The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-04-17
Sound Reasons.

columns. Coming from decidedly tn,
ablest Democratic paper published in tn,
State, and expressed in such terse sen
fences and conservative spirit, it canno
but arrest attention and inspire thoughtful
reflection
Gen. II. w. Slocum, congressman from
! New York, is quoted as making the fol
lowing statement Ma
you will find that not more than one in ter
OF the voters own any property or pay any taxes
They have no interest in economical measures
made the calculation on the proportion of yo.
tiers and taxpayers i'll Brooklyn, and found
them nine to one"
There IS not a worse, a more dangerous
fallacy than this. The truth, we believe
is the reverse of what the general says
and the nine poor persons not only pay
taxes but an unjust proportion of the
taxes. When. few years ago. Senator
| Conkling claimed for N lew ork city credit
for bearing great portion Of the govern
ment's expenses because the goods i'm
ported for the Whole country came through
that port and paid duties there, he was
not more in error than Gen. Slocum is.
! Certain large manufacturers of tobacco in
Virginia, for example, pay to the federal
| SO'Si illllllUlIo VI uUlldlO pei
i'll taxes, and Kentucky distilers pay other
millions, but in neither case is the manu-
facturer more than a disburser of money
which laborers and consumers really fur
nlSh. Wages, rents, the prices of food.
clothing and Injuries all become adapted
to the rates OF taxation. So much of the
money paid by individuals for sugar, for
salt, for clothing, for tobacco, for whiskey,
is money paid to the government. The
average citizen may not have his name on
the printed list of taxpayers, but unless
he goes naked aid starves himself he is
still q taxpayer. 1t is only the govern
ment necessity Of levying it's taxes on
what can be most easily reached-on what
is in sight (which causes this misappre-
hension. The men who pay fifteen cents
for tumbler of whiskey, whose first cost
| was two cents, pay the whiskey tax those
who pay ten cents for an amount of to-
bacco that cost three cents pay the tobacco
tax those who pay ten dollars or twenty
dollars or fifty dollars for a suit of clothes
that can be bought for half as much in
England or in Canada, or ten cents for
sugar that can be sold in Cuba for three
cents, OF high prices for other articles
| which are cheap abroad, pay the taxes on
Imports And every negro in the South
who rents cabin or pays for the food he
eats is as much q tax payer as is the largest
land OF property owner in the country. He
may not pay as much in amount, but every
thing that he gets is taxed and he pays
more in proportion than the richer man.
The SEv ENTEEN Y EAR LoCUsTs.-
Baltimore Sun is responsible for the fol
lowing prophecy of plague this season
Statements that have been made to the
effect that the seventeen-year locusts are
due this summer are said by naturaliSts
to be erroneous. The locust year for this
vicinity is 1885, and not 1884. The seven
teen-year locusts appeared in Baltimore in
1851, 1868, and will appear again during
the middle of May, in 1885. A few spec
linens of the locusts may be found during
May, 1884, but they will be members of
different brood. Most people seem to
think that the seventeen-year locusts oc-
ours but every seventeen years in this
country. This is all wrong, since it is
found every year, but only occurs at inter-
walls of seventeen years in any given local
ity. This year is the season for the seven
teen-year locusts in Virginia; next year
is the season for the seventeen-year To-
Gusts in Maryland The locust lays its
eggs in branches of trees. From these
eggs soon after they are laid small yell
lowish larva, resembling already the
future locusts, though lacking wings,
issue and work their way down the trunk
of trees, following the roots. to their ex-
IRENE tips, where the larvae fastens by
means of beak and draw their nourish-
ment from the roots After being in this
position long time, undergoing, how
ever, several mouths, they attain their full
growth as larva, and are found three or
four inches from the surface of the ground
adhering to the roots of different plants
Very early in 1885 they will undergo trans
formation into pupa, which in the month
Of May will work out Of the ground to the
surface, forming peculiar hollow cones of
earth, in which they undergo their last
transformation and become full-fedged
locusts. Backing out of this cone, they
appear on the ground still soft and unable
to fly. In a few hours they become har-
dened and seek the nearest tree, in which
they sing their love songs and mate.
The CLOSING EXERCISES of West End
School, which has been managed by
by Prof. J. T. Watson for the last six
months, closed on the evening of the 1st.
instant, with a general examination of all
the pupils. The progress of the school
throughout the entire session has been
highly satisfactory to both teachers and
patrons, the management has been thor
oughly harmonious, the course Of instruc-
tion solid and improving. The teachers
have labored sedulously to make this ses-
sion of the school an era in it's history, and
SO far have they succeeded that the COM
mendation of all interested takes the ex-
preston, 1.-THE Best SCHOOL, ever taught
| at West End Academy AS the exercises
were on the eve of closing, Prof. w. much
/ to his surprise and greatly to his gratifica-
ton, was made the recipient of d handsome
present, the donors being his pupils.
1t seems the unanimous desire of all the
PtselO1io uiieh 4 I'LL w. uC pletOCu III Ohoi 81
next year, and the good work $50 well
commenced go on to higher fruition.-
Prof w. has furnished rs with the follow
ing standing of the pupils in his depart
ment those reaching 80 per cent and over
are as follows
DR.. Andrew Evans, AN English physi-
clan, as well as a German doctor of dis
tinction, has recently advanced the theory
that consumption is contagious. Appa-
rently healthy persons, associating with
those suffering FROM. consumption, have
taken the disease, without having any
hereditary traces of it. 1t has been es-
pecially noticeable when healthy persons
have slept with consumptiyes, that in
course of time they become alike affected,
the inception of the malady having been
followed step by step to fatal conclusion.
1t is verifcation, or Illustration of the
germ theory, which of late has been freely
discussed by learned scientists, and threw
much light on the occult origin and cause
of some maladies, especially that Of con-
sumption.
Il MO1lie CARRIER Fannie Plunkatt Leila