Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-01-25


taxable Subjects making all monied cap4, all invest
ments in State and bank stocks, bear their lar share oil
taxation, and thus removed just portion OF buItnehs
from the land and labor of the country. We have
equalizcd burthens all classes of the community,
winch heretofore thrown chiefly upon the pant
ing and farming interests Under these circumstances
we told, that the passage of the tax bill was nnci
ed for by the "imperous necessities Of the treasury
or the sound dictates OF public policy. statement
that is conradIc,ed by The financial officers, 10y lie
Governor OF The Commonwealth by the proceedings o.
N last Legislature, and the conclusive cr.cence al
corrobnrating experience. 1t cannot be said that the
tax bill vas oppressive IN nst upon the agricultural
community for 1t taxed other great interests that had
been exempt, and eqaalized burthens that would have
fallen more heavily upon them Let justice bs done u
the friends Of that measure. The honor OF The State
st nds untarnished, her credit unsupported high az
any State in THIS Union; general confidence is dfused
over the whole county, our barking institutions great
ly relieved by the payment oil the debt; commerce aud
business OF every description are rapidly rev7lng aud
we have 10 rejoce that we have passed h -ongh
the datk hcnr which precedes The dawn Of aug
pc'ous ond brighter perod. Wills; that BIZ imposed
light but necessary buthens the people, brought
in It's tam the elements of unt9rGshed honor 10 the
State, confidence credit ana commerce, and prospe
rity the whole country These are lnsepaTably con
nectsd aud canno. be discovered. When these bene-
fetal resus are apparent the whole country, and
this testimony Of The Necessity candIdly evlnced II is
practising too lar upon cfeGuly 10 cay, thal the aug
menled taxes were unnecessary oppressive.
