The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-10-08
OHIO LAND VALUES.
They HIVE Not Doprccintcd-somo Facts
About belmont County.

hDuut IbCiIHOHt
ErrrtrV Tine.
The saying that "half the truth is
worse than whole lie' has u possible
illustration In Governor Campbell's dis.
cussion Of land values In Ohio. The
Governor in his speech at st. Clairavillc
last Friday sald: an 1880 the farm lands
OF Belmont county were assessed AZ
ll,224,000. In 1890 tho assessors could
only find $S,l000O0 OF tho property.
There was II loss Of 1904, 900. The real
loss ID twice this amount"
IL the above statement DO true, II
ought to be einincntly satisfactory to
tho "howlcrs" for cheapness-c cheap
iron, chenp coal, cheap clothing, cheap
food, cheap fatm products, why not
cheap fnrms2 But Is tho above state
mcnt truc In the sense that tho farm
lands OF Belmont county have deprcci-
ated In value over three million dollars
since 1880. which was the point intend.
cd to DO made by Campbell? Investi-
CATION should disclose that farm lands
throughout tho State have deprecated
in proportion 70 tho alleged deprccia.
ton IN Belmont county since 1880, as We
should know why farm land in Belmont
county were assessed over three million
dollars lcss In Ohio than In 1880. Tho
grand duplicate Of realty for these years
was:
IN %! 3O ,3i2
III .............."- 1,lGlOio,Gil
Increase. 1871 ovcr $50 s IN o.; osi
The valuation Of farm lands for these
years WINS:
~ Gl?.e5l
AZ iVS,Jl!.i12
Increase, 1890 over ISSi.............e 1899 469
The valuation Of real estate in cities
and towns was:
~ Coz 0jS
ih ~ .lG2, iJS
Increase, 1870 over lssi.............s GO,iOo 60
II the assessed value OF property nj
fords any clue to its real value land
Campbell seems to think that it does
then the above tables show that the
real estate OF Ohio was over one hun
dred and thirty million dollars more
valuable IN 1890 than in 1880. They
also show that farm lands were over
seventeen million dollars more valuable
In 1890 than in 1881; md that city and
town property was nearly seventy mil
lion dollars more valuable in 1890 than
in 1854. We compare 1890 with 1884 in
the last two tables, because 1t Is as far
back rs we have the official statistics at
hand, but the first table indicates that
the same state OF facts exists back to
1880. 1t being true, then, that farm
lands have INCREASED in valuation in
the State as whole, how do we account
for the decreased valuation in Belmont
and two or three other counties spoken
Of by the governor as illustrations ?"
suppose the property OF Martins
Ferry to have been assessed Mt one mil
lion dollars, and the committee that ap-
peared before the State Board OF Equal.
ization from this place had succeeded
In reducing 1t to eight hundred thou.
sand, then according to Campbell's argu-
ment property valued at a thousand
dollars when assessed would only be
worth eight hundred dollars after the
equalization. Or suppose the Board OF
EQUALIZATION had added eleven million
dollars TO the valuation OF farm lands in
Belmont county, then following the
same argument every farm would double
In value, and the person who owned Il
five thousand dollar farm when assessed
would have ]. transformed into ten
thousand dollar farm merely by the ac-
ton OF the Board OF Equalization. One
step further. Suppose the State Board
Of Equalization should advance the ag-
gregate valuation Of realty in the State
ten or twelve and one-hali per cent,
would that increase the value OF real
estate one cent? Nonsense!
There isn't a school boy in Belmont
county who doesn't know better. Such
talk verges on the domain Of demugogy,
and is unworthy any intelligent person,
much less the man who know holds
and again aspires to the highest posi-
ton among the people OF Ohio. If the
farmers OF Belmont county have been
relieved from the payment of taxes on
three million dollars since 1850, it is q
matter OF congratulntion for them, but
that three million dollars is still on the
grand duplicate of the state and the tax
is paid OIL 1t by the people OF other
counties. W. 4. LEWIS,
Martins Ferry, O., October 5, 1891.