The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-08-07

tive Committee.
The following letter from Senator
Jarvis relating to recent charges
against him was addressed to Mr.. Z.
A, Mathews, of Charlotte, and was
furnished by him to the Observer OF
the same city for publication Sunday
morning, July 90:
UNITED STATES SENATE,
WASHINGTON, D. O., July %, 1894.
G. a. Matthews, Esq Charlotte. N. g.:
MY DEAR SIR:-I am in receipt OF
yours of the 22d inst, enclosing a clip
ping from the Charlotte Observer signed
Bohemian" in which that well known
correspondent takes me to task for my
vote against the railroad subsidy, and
in which he suggests bad motives on
my part for so voting. It is usually
the case that men who are aver ready
to assign bad motives to other peoples
conduct are themselves bad men, but
Bohemian" may, for aught l know,
be an exception to the rule. Be that
as it may, I will give you a frank and
candid answer to the respectful inquir-
les contained in your letter in reference
to the charges made by him. I have
no concealments about anything I do
or say concerning public matters, and
any citizen of North Carolina who de-
sires to know the facts can always have
them by asking for them. I am acan-
didate for the peoples support, and I
expect to make a canvass of the State
in the interest Of the party to which I
belong as o o as I can get away from
Washington. When I go upon the
stump I invite any one, l car not how
humble he may be, to ask me any ques-
ton about which he desires informa-
ton, and l will give him a frank and
candid answer. l repeat I have no
concealment. The people are entitled
to know, and they shall know, the
truth about all things affecting their
interests 50 far as the facts are known
to me.
But now to your letter and the news
paper clipping referred to. 1t is true,
as stated, that I voted against the sub
sidy of 1896, 900 to the railroad for car
rying the mail. I did so because I
considered it a useless expenditure Of
the peoples money, but I do not desire
to discuss this view of the question be-
cause my colleagues in the Senate and
House with other good men voted for
it. They no doubt did what they
thought was right and sc did l.. Each
is answerable to the people for his con
duct; and it is not necessary for anony-
nous newspaper scribblers to seek to
assign bad motives to either.
I am not the attorney Of the vii
mington & Weldon Railroad Company
and never have been except in n
matter. The dockets in Pitt Superior
Court will show that 1 am and have
been since 1889 the attorney for the
plaintiffs in a large number of suits
against the company.
The tax matter to which Bohemian"
refers is simply this: When the Viii
mington & Weldon Railroad Company
was chartered the State undertook to
confer upon that company a perpetual
exemption from taxation for it's prop
erty. This was done a long time ago,
when we had no railroads in the State
and when the people did not pay an
ad UaLOrem tax. In fact, they paid but
little tax of any kind. Soon after the
ad Va1orem system of taxation was
adopted in 1868, the exemption from
taxation enjoyed by this and other
railroads began to attract attention.
Among the early advocates of forcing
these railroads to pay taxes on their
property I had to take a leading part.
This is a matter of public notoriety.
At the session of the Legislature of 1891
the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad
Company desired some legislation and
in exchange for this the Company
offered to surrender to the State a part
of it's exemption from taxation. The
President Of the Company wrote to me
asking me to go to Raleigh and assist
him in getting this legislation. 1 wrote
him that my relations to the people of
North Carolina were such that 1 could
not advise a member of the Legislature
to vote for a thing that I would not
vote for myself, that 1 was opposed to
his getting any legislation unless he
surrendered all his exemption. 1 also
stated that I thought his company
should list all its property for taxation
and pay taxes on it as other property
was taxed. and that until his comnanu