The deficiency Of S367 900, estima'ed by tie Audit n
at the lat sessirn, not the sol. difficulty which en-
harasscd the Treasury EARLY after the meeting Of The
Legislature the President aud Directors of the James
River and kahawha Company communicated In this
House, that The company unable IN pay The inter
est the "gnaranieed ,nds. These are bonds given
by that company for the loan of 81 100000, under The
act Of March 2!i 1889, which 'pedscs the faith of the
State for The puncual payment Of the interest and the
ultimate redemption Of the principal, should the
pany fail To make provision for the payment. The
pledge is signed by the Treasurer OF the State, pur
suant TO law. When this communication came be-
fore the Legislature, this House, by an naaa'-
mnuS rGts, instructed the Committee OF finance "to
report the best mode Of making speedy provision for the
payment Of the interest OF the debt aforesaid with the
view to preserve inyolae the faith and credit Of the
State The amount Of this interest payable in Janu
ary and Jnly was So c22 This increased the def
cheney in the Treasury from 3G7 900, estimated by
the AUDITOR, to Si5oc!2. When the Auditor, Tfeasu-
rer, and Governor had coDcurred in pressing in-
crease of taxes before the interest Of the guaranteed
bonds fell upon the Treasury It IS really presumng 1o
far pom the ignorance CT the country, to assert that
any increase unnecessary. Looking to the heavy
Indebtedness Of the James River and kanawha Com
plny, its decplr embarrassed condition, there no
then 10 believe 1t could pay this semian
nual interest The bill increasing the tolls ofthe Com
piny did net pass the House Of Delegates until some
DAYS after the tax biil aud there indication tina,
would pass, knowing the strong opposit on It would
receive along the whc. line of the canal. W:en the
committee unanimously instructed TO provide
for the payment of the interest," the whole proceeding
looked to Increased taxes aud The only question pre-
sented, was, the mode of raising the taxes
.. Examination Of The ESTIMATES Of The last Finance
4 C0mmntse.
On this branch Of the subject MIR should be Compel
ed point which had crept both into the Co
vefnors Message ard the Auditors Report In dong So
he should submit no further remarks than IN lmperons
sense of duty required. The Governor states: "it
the policy of the last Legislature, in framing its reve
uue law 10 raise 4 which should be sufficient To
cxtingush within the present year. the temporary debt
as II is called, which is due from the Commonwealth
the Banks aud in another sentence, though not in The
connection he says, the "tsx bull yielded lltle
more than half the sum 1t was expected to yield In
both of which remarks great mistake was committed
The law authorizing The Treasurer tn borrow from the
Banks the of $3.50 000 directed its aynent by
cuail of five pc. cent, every sixty days, thirty
cent. per annum, being SI05.onn - ~" The sup
pie mental report of the Finance Commttee eSpfssiy
stIies, than = o. 600 int sed 10 he
paid yearly; and the speech Of the Chairman ct the
Committee the passage OF the tax bill estimates the
payment of still smaller amount Indeed, 1t is with
in the recollection OF all here present. well the
fact three distinct Pieces that The largest
sum estimated to be paid was 500 600. The state
ment, that "lrt!e than half the it
peced 10 yield, received from the TAX bill, is
equally erroneous. This will he perceived in the ex
animation Of the Auditors Report 10 tie present
sion.
That document states: "Cheerng is The prospect
Of gradual hn, certain improvement, in the finances,
that result would have been Immediately realized
# the subjects OF taxation, se!ectd nj the las.
sion of the Legislature had yielded the amount that
was anticipated. TIE tax monIed income for ex-
ampls, such salaries, wages &c instead nj prnduc
ing $50 0o0. The estimated sum- did not yield half that
| amount" The Auditor does not, in this statement,
consider the notifications made in the BILL both in his
House and the Senate, materially changing the result
| Of the estimates. This claus. Of the tax bill, as ii
passed the House of Delegates, laid tax of tco per
cent on the excess $3.50 Of income and tina, rate
If taxation was estimated to WELD $4,000 But the
Senate amended this part, and lad the tax al per
cent. on the excess $500 II yielded under the
Senae's amendment, in round numbers, $500 Had
the rite been per the excess $500,
must rare welded 5l5 900; and by embracing all sums
between $3.50 aud 500, would have made the result
| approximate very CLOSELY TO III. estimated al
$4,000 The report further s;a.cs: The Tax on ply
and surgeons and attorneys al law, which was
supposed would amount 10 $4,000 at least, will yield
less than half ;h1 sum" The estimate OF s 3 COO
made on capilulon tax offvs dollars. 1t known
from The returns of $50, that the number cx
ceedeJ twenty-six hundred, which, al five dollars,
| woull have yielded the estimated sum. The Senate
modified the cap,ation TO on income tax, and hence
the reduction in revenue. The next sentence OF the
report: 1.-THE deeds, p-obats and administrations,
| uhic!, should have been very productive, amounts
/, less than three thousand dollars, result which
ascribe, however, to the fact that the mode pre-
-crbed for its collection sufficiently effective
This result is again produced by the action OF the Sc
nate The bill NO lS3) passed by this House, and
rejected in the Senate required the Clerks to collect
and account for The all conveyances recorded IN
their Offices precisely they a!a accountable for
taxes on law process The failure in tins subject to
produce The anticipated revenue was owing TO no rr
elect of the Committee want Of foresight IN TINS
House. but the rejection Of the bill prescribing the
mode of collection in the Senl,e further sa'en!fn
needs planatl "The tax the interest Of money
bonds has been available, yielding about So.
900" ,Sc. Here is another The Committee
estimate the receipt of 100000 from ";ax d5'dem4S
Of stock, and interest of money loaned mot from n
lerest on money loaned Of itself These subjects yield
ed about S22 Goo $4,000 roTe than was estimated
by The committee The remarks of the Auditor upon
licenses may mislead, and should therefore be e*-
planned: sit expected by the Committee ot r.
nance in its supplemental report to The las leg's.a-
ture, that the change in the mode Of taxing licenses
to merchants and auclioneers would produce an acd-
tonal revenue Of S200G0 but the result Is, 'ra' The
amount has only increased from 500 CSC 10 S5o,Gd0.
Tie rates Of tr1ai;oa ended by the committee
upon which the 0,0G0 additional 'eveare was estI-
mated lcere 7tduced he House OF Delegates, and
hence the failure in the Noesmatt '.'s made
J ,.o, tho hill AZ IL nasS-J The whole