Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-02-24

= tle OOulncTu IfTtliiLiDg company, aS
shipper spoke OF the harm done by thii
excessive tax. He gave facts and fgurct
to show this.
/ Colonel John B. Purcell expressed hi!
surprise st hearing as he had during tht
day that the halt in the Senate cOnmitte,
was for political reasons, and These rea
sons were that our friends in the City by
the Sea were hostile 10 the proposec
legislation and it was given ont that
they would kick out of the party if thC
+ bill was passed. He did not know how
TO meet r statement Of this character
but he wOuld say TO the gentlemen Of TIC
Senate that the people who demand this
repeal are the bone and sinow Of the
Democratic party. The party is as much
dependent upon Richmond rs upon any
community III the State, and here it Is
that they come TO ask for their largest
contributions to the campaign fund.
+ Colonel Purcelrs idea was that in q
question involving matter of justice
and right as this does it Is a pity that
such consideration should enter, but in
such view his contention was that lilcl-
mOnd certainly deserved rs much from
the Democratic party as Norfolk.
He also commented upon the fact that
these pilots, who claim that the associa-
tion viii 60 10 pieces if they are pre-
vented from collecting their Sl7, 600 from
the commerce Of our rivers. have repre-
sentative who for months past has been
lowering about the Capitols at Washing
ton and Richmond.
If the pilots of Virginia are so wealthy
that they can afford to support such ex-
penses as these, Colonel Purcell thought
the people of Virginia ought to demand
that the money should not come out OF
their pockets. He thought he could best
express his views as to the other questions
involved by the following resolutions,
which he read and submitted to the ac-
ton of the meeting:
Under the call of the presidents Of the
Chambers Of Commerce Of Richmond,
Petersburg, and Danville this mass
meeting of businessmen, assembled TO
consider the present statute, which re-
quires the payment of a license-tax by
all cOastwise vessels to the pilots (whO
are private individually for the privilege
OF trading in the waters of Virginia, de
sire to present the following statement
IN regard to said law to the people OF
Virginia, and their conclusions as TO the
burdens which it imposes upon our ship
pors and its injurious effects upon the
commerce of our State
BY the fourteenth section of the pres
ent law Csce Acts lSSl-'S2, page 394) all
sailing vessels plying between points
on the coast Of the United States are
required to pay to the agents of the
pilots, who are private individuals, an
annual license-tax of 10 cents upon each
ton Of the vessels burden for the privi-
lcge Of trading in the waters of Nir-
ginia. The revenue derived from this
source, not ono dollar of which goes into
the State Treasury, and in return for
which the pilots render absolutely not
one moment of service, amounted TO
over $1,000 during the wear just passed.
Unless the abOve-described license IS
obtained the vessels required under the
law TO pay to the pilots fees graduated
according 10 the number of the feet
which she draws, and the payment Of
these fees is compulsory whether the
pilot renders any service or not.
The provisions of the law requiring
the payment OF fees by foreign vessels
which amounted to over forty-seven
thousand dollars during the past year,
and its other details need not here be
recounted. because the bill under consid-
Grafton only proposes TO amend the ex-
isting statute so far as TO relieve our
coastwise vessels from the payment Of
the aforesaid license-tax and compulsory
fees. All the other provisions of the
law, no matter what may be our views
rs to their propriety, are left untouched
and the monopoly now enjoyed 10y the
twenty-seven gentlemen who compose
the pilots association, which is n close
corporation, and under this law self
electing and self-perpetuating, will not be
disturbed.
We hold that the propriety of the
change proposed in the existing law,
which has been asked with SO much
unauimity by our people from all parts
of the State. must commend itself to
every thoughtful and considerate man.
We aver that any taxation of the citl-
zen for the benefit of private individuals,
in return for which he receives no ser
vice, and the person who is thus allowed
TO levy tribute upon his neighbor rem
ders no labor, is unJustltiable and cannot
be defended.
We aver that the wrong thus commit
ted npon the citizen, great as it manifest
" is, is really small as compared to the
injury inflicted upon the Commonwealth
by driving from her waters vessels which
would otherwise come to her ports to
augment her commerce and enhance the
prosperity OF all her people.
We aver that in the maintenance of an
efficient merchant marine and ample ia
cllities for water transportation Will be
found the cheapest means of conveying
10 and hom the State every article which
enters into the daily consumption Of our
people and the products OF OR mines,
forests, fields, and factories.
We aver that this tax, while paid at
first hands 10y the owners Of the vessels,
is at last paid by the grea. mass OF the
people who produce and consume the
various articles transported, and is there
fore really tax upon the labor of our
land.
We aver that these taxes operate as an
embargo upon our commerce to keep
from our waters vessels which now seek
other ports, where they are not subjected
tosuch burdens, and the decline i'll our
coastwise trade can be ascribcd to the
existence Of this obnoxious law.
We avert that instances can be multi
piled without number where our miners,
manufacturers, and farmers are now pay
ING higher freight rates in Transporting
their products to the markets OF the
North and East than they otherwise
would have to pay if they could ship the
same by sailing vessels, but which they
are deprived from doing because such
vessels can better afford to trade III other
waters where this law does not exist,
and therefore will not come to our ports.
We aver that the change proposed will
not. AS the friends of the pilots allege,
impair the efficiency of the pilot service
or endanger the life of any passenger
travelling upon the water, because the
fees now derived from the foreign trade
(which are daily increasing), and winch
trade accepts their services, are ample to
afford them full remuneration to provide