The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1868-11-16

ed at all, after such a contest in the
Legislature every time as can rebound
neither to the credit of that body nor
to'the public advantage? Why not az
sess all real property in the same
way3 Why not in the same chapter FIX
the valuation of the La Belle, Belmont
and Riverside rolling mills? Why not
thus establish the valuation of Touring
mills and saw mills, hotels and ware
houses, tanneries, foundries, factories
and machine shopsH 1t is true they
would be every year changing their
values, but SO will the railroads.
But the advocates of this scheme
claim that railways arc entitled to ex-
emption because they are of public
benefit. True, and so is every ind ustrial
enterprise. SO are rolling mills and
factories, saw mills and foundries.
But II property is to be exempt from the
burdens OF government because the use
of it is beneficial to the public, where
shall we stop7 Let us ask first where
shall we begin. and hesitate long before
we do begin.
This is not all. insufficient and
stationary valuation is not the wors
feature of this scheme. It proposes to
deprfye the counties within which this
property lies or may lie of the taxes
which they have an iudefeasible right
to levy and collect. A tax equal to the
State levy uhree mills at present is to
DO paid into the State treasury and
distributed among the COUNTIES. Yet
when have the county lsvies been as
low as. three mills2s They are double,
and triple, and quadruple, and quintu-
pie that. In this city for example orr
local taxes this year are 20 mills. This
proposition is that while all other prop
erty ia taxed &C mills on the dollar. the
property held in this city by the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad and projected
just as all other property Is, shall pay
but milIs-on what? Not on each
dollar the property is worth, but on
each dollar OF say, $4,000, there being
about two miles of the road in this
county, whereas 1t is actually worth
ten times thai.
Not only are counties debarred from
collecting any tax from the property of
this corporation, aud obliged to levy
that much heavier taxes on their other
property holders, but the pittance which
the company Is to pay to the State for
the counties is to be distributed to them
on principle that is grossly unfair.
The county that has the most running
miles of road gets the most money,
whether 1t has anything else or not.
Counties like Ohio, Taylor, Mineral and
Berkeley, in which It has immense and
Huluable works and buildings would
receive less than, counties like, wetzel,
Marion and Morgan, in which there is
little but the road bed. The same
would be true of any other road when
built.
The State Constitution says that the
boards OF supervisors shall lay and col
lect county taxes. that all taxation
shall be equal anduniform, and that
every species oeproperty shall be taxed
according tolls value. The Committee
on Revision says the boards of supervI-
sors shall not lay or collect any tax
from the property OF railroad, and
therefore that taxation shall not be
eqnal and uniform, and that one
species of property shall not be taxed
according to its valne.
The question for the Legislature is
which is to be obeyed, the Committee
or the Constitution?