Show I REPUBLICANS NOT NlTED Too Much Independence on the Mortgage Tax Question THE SCHEME SHOULD FAIL JOHNSON RAKED OVER THE COALS BY HIS SlUr S-lUr Scars is Against the Measure Tooth and Toe Null 3Ir Sanford Thinks tIle Borrower Will Pay the Tax Mr Vines and Mr McBride Mc-Bride Jacob Johnson the Republican representative rep-resentative from Saapete who has gained a great deal of notoriety not fame because of his wholesale charges of extravagance against the Democrats of the last Legislature for appropriating appropriat-ing 1200 for contingent expenses and his inconsistent actions since election in voting for an appropriation of 52000 for the same purposes evidently expected ex-pected that on the introduction of his bill reestablishing the tax on mortgages mort-gages he would find behind him the creat majority of the e o n members in the Legislature But whatever hopes he had in that direction were rudely dashed to the ground yesterday on the trip to Ogden He was first spoken to on the subject by Sears Republican member from Salt Lake who reproached him for bringing I bring-ing in such a bill as that and told him i that he Sears will fight it tooth and I toe nail Of course Johnson endeavored endeav-ored to defend this pet measure of his and found himself soon in a figurative fire for exGovernor Thomas McBride I Representative from Price and several other good Republicans gathered about him and began to tear his finely spun fabric of arguments into shreds At last he was left without the least ground to stand on but remained obdurate ob-durate During the whole day after this discussion whenever Johnson came around some one would ask How about mortgages As the opposition to the measure had seemed to develop quite strongly in the Republican ranks in spite of the fact that both Johnson and Varian have been exhausting every effort to make the majority foster the measure and in spite of the fact that Johnson imagined the difficulty he will have in explaining to his constituents why the Republican majority did not jump at the opportunity to pass the bill a Herald reporter interviewed several of the majority members who are taking an interest in the question MR SEARS was first asked as to his opinion on the question of taxing mortgages in general gen-eral I do not think he said that a tax on mortgages could be so laid that the burden would not finally rest on the borrower It Is true that it would be very beneficial if someone should discover a way in which the money could be taxed and the tax really assessed as-sessed against the owner thereof but no such measure appears to be now Insight in-sight The present measure would not relieve the borrower in the least and I do not intend to vote for it Besides this consideration there are others of importance that cannot be overlooked at present Here in Utah we are almost entirely on a creditor plan Our resources cannot be developed devel-oped except by the inflowing of foreign for-eign capital from the east and west Therefore any measure that will tend to frighten investors or loaners would I oe caicuiatea to be a detriment to the territory Now it is very certain that captalists will not invest where they cannot be sure what laws will be enacted en-acted by an erratic Legislature They know that the law taxing mortgages was repealed in 1892 What woufd be the effect if that law is repealed in 1894 Why these investors will be ask ing what is going to be done by the Legislature in 1896 and will be likely to be chary of investing in any prop erty that might be affected by legisla tion of this kind In my opinion the effect of the pas sage of this bill would be to drive out of this territory a great deal of the money that is now invested here be cause the mortgage holders would be likely to foreclose if they became afraid 6f the actions of the legislature In case they foreclose It is beyond peradventure that a number of homes would be confiscated by these lenders on account of lack of market for real estate In that case would the borrower bor-rower be better or worse off than he is under the system which allows the mortgage to go untaxed but lays the assessment on the land Undoubtedly Mr Johnson wishes to put the measure through as he is pledged to have the tax repealed if possible However the effort will be opposed by a strong party and it is doubtful if the bill ever passes both houses It will not be made a party measure in spite of the fact that it is a repeal of a Democratic measure The interests of my constituents the interests of Utah would forbid me giving the bill my support and I shall speak against it and talk against it and make every endeavor to have de feated what I consider an obnoxious measure I MR SANFORD Republican member from Weber who was understood to be also one of the majority members who is against the bill of Mr Johnson was seen When asked as to his oninion of tho mono ure he replied w u This bill does not meet with favor in my eyes and I shall vote against it and speak against it in the house I have found that no endeavor of this kind will ever result in the laying of II the burden of taxation on the money lender While I was recorder of Weber county I saw time and time again the mortgages come to be recorded in which was the provision that all taxes against the instrument should be paid I by the borrower No system of taxa I tion of mortgages seems to reach themWhat What effect will the measure have on those who intend to invest in Utah real estate and to lend money here I think it will have a detrimental effct upOn them and that they will be inclined to stop all sending of money Into this country to develop our re sources The money 15 needed too bad ly to run the risk ofs losing it and this Legislature should be careful how it acts A country in which no dependence can be placed on the Legislature is not ikely to gain any prestige among those who wish to make safe investments I and it would be a misfortune if we II should gain that reputation MR WINES one more of the Republicans was seen i last night by The Herald man and asked what he was going to do when I the tax mortgage question came up for I consideration in reply he said that J I while he believe that if such a tax would reach the money lender instead of the borr wer he would be in favor of it he does not at present see how he can vote for the measure of Mr Johnson This feeling comes more from a belief be-lief that it would be a bad policy for the territory to legislate against those who are lending money at the present stage of the game Therefore he can be counted among those who will vote against the passage of the bill although al-though he said he is still open to conviction Mr Warner the Republican member from Ogden was asked for his opinion opin-ion on the measure and responded that as yet he has not looked carefully over the measure and does not know whether wheth-er it will reach the lender If it will do so he will support it and if it will not do so he will speak and vote against it He also believes that it would be a benefit if some method could be found of reaching the moneyed mon-eyed class and is in favor of any measure meas-ure that will accomplish that object MR HATCH The dreamy Republican member from Heber says that he is not yet committed com-mitted to either side and does not intend in-tend to commit himself If the measure should come up in a few days Tie will ask that it be laid over for a week or ten days in order that he may have a chance to look into the question At present he leans slightly toward the views of Mr Johnson and it may be that he will vote with that member But he holds that he is still open to conviction and that he wpl not take any decisive move until the tim comes to act on the bill Mr Mason said that he does not care to talk of the matter yet as he has not investigated it MR MBRIDE Of Price another Republican has come out flat footed against the attempt at-tempt to make the measure one of party He said last evening So far as I have investigated the question I have no hesitation in saying say-ing that I am opposed to the bill of Mr Johnson First I do not believe that any method has yet been discovered by which the borrower can be made to pay the tax I have had some experience ex-perience in lending myself and I known that I always figured on getting at least 10 per cent net on the money T Innnfirl T alwayS made the borrower pay that which w idcut down my profits and agree to pay 11 taxes Then there is another view to take of the matter That is are we not overtaxing something when we tax mortgages For instance the capital of the bank is always taxed That is borrowed that is three times that the amount has been taxed Now that hardly seems just But this is a big question and I am open to conviction |