Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1884-09-13
THE ASSESSMENT INIQU|TI
How the Farmers Of West Virginia
are Subjected to Double Taxation.

The history of the great wrong now beinl
practieed upon the people of West Virginia
known as the double taxation fraud" is on,
that every voter in the State should familiar
| ixe himself with to the end that he may b,
posted on the subject and assist by his vote
next october. to wipe OUT the wrong. The OBJ
ject of this circular is to furnish concise ant
reliable history OF the matter. and one tina
can be verified by history and the published
record.
For many years prior to the late war, vir
ginia, 1.-THE old Statej exempted from taxation
all the products of the workshop and the farm
assuming that the taxation of the farmer
acres carries with It taxation of whatever thos'
was gagged entirely by its capacity for produc
ton. This principle exists throughout Chris
tendon, and was never questioned until thu
late novel discovery was made by the SupreE Kat
Court of West Virginia.
The trainers OF our first constitution, that o
1868. were SO thoroughly imbued with this ide,
that they did not think 1t necessary to include
the products OF the farm in the exemption
clause of that constitution, but contentet
themselves. In their Legislative capacity, with
re-enacting, in the main, the exemption law
OF old Virginia into the statutes of the new
State.
The exemption law received the sanction
and approval of the best legal minds of the
State OF all parties. 1t was re-enacted by five
different Legislatures of the State, viz: 1868
IS, rs. 70 and 81. 1t passed the scrutiny O
1t existed for twenty years unQuestioned and
unchallenged by neither men nor parties.
Its repeal was never demanded by Repub-
Iican administration of the State upon the
plea that more money was needed to defray
current expenses. Under its operations the
Republicans obtained enough money, and
without REVEALING the lands every seven
years, to defray the current expenses of gov.
eminent, TO build three thousand school
houses, to begin and forward nearly to CON-
pletion all the public buildings. of the State
except the present capitol building at Charles
ton, and to complete the most OF them, and to
discharge many other extraordinary expenses
growing out OF the war and the unsettled con,
dtion of the State in its infancy. Besides all
this. 1t enabled them to turn over to their
Democratic successors, in 1872, over S2O0,OOO in
cash and not dollar OF Indebtedness against
the treasury.
II 1t was possible, under this exemption law,
to do all this between 1868 and 1872, is it I'M
reasonable to expect that 1t could do the same
between 1872 and 1884. especially when we con-
slider the fact that since 1872. the Democratic
House twice re-valued our real estate. adding
over twenty-five millions of dollars to the as
sessabIe valuation of the realty of the State?
In 1882, after a floating debt of nearly three
hundred thousand dollars had been created,
and which xists to-day, 1t was found that the
taxes did not furnish enough money to defray
the current expenses of government-even
your capitol building at Charleston cannot be
completed without further appropriation by
the Legislature that is to be elected this fall.
This circular will contain no charges or in
situations as to the cause of this condition of
our State treasury. It's only object is to give
to the people plain statement of historical
facts-facts that are corroborated by every vol
ume OF our Legislative records, leaving both
the cause of the evil and its remedy to the in
telligent judgment of the people upon the as
certainment of all the facts.
At the session of the Legislature OF 1928 a
caucus of the Democratic members was called
to consider the forlorn condition OF our bank
rupt treasury. The existence and proceedings
OF that caucus were made public by an editorial
article published in August 1883 in the Green
brier Independent. of Lewisburg, one of the
ablest and most prominent Democratic news
papers in the State; and what gives it greater
is the fact that ii Is published at
the home of one of our judges of the Supreme
Court. 1t is important to understand this fact
so that every reader of this circular will know
that It's assertions are based upon published
Democratic acknowledgements, and comes from
a person aeho is believed TO hare been present at
that caucus
The Governor called the attention of this
caucus to the fact that the treasury
was exhausted and to the furthur fact that an
apparent conffiction existed between the law
eXempting farm products from taxation and a
certain decision of the Supreme Court in the
case of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad COM
pany VS.. Joseph Miller, Auditor; and yet, that
law received the Governors vote
as member of the Legislature of 1879 and had
received his signature as Governor of the State
when it was re-enacted in 1881. The scheme
1f repeating the exemption law and compelling
assessors to list all farm products was agitated
1T this caucus. But the Legislative Democrat
&c members. fearing the just indignation ofthe
people at such an act, refused to take action in
he matter, and devised another scheme by
which the desired object could be accomplish
I'd without stirring up public Indignation by
'epeal Of the exemption law. The plan of
executive Instructions" was devised by the
caucus and the responsibility was thrown by
he cowardly act of this Democratic caucus up
IN the shoulders of the Governor.
