The age-herald., 1899-07-23
REPPL|ER IS
 AT II AGAIN Talking About How Little of City Revenue the Mer-
 chants Pay.

TO the EuitOr or The AB0-1teraiQ.
 I will not apologize any more in asking for valuable space in your paper, as there is no way of judging how often 1 may yet need it; for, twice MT. Chalifoux has bid den me adieux, thrown the city into mourn- ing; and no doubt the printers devil' has by this time ruined your office towel in dry ing his tears, but every time 1 pour hot shot' into the gentleman, and they begin to burn, he come back with some sort of re- ply.
 No, MT. Chalifoux, president of the board of trade, you do me too great honor in thinking l have to call to my assistance d "brainy lawyer" to write the letters 1 do; for, assure you, they are all written by me, without assistance from any one, and there is nothing marvellous in that, as they are simply based upon facts and figures, and are the truth, and any one else with those facts before them, could write them; but that is more than you can say, for Is it not true MT. Chalifoux, that you have to call into council all of the wise men, sages, elders and the secretary Of the board of trade to aid you in getting up your very interesting CD letters? Nor will you side track me, MT. Chalifoux from the main ar gument and complaint, no matter how much you would like to do so, or would wish to switch me off to something else by even accusing me of mud slinging."
 No, Mir Chalifoux, 'sling'' nothing but facts and figures, and you have not been able to contradict them, and when they hurt you, you always come back, not to ex- plain but surmising to who the author is or may be.
 What difference does it make to the ag- grieVed public who the author is, or even what his motives may be Qf he has any). Neither Ned Brace" or the "Murmurer'' tn fhn ntInl -ff their articles are read, appreciated and ap- proved.
 1, too, could try to lure you from the main subject, by diving deeply into several other questions and complaints made by the public, but l will not do so, for they are not my own affairs, nor is it my busi- ness; but it is my business to complain, and I have the right to assert and prove that ''the merchants do not contribute their pro rata share, or anywhere near it, toward the welfare and maintenance of the city,"
 In the discussion of questions Of this character facts, and facts only, must gov ern If my statements in previous letters arc wrong, no one is more willing to be righted than Ian humble tax payer, who in this and previous letters, has simply tried to have the burdens of life divided equally among all tax payers.
 I eDdeaVored to show this to the fair minded people in my last letter, so far as the "license tax' paid by the merchants to the city is concerned; and judging from the comments made feel that have sue ceeded, and am gratihed
 I will endeavor to show now to all !n- telljgent tax payers how little the mer- chants contribute in the shape of adva- lorem or city tax and challenge you, MT. Chalifoux. and your board of trade, to con- tredict these figures.
 The following cities who have, next to Birmingham the next lowest tax rate, all collect license tax, in some instances larg- CT, and in others a fraction smaller, and they collect the following as an advalorem