Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1884-12-09
THE MINORITY REPORT.

Commission Matters.
A REGIsrER reporter obtained from the
Hon. J. NJ. Mason, OF the Tax Com mission,
the following interview:
What have you to say about Mr.. Bells
minority reportT
Nothing as to its political aspects; moth
ing as to Its bad taste twill fall still born.
The Commission deals with subjects Of vital
inn ortsnce to our State, and thoughtful
men will not tolerate the efforts of bitter
partisans, blinded by party prejudice, to
manufacture political capital in such mat
ter IS this. Men Of intelligence who read
the preliminary report will not be mislead
or deceived by unesndid and unfair criti-
eisms; such criticisms mislesd and deceive
only the simple minded and the uuintelli-
gent" ..,.a
But he contradicts statements made by
the majority"
Every statement in our report was made
after the most careful investigation and will
bear scrutiny. We have generally given the
facts which warrant our statements For illus
tration, we say that, probably, four-6fths of
the invisible property (notes, stocks, ETC. is
not listed. This statement was the result
of lOng.continued and careful investigation.
The mass OF statistics which were collected
by US on this single point will astonish the
Legislature; bes.G-s, / had much cores
pondence with such experts as Messrs. Wells,
iileasou, Ropes and VIM, OF Massachu-
sets, and Fuller, OF Vermont, all of whom
sre specialists as regards this subject. |
have now in my Office certainly two dozen
letters on the single point as to the proper
ton which invisible property in any COM
munity bears to the value of land. | have
preserved these letters and statistics to show
10 show the Legislature if necessary, and I
now repeat that, in my Judgment, about
tour-ffths Of the invisible property goes IN
taxed. i now repeat that we have in this
State about City millions of untaxed invisi
bic property, and anyone will be convinced
that | am right who will come to my office
and examine nv authority for this state
ment. The loose opinion of men who have
not Investigated this subject is worthless.
But Mr.. Bell asserts that you misstated
WellsY'
Il observed what he said, and to say the
least, it was unworthy his official position.
| am perfectly familiar with Mr.. Wells
writings; l read his report several times be-
fore we Published line. Mr. Bell himself
is guilty OF two distinct attempts at decep-
ton in this single exception. ~ He rep
resents me as quoting from Wells report,
whereas distinctly said that quoted from
a private letter TO me. Wells made his re-
port in II and his letter is dated in Novem-
Der, think, lSSS. (2.) Mr.. Bell pretends
to copy from Wells report, whereas he
copies from the New York banker, George
Opdyke. This is proved by Wells report,
page 81. That is to say, Mr. Bell puts in
the mouth of Mr.. Wells what, in point of
fact, are the uttersnces of Wall street
banker. (3) He omits to give my quota
ton from ths report of the New York
Assessor, which is AS follows: 1t is an
acknowledged fact that the assesssble per-
sunal property in the State equals, if it does
not exceed, the value of the real estate
The simple truth is that Mr. Bell honestly
believes that commercial property (notes
stocks, etc, } ought TO be exempt; in other
words, he believes that all taxes should be
paid by land, horses aud other property;
whereas believe that each and every item
Of property whether visible or not whether
a share of bank stock or cow should carry
its Just share Of the burden. Anybody who
viii read pages 23-6 of our Report and
note ; Of Appendix can determine which Of
US is right"
Mr. Bell thinksit impossible to reach
invisible property and that legislation will
make capital run away
Precisely this sort Of talk has always
been used every time anybody tries
to tsN commercial property but it is
mere CANNON and is exploded on pages
=, II. ~ and % Of our Report. This sort
OF talk is used to frighten country delegates
and has been fully discounted. Men
Ike Jay Gould always have their
advocates and they are generally successful
in misleading the representatives OF rural
constituencies. This sort of talk was used
in Vermont but the legislature effected
valuable reforms and the result was i'm.
mensely popular Here is part Of our re
port which Mr.. Bell was very careful to
omit
Having observed that the personal prop.
erty of Vermont increased to more than
tbreefOld in one year, lin 1880 it was SIS
O31, 1862, and in 1881, $i6,S96, 96T), we in.
qu:red into the matter.
The following extract, is from letter to
6 member Of the Commission, written BIZ
gentleman Of Brsttle6oro, Vt, who has
given this subject much attention.
Prior to lSS0 there was wide spread dis
satisfaction in all parts ofthe State growing
out Of the inequalities of assessments and
the practice Of eoncesling intangible prop
eTty. A stringent assessment Law WAS
passed in 1850 and a special officer held re,
sponsible for Its enforcement. This officer
was required to prepare such interrogstories
SIS might be necessary to obtain truthful
lists. These lists cannot be inspected IN
less by order ofcourt When first proposed,
this law vas very unpopular, but after three
years experience 20 per cent. of our people
would vote against its repeal. The increase
was substantially in the class, termed by
you, invisible property" 1t insults intelli.
gence to say that capital will run away if it
is taxed the same as q farm. Capital is
taxed in Vermont and none left. ANY
property will be dissatisfied if unfairly treat
ed, bat nobody proposes to treat it unfairly;
We simply say that commercial property
shall carry Its just and fair share OF com
mon burden. To put all the burden on