Wheeling compiler. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [i.e. W. Va.]) 1829-1831, 1829-11-18

tbo estimate furnished by the Auditor o.
the state of population; aud taking the nf 5
amount Of the taxes actually paid tn'0 TIC
tressurv and accounted for by the Auditor
he found that in % counties below the biue
RIDGE and above tide water, the payments
made last year of land tax, average Oh
per head; in the 80 counties and 'o"hs
On tide. 34.7; in the II Valley counties
I2I6. and in the . rans-Allegheny coun-
ties % The average slave tax pad &C
cordipg 10 the books Of the present year
IS in the % middle counties, SD IN the
7. Sc counties and 1 towns on tide, - .; N
the II Valley counties 81; and IN the 70
trans Allegheny counties, 23. The aver
ace of horse and carriage tax paid Is, III
the % middle counties, 9. 2; IN the 50 coun'
ties and I towns on tide, 5 9; IN II Valley
counties. IA; and in the 26 trans Alleghe'
nv counties %. The country East ofthe
Blre Ridge containing 3d., 800 free white
inhabitants pays an average of54.4 OF land
tax. while the country Vast Of the Blue
Ridge, $4,000, pays an average OF 10 Q,
less than one half Of the average OF tae
land tax paid East OF the Blue Ridge
The average slave tax paid ~ the county
East of tbs Blue Ridge was =; while the
average Of slave tax paid IN the country
West of the Blue Ridge vas only .; be-
inc but only one seventh. The average
horse and carriage tax paid IN the country
Fast ofthe Rlue Ridge was 81; while the
average paid West OF the Blue Ridge vas
81. So that ON this tax the East paid one
half more than the West
The result of careful comparison shews
that for every dollar per head levied
on the Western people, there Is lewe on
the people Of the East 50 l6per head; and
that for every dollar per head paid by the
people ofthe West into the treasury there
is 1921 paid by the East This has
been the proportion for a series OF years,
as lands, slaves, horses aud carriages /
have been the subjects oftaxauon IN Var
ginia. time out Of period.
In 1915 a tax was laid on cattle. He
was the first who proposed It, but it did not
succeed when he suggested II ItwIs two
or three years afterwards before It became
a law; aud it was received with a moaning
low, as if the animal 10 be taxed had smet |
the blood Of some fellow animal and aad
appealed TO the sympathy of man and
beast
Soon afterwards there was war on our
borders. We were told, IN distinct terms,
by the federal government, that we must
take care of ourselves, that they had not
the means for our defence. but must resort
to our local powers of taxation, for our own
security. Then this tax was laid on cows.
And now the ghost of that COW tax and the
spectres of those our fellow citizens who
fell at Norfolk, and VINO are sent thithcr,
not by the State of Virginia, but by the
United States, and who were not exclusive
ly tra-montane, but from all parts Of the
State--these spectres are raised to torment
US, and to shew us the enormlty of that
tax on the one hand, aud the great servI-
ces which the citizens Of the West are rea-
dy to perform for Us, whenever they shall
be called out by the United States.
What was the produce Of this COW tax
and how was it paidl He excluded Ac-
comac, jefferson. Norfolk county and 30
rough Elizabeth City and Richmond coun
ty, from which no returns had been nude.
The returns we're almost exactly equal, aud
averaged 3.9 per head. 1t was nearly O.
quail. The fact is so as he stated it, and
the fact will always be the sane when We
tax cattle. Such will always be the eifed
whenever il enters into Imagination Ola fin
ancier to impose some tx never before
heard of, of which the different portions Of
the community shall bear an equal share.
la 1915, a tax was land on furniture,
mills, tanneries, professions, trades and
stamps. See the result ofthls system The
slave holder was more highly taxed. Ev.
ery thing fell on the same shoulders which
had to bear the taxes on slaves, land, car
riages, &c. The furniture, pictures and
teaspoons, which were called plate, were
all taxed, with the professions and trades,
and what was the RESULT There was lev
led and paid in the country East of the
Blue Ridge $50, 5S3, while on the West
Of the Blue Ridge, there was levied and
paid only Sal 1850; nakiug 636, Oh, and
Of these taxes laid on every conceivable OBJ
iect, except the duties on imposts, tse PEG
Ipie ofthe East paid % 80 for every dollar
paid BY the Weston people. lie could
not affirm absolutely that his calculation
was entirely accurate but he challenged
investigation into BIS estimate, which had
been examined bycapabIe men, and a por-
ton Of which he had borrowed from his
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