The celebrated instructions were then franz
I'd, which have since become familiar to every
ax-payer in the State, and were issued
State; which compel the listing of every
,pecies OF farm products, Stock etc.
1t will thus be seen that in no possible man
1er or way can the Democratic party of West
Virginia escape the responsibility OF the act
hat adds to the tax schedules the farmers
wheat and corn, sorghum and tobacco, horses
md chickens. reapers and grind stones and
everything else by which and only through
which their land is made valuable and render
ed liable to taxation. A Democratic Legisla-
tive caucus devised and drafted the " instruc-
TONS" 1t will not do for that party to attempt
to repudiate them now. as it tried to do at the
Charleston convention. None but Democrats
had a hand in originating them, and none but
Democrats may attempt to appease popular
Indignation by resolving against these " In
structions, as they did at Charleston in May
last, but they cannot reverse history, nor OBJ
literate the record. y The Democratic party had
not been IN po,cer in West Virginia the farmers Of
the State tc0id not nO1o be compelled to list their
products and stock for tdratioIl.
If any further proof is needed that the Dem
ocratic party of the State is responsible for this
double taxation of the farmer, 1t is furnished
by the action of the late Democratic State con-
vention, in nominating for Governor man
who excused and virtually defended the assess
ment instructions in all of his speeches made
prior to his nomination., and in the nomina-
ton OF State ticket. all the members of which
have views in common with the Governor or
this question !; also In the denomination of two
members of the Court that sanctioned, revised
and corrected the Instructions. The nOmina
ton of Mr.. Faulkner for Governor would have
been a reputation of the Executive assess
ment Instructions, but the nomination of Mr.
Wilson is an absolute endorsement nf them
and no amount OF political wriggling can re
lease the Democracy from responsibility fol
the act.
Public Indignation became 30 strong in tn,
State against this outrage the Democratic ad
ministration determined to secure II decision
OF the court rs to the constiutionality of tht
exemption law, and thus relieve that part,
from the odium of the outrage. A case made
up. The Assessor of Brooke county, who ha(
refused to list farm products, was brought, b,
writ OF mandanius, before the Supreme Cour
of the State to show cause for such refusal. Tn,
case was argued by able counsel on both sides
The decision of the Court was that County AS
SCISSORS were compelled to obey the instrue
lions of the Governor and Auditor, withou
regard to the law; but the exemption law wa
not touched upon nor referred to by the Court
although the argument of one of the coun
sci was confined entirely to the constitution
ality of that law. The position is this: 4
statute OF the State is superseded by the dctun
of the Governor, and our highest Court says 1
| is right without passing upon the statute thu
superseded. Under such stretch of Execu
tive authority it would only require instruc
| lions issued under the great seal of the Stat
| TO compel the listing of your churches an,
cemeteries, school houses and public librarie
and even the marble tablets that affection ha
placed above the remains OF our honored dead
along with your farm products, In the list O
| Democratic tithables. II 1t were not for tn
expressions and hardsLips that are inhicte
| upon the farmers of the State by this decision
would be too ludicrous to discuss.
| Under this decision the farmers of the Stat
are compelled to pay tax upon their land
which have been re-valued, and In man
cases, largely advanced In price, twice sine
| the Democratic party came into power, an
also upon every thing those lands produce
whether of cereals, roots or stock. Thus III
| farmer pays double taxation, and in man
cases three and four-fold. To Illustrates