The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-03-06

..I."
CDionsi Gibson. Of Culpeper. opposed th
hn v,bich he thought would not renei!
the existing evil .,.-...h. in,
AFR Mason. of King George. tnousht u''
t1l v,oe one Of the most important an'
f,r-reachlnr measures submitted TO lh,
/ C.c,crol Assembly. He felt convinced 'h"'
81 its provisions were carried Out tne rev
- ~ the state would be Increased
! so.o o,o ~. s200 ono a year. The commute
/ ,,hiob was aupointcd 10 investigate '"e
/ aeeeeemout Of mineral lands two suiHiiiei
gro while I'm Allegheny county tvoA W.
dance as 10 the relative assessed N',uV
of these mineral lands MS compared WIN
.t,t ~ agricultural lands in the same
vicinity. The latter were assessor "a 20 O'.'
E, to so per acre. some as high as $40 per
,ore including buildings. while alohssiur
III these farming lands a large tract Oh
mineral land was assessed at 81 per acre
4 SMALL acreage OF this land assessed AT
"a was also used for agricultural pui-
poses.
Mills Survey.
AIR Mason next referred TO the Miils
survey. which lies largely IN Bath county
and If assessed al an is assessed ileI1'
Inns "a mart Of II IS situated I'm AHeghany
county Tine commissioner OF the revenue
of the latter county. on beng as"el " Ia
he thought about the assessment OF ii''i-
eral lands as compared with that OIL l7i
inc lands. said II think the Lar INNS
lands are assessed entirely TOO hsh anu
tbc mineral lands too low The clerk Oh
Alerhany county was asked the sam.
question His answer was: "farmihs
lanas ON the average, are assessed az
from SO 10 SIS per acre more than MIN
oral lands" The assessor of that county
,.ss aeked the same question and made
"A similar answer.
Mr. Mason called attention to the condi-
,for of affairs I'm regard TO a tract OF lana
~ $4,000 acres TN Bath county. According
20 tho treasurer Of that county taxes on
mat nropsrtv had been paid irregulariy
b, the owners, who are non-residenis.
The owners claimed that the assessment
was too high They rendered coupons IN
pavment Of taxes for one or two years.
Another tract of 1883 acres was assessed
mostly at - cents per acre, but 2't54 acres
~ This were assessed at 81 per acre. The
owners are non-residents Another tract
of 12115 acres is considered one of the
finest mineral and timber lands in the
western part OF the State. On examina-
ton was found by the committee that
a large quantity Of this area was assess
ed AT 10 cents per acre. and the remain
der 40 only cents per acre. 1t IS great
wealth Of minerals and timber. The treas
urer was asked If he could give any rea-
son for this ridiculously low assessment
on this vast tract Of land. His answer was:
1T was assessed years ago at the above
price. and there has been no change
lie was questioned further by being
asked whether he considered this fair
valuation on that tract Of land His
Ia. rod
what. i'm his opinion. were the lands most
valuable for. His answer was: "Timbers
and minerals. The minerals might turn
out to be worth millions OF dollars" The
committee ascertained that farming lands
of a similar character In the same county
and in the same neighborhood of this vast
tract. were assessed at from 81 to s.
per acre.
Another tract of 5000 acres, considered
fine mineral and timber land, owned by n
nonresident is assessed at 10 cents per
acre. and another of $4,000 acres, also
owned by n0n-residents. at the same
figure. The treasurer Of Bath county was
asked what he considered the relative
value Of tine assessment between the |
farming lands and timber lands. His am
swor was. "The farming lands are assess |
ed about ten times higher than the min
eral and timber lands lie was then |
asked if there had been a general in- |
crease IN the assessment of mineral |
lands in Bath county in the last few
years. and HIS answer was. con some,
but not general"
ln Craig county a tract Of 5000 acres
of land was found TO be assessed only az
70 cents per acre According TO the record
This tract is owned by people living in
London England. The question was ask
"a the clerk. do you know anything
about the value Of these lands?" His
answer was: 1T is considered fine min
'ral property in this section. ] WAS up
here with a gentleman once, and he ask
ID me what | thought this property could
be bought for. ! said '$l.OOO000.' He said:
/ DO not think you could get it for
p 100000 "
Mr.. Moon also advocated the measure,
lut Mr. Nelson, Of Frederick. moved to
'ass the bill by. lie stated that the Demo
ratio party of his section did not want
commission as provided for In the bill
O come there and change the assess
nents. and ne did not think that such a
esirc existed anywhere.
Messrs HuntOn and Mason declared
hat their counties desired to have a re-
assessment.
The motion TO pass by was lost by a
otc OF IS TO IS.
Mr.. Dejarnette thought the bill provided
or the creation of unnecessary offices.
nd IL created an unnecessary burden
ir Ncff. of Shenandoah. said the bill
vas very dangerous one because II
would put the taxing power into the
lands of three men,
Col. Logan, Of Roanoke, was in favor Of
he object Of the BILL bat did not think
he hin was constitutional, because the
.an 4 hn |
'oint board of equalization. At this
nncture the bin went over. the hour for
'acating the chair having arrived.
The Popular Clerk.
Before the House took a recess. how
yer. Judge Nicol was recognized by the
hair. who in an eloquent speech. pre-
ented Col. John Bell BIGGER, the clerk OF
he House Of Delegates and Keeper of
tolls with an elegant gold watch chain.
nd charm I'm making the presentation.
Ir Nicol spoke as follows:
MIR. Speaker: Before the session OF
SgS-'9i passes into history in behalf of
he members OF the House Of Delegates
desire 20 present this beautiful watch
% our h0nored and accomplished clerk.
'olonol John Bel Bigger as a slisht
testimonial and memorial OF our esteem
md love.
I'VE esteem him because ne is a
rue Northumberland to the grand old
commonwealth. in war and peace When
vars rude alarm sounded. he was num-
'Crcd among the heroic defenders Of his
native land. When the white-winced
nigel Of peace smiled and banished the
lemon Of war; with spirit .nbroken
Ohm Bel Bigger returned to the useful
vacations Of life.
"Ilegtel clerk Of the Iouua Of r,.io