Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1886-01-22

to be used for this purpose, that they re-
Gently adopted resolution declaring that
they are entitled" to have their ''rightsn
in this public Territory and should not ha.
especially taxed we should
surprise our readers, but, 49,. o.s
nant attention tAses sA.. ono., inu'k
@lleh BIS ought to be stopped. Viz
ainia has sold her public lands to thost
who would buy them, and tAen has levied
tax on them. In this. way she has sup
ported her government. Yet this sam.
Commonwealth. owns one hundred thou
sand acres Of natural oyster bids undsI
her waters which are untaxed, which ar,
laid open freefor thirteen thousand whit,
and black men to earn living on, and
which free pasture the rest Of, che peopl.
are actually taxed to-. keep. clear of intru-
ders from other States,
The official survey, of the waters of Wiz
ginia shoWa that Virginia owns 100000
acres Of natural oyster beds. valued a,
$50. 900, goo. She can sell those oystes bsas
as she has sold her public lead. for bo,s
alike are the property of all the people
Connecticut six years ago SOLD hers to Ih.
amount of fifty thousand scres; and th.
result Of individual owsership has bee.
the improvement of tae beds, and the re-
planting of barren seda to such an exten
that Connecticut Is now sending oysters
to other States, An immense capltai
invested Wathin her borders has been TIT
result Of this business operation on be
part. Besides her one hundred thousanc
acres Of natural beds. Virginia has ON.
million five hundred Thousand acres OF
barren beds which, if improved, wouso
bring untold wealth. AS it is, what be
longs to everybody to use, belongs to no
body to care for and improve. and the
barren beds are increasing while th.
others are diminishing. The census re
port Of 1880 says of the oyster industry i,
Virginia. that 1.-THE great bulk Of the trad
in certain parts Of the State \ is almos
monopolized by negroes" How much tina
property is to he cared for or improved b.,
that class Of citizens, our readers are Wei
able to Judge. In Maryland. where about
the same sort of people have the monopol,
of the oyster beds that have it in Virginia
the Oyster Commissioners say that inter
est sis in imminent danger of complet
destruction 1t is for the welfare of tn .
class. who will eventually be deprived al
together of this means of making living,
as we'll as for the benefit of the Sta +
Treasury and in the interest of equal jus
tice to taxpayers all over the State, that
the beds should be sold. A pamphl.
written by W. N. Armstrong of Hamp
ton, gives two excellent illustrations il
point. On a plot in Hampton Roads i
1879, one colored oysterman got about So
worth of oysters annually. The next ye.'
the General Assembly granted the RICH
to plant oysters on this ground. an in
three years the grantees expended $45 900
in clearing up and planting oyster SEQ.
Last year the oysters were so plentiful
that labor sufficient could not be obtained
to take them up, and the tax paid in one
year on them exceeded the entire tax PAID
on all others planted within the count,
limits during the previous six years. Nrl
would the adoption of this plan in]ure ths
men whose living depends on getting GU
oysters. On the Contrary, with beds i'm
proved by capital they would have steadle
work. more certain income, and a large
amount of money. In France. four bun
bred and twenty-nine acres of oyste
GROUND, skillfully cultivated. produced
oysters to the value of eight millions o.
dollars; or, to apply it here, one hundred
and fifty acres of oyster ground there pro
duces more money than all the oyster bed
of Virginia put together. The sale OF GU
grounds would bring capital TO the State
create All atistyyee ST gig proportions
and give employment to thousands NOR
Of men.
1t is certainly time that the rest OF tn
State took this question out of the hand
of the Underwater counties in which it ha
been left SO long, and with no improve
ment in the condition. 1t is imperativel
demanded by all sections of the State ths
the property of the Commonwealth shout
be administered for the benefit and prof
of all her citizens and not merely in tn
interest Of that section in which the prof.
erty lies. An acre of public land dlsco'
cred in this Valley to-day takes the sam
course that the thousands of acres that prt
ceeded it took; it ia sold and the proceed
put into the common treasury for the Der
eft of all. and then it is assessed and take
for the common welfare. The thousand
of acres that have besn sold in the pas
are now assessed at good rate and til
money arising from their taxation gos
into the treasury Of the State. The Ian
of the farmer is taxed as also his iueom
aud SO the oyster ground must be take
as we'll as the bushel of oysters. Will
the lands of this fertile Valley of Virgin
ia ara heavily taxed for the government
the ground of the fertile zaters Of tt
Chesapeake 90 free of taxation. 4 farmt
OF Augusta might with as much justie
demand that the Commonwealth Shout
furnish him with land to farm and on
tax his proceeds, as for the tidewater ice
to demand that the Commonwealth furl
ish him with oyster beds and merely ia
the oysters. The other sections OF IL
State should wake up to the Injustice IL
legislatures of the past have Gone to thel
In their treatment of this question, al
should demand change. This 10 u