Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1829-11-07


proportion for series OF years, apds, slaves, hur-
ses and carriages haYe been the Subjects Of taxation
! lii virginia, time out of period - 81,
| In 1913 n TAX was laid on cattle. He WINS the first
Who Proposed it, but it did not succeed when lie sur
grsedit 1t was two or three years afterwards be-
f're IT. became low; and it was received with
moanng law. us it Tie animal to be taxed had smelt
me oloou ut some fellow animal ana mad appealed TO
the sympathy of man and bcas;
Soon ali erwards there was war on our borders
we were told IN distinct terms, by the federal 90
s,e'iiieh' thai we must take oil ourselves,
that they had not the Tor our defence but that
We must resort to our local powers of taxation for
our own security Then this tax was laid on COWS
Ana now The ghost of that tax aud tho spectres
OF those our fcow-ctizens who fell ut Norfolk an
VINO were sent thiiher, not BIZ the State of Vir
GINA, but by the United States, and who were
moi exclusively ra-montaue, Blu; from all paris of
the Sta.e-tlcse spcctres are raised to torment
us ara TO shew ms the enornity of thar tax on the
one hnd, and the great services which the liens of
the west are ready perform for u.s. whenever thew
shall be called oui by The United SAFES.
w nat was the produce of this COW Tux and how
was II paid? He excluded Accomac, Jefferson, Nor
to!k County and Borough, Elizabeth CITY and Rich
mond County, from which no returns had been made
ne returns were almost exactly equal, and averaged
SO per head 1t was nearly equal. The fact is so
as ne stated 1t, and the fact will always be the same
"iieh we tax cattle. Such will always be the effect
whenever 1t enters into the gnation of inancier
to impose some tax never before heard of of which
tile different portions of the community sal bear an
equal share.
In 1915, tax was laid on furniture mills tame
RES professions, trades and stamps. See the result
OF this system. The slave holder was more hiuhlv
taxed Every thing fell on the shoulders which
mad to bear the taxes slaves, land carriages, &c
ne furniture Pictures, and teaspoons, which were
caed plate were all taxed with the professions and
trades; and what was the result? There levied
q pald IN hecountry east of the Blue Ridge, sf95 588
While ON the west OF the Blue Ridge here was levied
ana pad only S4l 800; making 1886 944 and of these
taxes lad on every conceivable subject except the
duties on nposls the people OF the East paid So so
Tor every dollar paid by the Western peouo He
could not affirm absolutely that his calculation was
entirely accurate but he challenged nves ga,on into
ms estimate, which had been examined by cacabIe
men, and portion of which he had borrowed from
his friend from Cupepper, who had first addressed the
committee ~
Such was TIE state oftaxation There were some.
deductions, which those who understand the ground
would be able To draw from the innate he had pre-
scented. r.
The first is, that there is one peculiar tax. tLemost
important, the mos delicate subject OF taxation of
"iiich the East is in possession of one vast mass
WINE the w est has only modicum--he meant slaves
iNcHt-tlat there Is no subject of taxation which
human ingenuity has frmed-no tax direct or indi-
rect winch the skill of fnanciers has discovered on
Wmch the East will not pay as much as ne West
iiaruiy any on which the East will not pay more. On
the morse and carriage tax, the East pays one third
more than the West on lands twice as much; and on
slaves seven times as mnch as the Vest
rms accounts for another fact which is made man
Is.
winch the gentleman from Frederick had cast On
our honor and chlvalry the fact that the East.have
never abused the power of taxation which they have
possessed
h'y could not abuse that power because, levy
What tax the Legislature would it must have borne
harder on their constituents III the Fast than in the
nature OF things, they could on The West They had
OF US the bond security, spoken ofhy the gentleman
from Fauquier. They had security i'm our self love
No paper guarantee No scheme of political econo-
my, but security in the heart OF man. When the
love OF our own interests becomes an active prnci-
pie 1t Is our protection.
it accounts Tor another fact. When the scheme of
Internal ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS gigantic, magnifi-
cent, calculated to strike the mind and even to de-
prlve reason of its faculty, was projected whv the
west and portion of the North voted one way
WINE the Fnst and the South pursued always what
was called niggardy course. The West and the
North did not feel the burden of the taxes. They
had taught themselves 10 think that VIRGINIA was not
taxed AT ait But we who had to bear the burden
fet II deeply. Keeping III view the means of tie
people to pay, there throughout the State 2nd
Federal Governments, harder tax paid than that
which is paid by the slave holder. not IN Virginia ONLY
but through the U. States Hence said MIR. Leigh,
we who feel this tax pressing hardly on us are but
little disposed to generosity. while they who do not
fee the burden manifest and practice abundant re-
nerosity, whenever money IL required
AGAIN there Is another direct induction from what
ne had shewn If the burden of taxation is so unc-
quail now, constituted as the Legislature now is is
there any so strong OF faith to believe that it will
be rendered more equal by the adoption of the basis
reported by the committee on the lie lislature--so
green or so mellow as to calculate that things will be
bettered by transferring the power to the West?
Think, said Mr. Leigh, of the dsconrenis which
have overcome The peoples veneraiion for the
constitution of their fathers, and made them for
get the able efforts Of Patrick Henry, of George
Mason and Edward Pendleton; and induced them
to give their reverence to the constituted autho-
rites. Think if these disconfents. One mans
motive Tor a change was his anxiety for internal
improvements. This, Mr. l.. said, had been avowed
to hm over and over again, by gentleman from the
West, that such was that mans motive. He could
tell the gentleman from Albenarle another reason-
The doctrine Of State Rights, which Virginia had
supported with so much zeal, against the encroaci-
meDts Of the Federal Government rested on her
shoulders, as the only pillar by which it could be sns
tanned One object is to reorganize the Lcgislo-
ture, that, IN reference to Internal Improvement,
thai Virginia instead of being any longer barrier
to 1t. may be hched to the car of the Federal Go
vernment, and dragged along with it like q slave.