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CHAPTER III. / rJl1.\11,O~~~Hy T2~x Co~mM1ssroN CHEATED. ~ statute authorizing the appointment of the first tax commission was enacted by the legislature of 1897 and signed by Gov. Edward Scofield. the bill, No. 345A, was drawn by K. K. Ken-nan, and introduced by Assemblyman Merriman of the Third Rock county district on Feb. 9, 1897. It was referred to the committee on assessment and collection of taxcs, consisting of N. B. rrreat, cimairman, Wynn'Edwards, Albert B. Hall, King S. Staples, Charles Polacheck, horace N. Polly, and Herman Schellenberger. On March 24 this committee reported the bill for indefinite postponement and two das hater it was ]ndefinitely postponed with a large batch of other bills that had been condemined by the committee. This action would have disposed of the bill pcrmancntiy had not its friends dctermiimed to make any concession necessary in order to secure the cstal)iisimment of a commission. Tue bar to its passage was still' to be found imi the appropm'iation clause, amld Mr. Kennan, having seemi his work in previous years nil hrommglm( in iitiiiglmf hy (his flflC obstacle, deterlil ine(1 to win at. any cost and infornmcd I 1~ mnern— hers that he would undertake to raise by private subscription the money i'equircd to pa the members of the commission for their work if they would amend the bill by cutting out the appropriation and pass it. His offer was accepted. The day following the indefinite postponement of lime bill it was restored to the cahen dam' on motion of W. 11. Flctt of Lincoln county and recommitted to the conmmit.tee on claims. On March 31, this committee reported by its clmairmñan, George H. Ray of La Crosse, recommending that the bill be amended by striking out section 8, the section containing the appropriation provjsion. The amendmnent was adopted and the bill passed without a call of the roll. The bill was then messaged to the senate where a few minor verbal amendments were made and it was then passed by a vote of 20 to 8, as follows: Yeas—Senators Baxter, Davis, Dennett, Devos, Green. Lamoreaux, Mailer, McGillivray, Mills. Putnam. Riorcian, Roehr, Solliday, Stebbins, Stout, Thayer, Wel ton, Whelan. Whi tehead, Woodworth, 20. Nays—Senators Austin, Burke. Fisher, McMullen, Pierce, Phillips. Whitman, Witbee, 8. Absent or not voting—Senators Conger, Mayer, Munson, and You-mans, 4. This brief statement of the facts relating to the passage of the bill and the creation of the first tax commission does not give even the shadow of an idea of the amount of work required to win success even at timat late date, when the subject of taxation imad I)CCn under debate for more than forty years with no hope of settlement. or even reasonable progress under existing conditions. 'It was ac kTiowlcdged that “something must be done.” There was no dispute over the proposition timat the laws must be changed and an attempt niade to adopt all orderly and reasonable system of assessment and collection of taxes for the support of the government. And yet it wa~ impossible to secure the enactment of a law that would entail expense upon the state for the prosecution of the work of investigation that. imiust necessarily precede any legislation along reformatory lines. Even A. B. Hall, the man who had talked most frequently and vehement.ly~ about the failure of the railroad corn— panics to pay their just ProlortioI~ of the taxes, was a member of the comniittee in the assembly. that reported the bill for indefinite postponement. On the other hand, Senators B.oehr, Whitehead, Green, Dcvos and Riordan, as w'ell as Assemblyman Ray and others who were subsequently held up t.o public scorn as men who were opposed to the equalization of tax burdens, were the men who gave Mr. Kcnnan most effective and persistent aid in his efforts to secure the enactment of the law. After its passage through the two houses the bill went to Gov. ~ Scouichi simorim of its appropriation clause and the governor made Ill) I4PC re I; of 1 mis d it' ni ill U dnn to semi d it back will m omit ii is approval. hefrankly stated that he would not be put in the 1)OSitiOfl of asking men competent to perform so important a work for the benefit of the state to give their the and pay their own expenses while in the state's service. 