scenes of the Revolution- ary War which followed the efforts of King George to impose that tax. To these arguments the friends of the bill replied that it had been submitted in good faith; that it was not aimed at any particular section, occupation or class of people; that the clay beds and stone quarries when developed would aid to the value of the taxable property in the state.through the erec- tion of buildings of stone and brick, and the drainage of land by the use of clay tile; that the Minnesota ores con- stituted 60 per cent of the ores used in this country and that the Chilian ores had to be brought from three hundred miles inland and that therefore there was practically no ore imported from that country; that the Cuban ore was of such low quality that it had to go through a refining process before it could become merchantable; that Michi- gan ores were secured from a depth of 1000 feet below the surface and that the Canadian ores spoken of were of a very uncertain quantity and quality. They also doubted if the dire conse- quences of the English stamp tax would follow the passage of this bill. GRAIN BOARD SCANDAL AT LAST ROUSES GOVERNOR The readers of the Leader will recall last week’s article in which we called your attention to some of the startling facts brought out by the Teigen in- vestigating committee, and how an ef- fort was being made to give this com-’ mittee some very much needed clerical asistance, including an accountant and a court reporter to take down the evi- dence. Yet even this was being side- tracked day after day and it became necessary for Representative Teigen to call on the governor and submit to his excellency evidence in his posses- sion tending to show that not only was the railroad and warehouse commission a political machine to the maintenance of which its employes had to contribute, but that the Minneapolis Chamber of Even the governor is startled by revelations of how the chamber of commerce has worked to control the Minnesota railroad and warehouse commission to keep the farmers of four states from getting fair grades. being brought out by Teigen investigation. Too much truth is - The Milkman =="" Tdea by TvANS — League Leclurer This cartoon was drawn for the Leader by J. E. Simonson of Glendale Farm, Reeder, N. D. Concerning the cartoon Mr. Simonson writes: “The idea was conceived from part of 'a splendid speech given here by Mr. Evans, who spoke strongly against the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce. He spoke of it as a large cow sticking her head over into North Dakota and eating up our wheat, and they are milking her in Minneapolis. this cartoon.” Business Men Indorse League An “Economic and Political Club” " was organized Saturday, Feb. 24 at Pekin by a number of farmers and business men, and following the organ- ization, H. J. Trelease delivered an address in which he showed that both the farmers and business men are the victims'of an unjust and wasteful sys- tem of distribution, which imposes ab- normal business condition upon the merchants, and unnecessary hardships upon the farmers. > ‘Mr. Trelease put.the quietus to the ghost story that state ownership is not as effecient as private ownership, He showed beyond question, that the Nonpartisan League representatives and senators had made an honest ef- fort to carry out the program demand- ed by the people and that the methods of the League for launching the state industries, were in accordance with the best business practice. The meeting approved the action of the house of representatives in passing the resolution which called upon the fed- eral government to take over all prop- erties “useful and necessary” in carry- ing on the war, in case of the outbreak of hostilities. The meeting then unani- mously adopted the following resolu- tions: “Whereas, it is well known to all in- telligent students of economics .and politics that huge combinations of capital have got control of government and business in this country, and “Whereas, the immense wealth which has been taken from labor without com- pensation is being used by those robber corporations, to oppress ‘the rightful owners, the workers who created it, and “Whereas, the evil power of these I thought it was a splendid idea, hence / corporations- lies in their ill-gotten wealth, which enables.them to buy up all the crawling, cringing adroit, abil- ity in the country; and control all the institutions which the people support, to the end that they use them as in- struments of oppression, therefore, “Be it resolved, that we business men and farmers here assembled at Pekin, N. D., do hereby pronounce the big cor- porations that ever seek monopoly prof- its, to be the real and only ememy of the people; and that we pledge our- selves to do all in our power to over- throw this common enemy, arid “Whereas, the Nonpartisan League is-a movement of the people of North Dakota to free the. people from the domination of the corporations and to develop its resources for the benefit of its