The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-10-13

action Of the board of public works is
the result Of a conspiracy or bargain
with the Pullman Company, by which
the latter will escape Just taxation. and
pay nominal sum only. or cut OF adj
verse leglslation. To support this claim,
which is a falsehood told for political
effect, they declare that the Pullman
Company has constantly In this state
double the number OF cars that It really
has, and that their assessable value is
much greater than that fxed upon.
The badness of these statements Is
apparently due to a consuming desire
on the part Of the Democratic dema-
gugues and organs. to XIII the eject of
the action of the board, which is COM
posed Of the governor, the attorney
general. the auditor, the treasurer, and
the state superintendent of free schools.
In connection with thls EFFORT, and the
repeated charge that the Republican
Legislature ignored the Recommendation
to pass an act providing for the taxa
ton Of Pullman cars, attention Is being
called to fact that the Democratic
organs seem to forget-namely, that
Democratic legislatures twice turned
down a Democratic governors recon-
mendation to pass an act for such tax
alton; also that they seem to forget,
when they are harplng on the allegation
that '3he first Republican legislature
in twenty-five years" failed to pass such
an act, that during the twenty-five
years Of Democratic legislatures not the
sHghtest effort was made 70 tax the
Pullman corporation for doing business
in this state.
With these facts staring them In the
face, the Democratic politicians and
newspapers have the supreme nerve to
attempt to make political capital Of the
charge that two sessions Of Republican
legislatures passed nofsuch act, and to
libel the Republican board of public
works for having applied law already
warrantlng them to tax the Pullman
cars by charging an agreement of an
unholy nature.
This is about the rankest effort to
deceive the public that has been UNDER
taken in this campaign of general all
around Misrepresentation in the absence
Of real Democratic issues. With refer
ence to the attempt to make It appear
that the number of Pullman cars and
their value have been underestimated
(purposely, OF course by the board of
public works, the Charleston Mall
Tribune makes a statement which Is a
matter of record:
First, they say that the Pullman people
have twenty-five to thirty cars IN this
state continuously. The board OF public
works took the Testimony OF the Balti-
more & Ohio Railroad Company, the
Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company and
the Norfolk & Western Railroad Com
pany, and they agreed that the number
OF Pullman sleepers continuously IN the
state Is twelve to thirteen. The Pullman
people returned fourteen. OF course,
these yawpers may know all about It, and
know a great deal more than those who
have Investigated II.
"
worth $4,000 to $4,000 each, and that their
actual worth Is not about 5000 This
statement is ridiculous, They make no
allowance for depreciation by age ana
wear and tear. They don't know that the
life OF a railway car Is but sixteen years,
and that this Is agreed among all rail-
road companies In settling their accounts
For instance, " n Baltimore & Ohio car
IS destroyed while In possession Of the
Chesapeake & Ohio, and the car Is eight
years old, the Chesapeake & Ohio pays
the Baltimore & Ohio just one;halt OF It's
original cost. II Pullman sleeper cost
5000, and Is eight years old, and is de-
stroyed by a railway company, the Pull
man company would receive Just 1900 for
II. The average age Of the Pullman sleep,
ers run In this state Is six years, ana
hence their worth Is about 60 per cent OF
original cost.
The valuation on which the Pullman
Car Company will pay taxes this year
Is ;56,OOO-not a large sum, but properly
assessed, according to the above state
ment. The law under which 1t was done
has existed. and the Democrats could
have executed II in the twenty-five years
they were in power-for 1t contemplates
the taxation of all railroad property.
The llbels being published by certain
Democratic papers concerning the action
of the board OF public works have acted
as boomerangs, calling public attention
to the fact that the first Republican
administration In twenty-five years" has
brought the Pullman Company to time
something the Democratic administra-
lions and legislatures of quarter of
century failed to do. This being the
state of affairs, the Democratic organs
are welcome to all the capital they can
make out Of It.
The effort to make it appear that there
is bargain between the Pullman Com
pany and the board of public works is
too absurd for belief Finally. the or
gana, in Attempting to show that the
number OF cars taxed Is double that
found to be in use in the state, and the
cars are double the value fixed, simply
demonstrate that in the twenty-five
years the Democracy was in power It
let about six and quarter millions OF
dollars worth of railroad property so
uutaxed.