1-Ic wanted a commission; he believed the taxing sstcm should be reformed; his sympathies were all with the pur1)OSCS of the measure. But hefelt that the law as it stood placed him in a false position and hedid not. purpose going out on a begging tour in the interests of the state asking such important service gratis of any of its citizens.. He believed the state should be willing to pay the cost of doing the work devolving upon a commission of this character. in this emergency Mr. Kennan came to the front again with a letter to Gov. Scofield, which is reproduced here as it was the means of saving the bill from death by veto. This letter has never before appeared in print, but it is of so much historical value 'that no a.poiogy is required for inserting it in full in this review. MADISON, Wis., April 24, 1897. “His, E.xcclicncy, Edu,arl ~co field. Govei-nor. “DEAR SIR: In reference to bill No. 354A, a few w'ords of explanation may not be out of 1)lace. “This bill w-as th-awn by me in 1889 and an effort was made to coiniiimie in it the best features of several similar bills which had become law's in other states. The compensation for the commissioners proposed iii Ilmis original bill was $G,000. In spite of hard work on the part of mayself and others the bill failed to pass—probably on account'of the appropriation. Similar bills were proposed In 1801 and 1893, but I was ~LI)FC1it from the state ani imo great effort was made to secure their 1)lSSi1 ge. “In 1805 Mr. O'NeiI of Bayfield introduced a bill which was the same as the nresent 354A, except that it provided for an appropriation of ~6,OO0. This bill passed the assembly by a vote of about 63 to 15, and was concurred in by the senate ; but In the confusion of tl)e last day it was recalled 'by the senate amid died there. “No 354A. as originally introduced, provhled that the COiii1i1i.SSiOlICI'S should he entitled to such coimipemisation as the governor should dcciii just antI reasonable. When it I)ecanme Cvident that the bill could imot be passed wi tii tim is Pro\' ision. or, i 11dced. with a miy provision culling for :m U :ippi-opriation. I assured certain members tim:mt if it could be J):lssed without an appropriation I Wi1S satisfied that there w-ould be no difficulty iii raising the necessary funds for a coummission of voluntary commtrihutioims of taxpayers of the state. “Iii giving this assurance I Was imot speaking at randomim. hut only mmma(1e the statermiemmt after I im:md conferred with a miumber of lm~iness mmmcii of large means who promised inc that the niommey would be forth-ng when mmeede(1. ''Of course. it is possible that there are public spim'ited mimemi of ability who \voul(1 serve Oii suili a coin in issloim ~vi thou t commmj~ims:i t lou ; hii t t hi('Ie Is a grc;u t amimoumit of clerical ~vork which ought to hi~ done in securing :111(1 classifying statistics. etc.. and mimy estimate of the amount needed for clerical work, stationery. ~)ostage :mnd traveling expenses is $1,500. A nmmmchi larger sum could he used to :ulvantage but this is the immimmimimuin Shill eolmml)atil,le with ammythmiuug like thmom'oughm :11111 ethcemmt work. ''As to the iamy of lli~ three conmmmmissioners 1 estimate (omi :m basis of 20() days' work. say 100 days for the ehmairnm:mn ammd 50 days each for the ol hI('r I V~() mmueinl~vrs ) tlmn $2.~'i()() ~o $1,00() ~von hi hesuifhhiIcii 1 Ia secit the st'rvices ni umien oi' such speci~ml illness ~Lmm(1 high stummdlimg that thichm' i'c~ ort would be of grc;u t a ml permmi:i umemmt Va hue. “While it is Imardly practicable to do munch within the next three days, I am coimfidemit that hcfoi'e the first of ,Tumme (the timime set for the apiiointummeimt of the conmmissioners) I can present you with a satisfactory guarantee that the funds 1)cedcd for the coiiiimmissiomm will be fom'timcoming. ''As you are 110 doul it :mwa re. there mire mmiii umy features of omit' i 'I'~'~'~ I taxhimg systenm that a i.e umims~m tisfactory. and there is a 1)ol)ui:tr dcmmm~mmmd that some pi-actical measures should be takemi to simplify aimd improve our present Jaw's. “the interests involved are enormmmous. We raise in this state ovem $l~,O00,000 in taxes annually amid thmei-c are ninny intelligent mmmcmi who believe that the best immterests of the state require that timis great subject. w-hich affects the pockets of every taxpayer imi the state. should receive more atteimtmoim thamm IS Ordiflariiy given it by the legislature. “It seems to mime that if the taxpayei-s of the state want a tax coin-mission bail cimouglu to put their hands in their pockets and pay for it, they should have the privilege. “Ilophmg that you w'ihi see your way clear to sign the bill, I remain. “Very respectfully yours, (Signed) “K. K. KENNAN.” With this assurance in hand, Gov. Scofield signed the l)ill and it became Chapter 340, laws of 1897, and ]me appointed Burr W. .Tomies of Madison, K. K. Kennan of Milwaukee, and George Curtis. Jr., of Merrill as commnissioners. The first meeting of the coummummission was held on .1 ummme 10, 18~)7. in lime office of the secretary of state, at ~vhmichi timime Burr \V. ,J oimc.s was elected cimairumian and K. K.
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