free citizenry, therefore “Be it further resolved, that we here- by indorse the League and its objects, and that we commend and approve the action of those true representatives and senators who supported the League program in the present session, and, “Whereas, the senate in defeating House- Bill 44, committed the people of the state to another term of legaliz- ed robbery, and “Whereas, the demand of the people for the passage of this bill was manda- tory as shown by their support of the League candidates at the elections in 1916, as well as by their petitions, let- ters, and direct appeals to the senators while they had the bill under consid- eration, “Therefore, be it resolved, that we denounce and condemn those senators who helped to kill this measure, and declare them unworthy of further trust or confidence.” : : TEN Commerce itself through Frank R, Durant had maintained and prosecuted a political propaganda for the purpose of defeating for office such candidates as they considered unfriendly to their interests and electing such candidates to the railroad and warehouse commis- sion as would be kindly and generously disposed towards the perpetuation of their practices. He also called his attention to the fact that the inspection department, to- gether with a board of grain appeals was placing a grade on barley that is in violation of the statutes as inter- preted by the recent opinion of Attor- ney General Lyndon A. Smith, and that such inspection and grading was causing a loss of from fifteen to thirty cents per bushel on every bushel of barley sold by the farmers of the Northwest, and that said loss amount- ed to approximately ten million dollars per year. He also called his attention to the fact that the department, through an illegal and unjustifiable scheme of penalizing or discriminating against wheat containing wild peas, had caused a loss to the producers of the North- west of from four to six cents on a large but unknown quantity of wheat, and. that such discrimination had been arbitrarily instituted by the Inspection Department at the request of the MILLING COMBINE without action on the part of the Board of Grain Ap=- peals which is the only legally consti~ tuted body that can authorize such changes or promulgate rules that will legalize such grades as the wild pea steal. This was too much even for the gov- ernor, and be it said to his credit that he promptly assisted in getting the committee the necessary assistance. PROBE TOO “PERSONAL” SOLONS WANT IT STOPPED 3 The debate on this matter as well as the debate on the resolution of Rep- resentative Tom Davis to investigate the campaign funds of the different - parties as well as the saloon and anti- _ saloon leagues, was interesting enough _ to rival Barnum & Bailey's circus. Representative Mossman of Todd coun- _ ty wanted to include the Nonpartisan League, and Adolph Larson, not to be outdone by Mossman, wanted to in- clude the Society of Equity, the Equity Co-operative Exchange and the Farm- ers’ clubs of Minnesota. Representa- tive Mossman moved to dismiss the in- vestigating committee, and he was ably seconded by Representative Nels T. Moen of Fergus Falls, who complained that they were exposing certain indi- viduals and objected for that reason. His action is easily understood when it is known that Mr. Moen is editor of the Ugeblad at Fergus Falls which is the property of Mr. P. B. Jacobson, a member of the railroad and warehouse commission. MANY OUT AT HOOPLE Editor Nonpartisan Leader: Although March 1 was a cold, wiydy day, a large number of farmers came in many miles to Hoople to hear .League Speaker W, E. Quigley explain the merits of House Bill 44, which he did in a clear and gentlemanly way. Many expressed themselves as well paid for coming in over the bad roads, to hear him. In advertising the meet= ing, an invitation was extended to any one who was opposed to the bill,' to be there and present his side; but no one appeared. At the close of the meeting, a large number joined the organization for another two years, and said em- Pphatically “We'll Stick.” T. J. NEILSON. _— MEETING AT GEORGETOWN Editor Nonpartisan Leader: Last Wednesday, Mr. Williams, or- ganizer of the Nonpartisan League, held a rousing meeting at Georgetown. Mr, Williams is a forceful and convincing speaker, and held the attention of hisg audience for more than an hour. After briefly discussing our political and economic system, which were the causes leading to the organization of the League, he fired 2 volley into the ranks of the middlemen and Big Busi- ness who, he said, are like parasites on the producers and consumers. The masses, he said should take possession of the machinery of government so long run for the benefit of the ‘“classes,” and, through co-operation, eliminate to a great extent, the middlemen who charge the consumer and producer a toll of from 50 to 60 per cent. The meeting was one of the most successful held here, -and nearly all of those who were not members, joined the League. H. P. S