The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-04-30
TEE STATE TAX, BILL.
hAss-hEETIEG OF THE MERCHANTS
YESTERDAY.
Remarks or Hon. Mr.. Stuart and
others-Resolutfons Adopted.


Others-Resolutfons Adopted.
. Ane mass-meeting Of the Richmond mer.
Gnahts which wes announced to be held ot
Yns'h'a Han last night was held at the
iuotls Oh the Chamber Of Commerce in the
afternoon instead. ~ 'no
\, Ahe meeting was called to order at GASP.
m. Dy Dir. William 2. Burwell. on whose
motlon MIR. A. Y. Stokes was called to the
cnall, aoa the representatives of the city
press requested to act as secretaries.
hR. BUgwELL
saia ht the request Of the distinguished mam-
Der OF the House from Augusta INF Swat
this meeting had been called. and at % b;s 70
quest he stated its object. Mr.. Burwou thar
said that the committee appointed a, tho
meeting held on Tuesday night had called an
the Governor, who received them courteous.
y, and said that the subject was one of the
greatest importance, and one which he had
seriously considered. His mind had rot
been made up about the matter, and he was
still open to conviction. .-..,....-
Mr.. Burwell then said that the true soiu-
ton Of the matter seemed to be distribu.
ilon of this onerous tax. The merchants
did not complain Of the burden but of the
inequality of the tax. He thought that if
the Conservative members Of the Legisla-
tufe would call upon the Governor and re-
quest him to return the tax bill to the Sen.
eral Assembly he would possibly be induced
to call an extra session which would last two
or three days, and in that time fair and
proper tax bill be passed. Mr. BurSell
then presented preamble and series of reso-
lutions, which were read, subsequently With
drawn, aud those offered by Mr.. Wise sub
stituted in their stead.
Mr.. Bur1ell addressing himself to the
resolutions urged their adoption, and suG-
gested that the General Assembly should
adopt the stamp tax bill in lieu OF the OBJ
Jectlonable features OF the tax bill.
REMARKS OF Mr.. STUART.
Dir. Stuart, of Augusta, said that about
o'clock he had received note inviting
him to attend this meeting, and although
| the House was In session he thought it his
| duty to attend the summons Of his fellow
citizens. He said that the first thing which had
attracted the attention of the Finance CON-
| mIttee was the financial condition of the
State. He said that it had been deemed
equitable that the old Stale should assume
two.thirds Of the public debt. He then cited
| the various difficulties which The committee
had met with in the consideration of this
difficult subject that the debt had been con
| tIacted mainly in the interests and TO build
up the prospects Of this city. The committee
then addressed themselves first to paying the
debt, and then 10 raising the means
to pay it. he had been met by Il
gentleman from New York who bad said that
Virginia had been untrue to her promises.
He replied that it had not been unwilling.
ness on her part, but necessity had compelled
it, together with the Constitution-the Oh.
noxious Constitution of the State under
which We live, and which requires million
dollars of the hard earnings Of the people tc
be spent in carrying it out, for the education
of the " wards Of the nation " and their i'm
proyement. The speaker also cited Other
embarrassments under which the State la
bored.
The committee find that throughout {
large part of the State the agricultural and
planting interest was in such languiShlns
condition that these interests could not beal
additional taxation. The committee ther
sought for new subjects of taxation and the
increase of those which had already existed
First was the tax upon merchants sales AND
licenses, and then upon Whiskey. The com
mittce agreed to report precise copy of tho
bill of 1860, except the specific license oI
$50, which, was stricken out the graduated
license was allowed to remain. a cIamor
came up when this bill was reported-thiS
bill under which our people had prcspercd
and thriyen before the war, Was denounced
as intolerable and burdensome.
He doubted very much the policy Suggest
ed by the gentleman 0no had preceded him.
No word of Complaint had come up from the
,'S.erchants until now, when the matter had
heen published and known for the past six
weeks. He thoughtit would be dangerous
thing, and disastrous in the extreme. We
hud better bear the ills We have than fly to
others that we know not of. He pledged
himself to give to the subject the most care
full consideration when the General Assem-
bIy met again in seven months time, and as
the tax is only payable quarterly, but little
could be paid before the next session.
AIR. Stuart next spoke Of the tax on whis-
key. and said that he thought that Mr. Bur-
Well was mistaken, and that it would not be
hurdensome to the large distillers OF the
State. He couldn't suppose that tax OF
two cents on a gallon of whiskey made IN
Virginia would be onerous when compared
with the stuff made elsewhere. Inc com
mittee had been months in the consideration
of this bill there had been concessions on
sll sides, and the bill now in the hands OF
the Governor is the result Of the patient anu
deliberate action Of the committee.
He had come in response to an Invitation
simply to state facts, not any desire OF CIV.
ing bis own views, but to give the result OF
the matter of the history of the bill aud all
The facts in the case. He had given 1t the
most careful thought that he was capable ol
for the past three months, and although the
bill is not perfect it is the best that can be
gotten now.
Mr.. BuRvELL,
in reply to Mr.. Stuart, sIid that he thought
that Conservative Legislature ought to lis
ten to the request Of the Conservative mer-
chants of Richmond, the city which has done
more to preserve the integrity OF The party
than any constituency in the State. The re-
solutions did not ask the Governor to call an
extra session. They throw the onus upon
the members Of the Legislature. The mer-
chants don't want to decrease the amount OF
tax, but only to distribute the tax equally
and fairly.
In conclusion, he hoped the resolutions
would be agreed to, Is in his opinion this
law is against the spirit if not the letter Of
the Constitution. The appeal is not unrea-
sonable, and if the complaints of the Con-
seryatiye merchants are heard, it certainly
can't do the party or the Legislature any
harm to keep the members here for two or
three days.
OTHER SPEECHES..
Mr.. Isaac Davenport said that the Diff
Guilty, in his opinion, which the Finance
Committee bad met with in this bill was
that of being able to tax one class of peo-
pie at the expense of another, and for one
/ .unnld nn rdiallu cnnnnrt the resolutions