Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1892-01-22
The Maryland Farmers Convention.

farmers of Maryland met in Baltimore IL
convention on Thursday of last week. Theil
object was to devise means of relieving the
depressed condition of agriculture in this
State and to discuss matters of general in
terest to farmers. In his address to the
farmers, President Stake passed in review
the past and present condition OF agrlcul-
ture, and devoted considerable time to the
question of taxation.
Col. Fred. Raine submitted lengthy
paper concerning the attraction OF settlers
to the waste lands Of the State, the forming
of societies of landowners in each county,
the partitioning of large tracts of land and
the introduction of "white laborers who
would work on, buy or rent many now un-
profitable field" The paper was referred
TO the committee on resolutions.
Major Alvord, after some argument, sug-
gested that the presidents address be made
a special bulletin ofthe Agricultural College,
and mailed by it to farmers throughout
the State.
Mr. Devries made short address upon
the questions of assessment, and presented
resolution that at is the sense of this con-
vention that the listing system should re-
place assessment" The resolution was made
the order of the day for Friday at 1l:3O
o'clock.
DR.. Elzey presented a resolution for the
creation of State board OF agriculture and
immigration, in order to check the abnormal
growth of cities and towns at the expense
of the rural population; also resolution to
amend the constitution so as to exempt from
taxation all public property, and to require
all other property to be taxed at a uniform
rate.
Mr. Devres offered resolution passed
hu ha rula al !
association to appoint q committee to confer
with a similar committee of the grange in
drafting bill looking to the creation of a
State Railroad Commission.
Other business was transacted, after which
the convention adjourned until Friday.
The delegates from this county were Asa
M. Staber, Samuel Hopkins, f. g. Gilpin,
John o. Clark, Julius Marlowe.
At the reassembling of the convention on
Friday the farmers made an imperative de-
mand not only for reassessment of prop
erty, but also for an entirely new and better
system of taxation. The convention finally
decided that the listing system of assessing
taxes, now in force in nearly all of the
| Western States, and which Gov. Hill rec
commended in his last message Tor New
York, was the system they wanted The
Maryland Legislature will be informed OF
this in few days in a resolution of the con-
vention, to be presented by its legislative
| committee.
This resolution, which was adopted with
an enthusiastic AYE" and to which there
was but one dissenting voice, embodies the
substance oftwo papers presented on Thurs
day. One of these was by DR. nj. G.. Elzcy
and the other by IL. O. Devries, both of
Howard county DIR. Elzey's paper states
that the constitution ought so to be amend
cd as to exempt from taxation all public
property, all churches actually used for
public worship, and all grave-y yards from
which no revenue Is derived. IL also states
that all other property not exempted by the
constitution should be taxed at uniform
rate This amendment, the resolution de-
| clares, ought to be written in language so
| plain that no question can arise as to th c
intention Of the people to take the whole
subject of taxation and discrimination in
taxation out of the hands of the Legisa-
ture Mr. Devries paper calls for the adOp-
ton of the listing system.
At the request of several OF the delegates,
Judge Stake, the presiding officer, explained
just what the system is. "lnstead of divid-
ing the State up into assessor districts, as is
now done in Maryland, the listing system"
he said, requires each citizen of the State
to make application to the county commits
sioners every year for an official blank. This
the applicant fills up, giving his real and
personal property and at its estimated value.
The estimate is made under oath, and each
taxpayer becomes his own assessor. by this
method the personal property that now cs.
capes taxation, such as stocks and bonds, is
found, and experience has shown that very
few false returns are made. II false returns
are suspected, the county commissioners are
empowered to make any person testify as TO
his possessions, and if these have not been
correctly returned he IS liable to prosecution
for perjury. No State that has tried the
listing system has, so far as is known, aban-
doned IT,"
al have studied the listing system for
years." said Mr.. Elzey, land believe it the
best that can be devised. Not that it is per
feet and will not work inequalities, not that
it will prevent the usurer despoiling the
widows house, but il Is the best that can be
gotten. Could anything be worse than the
system we now have, in which small proper
ties are assessed much higher than their
value, with the great ones much lower
The reason for this is that the assessors owe
their positions TO men of money and influ-
ence. What becomes of Americas proud
est claim-that Of equality of all men before
the law-when the very tax laws them
selves discriminate between the rich and the
poor, and IN favor of the rich as against the
poor. The Democratic party has promised
the people reassessment Of all property"
Mr., Devries, in speaking of the new plan,
said that class OF property would be reach
ed that had never been taxed. A commit
tee consisting of Samuel Brooke, of Anne
| Arundel county; Gen. Il. Il. f.. lIardcastle,
| of Talbot: LlOyd LoWndes, of Alegany