Mexico weekly ledger., 1900-11-22

to retain and cultivate that farm
il he did not some one else would. az
1t would not go uncultivated. A
does not pay one cent tax, either
state, county or municipal. B cult
Yates the farm and by his labor
raises a crop. and If be makea 6 per
cent upon his investment he does
something not one farmer in a humid
red does in this county. But what
becomes of this 6 per cent, the pro-
ducts and fruit Of BIS labor? does he
spend it in Audrain county or he
state Of Missouri No, A with his
money bag comes along and collects
his interest aud by draft carries 1t
TO New York. What then has been
aecomplisbedi B has labored all
year and paid taxes on the full value
Of the farm. but A, who has per-
formed no labor whatever, has new.
ertheless by reason Of his interest,
reaped the benefits, sapped the
very substance from the soil fur that
year and carried it direct to the
state Of New York. Thus we see
that this capital of the ~easterner In
the form Of loans is a wealth-con-
suming capital instead of being a
wealth-producing capital as it would
and should be if in some other form
such as factories, etc., and yet it il
this form of capital that even the
possibility Of its withdrawal so
alarms some. But, Mr.. Editor, you
say on the other hand that capital
will not be withdrawn but interest
will be increased. Do you near to
tell me that any lender of money
would not gladly welcome a law
that would enable him to secure a
higher rate of interest? Yet we
witness the fact that the money
lending class is today opposing this
law. Again il the six per cent
interest law is passed by the next
legislature, which at the present
time seems probable owing to.
the fact that it was made campaign
issue In many counties over the
state, then a higher rate than 6 per
cent caunot be exscted. You say
that the money lender, who Is taxed
in New York, II taxed here also,
will raise interest to meet this double
taxation. What IL this be truei Be-
cause New York taxes him, is that
any reaso why Missouri should mott
His interests are here, he has the
protection of our laws, why then
should he not bear part Of our bur.
deusi But suppose he does raise biz
interest to meet the taxation in Mis-
souri,, is the debtor 10 a worse posi-
ton than nowf Certainly not, for
he already pays that taxation.
But ] have consumed more space
that 1 intended and in conclusion let
me say that the gist Of your
whole editorial, and which is in
itself a complete answer to that edi-
%torial, lie found scar the center
thereof. where You say ''No money
lender is going to lend his moneg and
then be tdred for the full Uulue of the
amount lodned.n
Yes, Mr.. Editor, there is the key
note Of the situation; one of the
things that this law is intended to
accomplish, namely, to force those
money lenders who have been con-
ceallng their notes and themselves
from the assessor and collector "toI
be tdred for the full value of the
amount loaned" The question then
comes down to this: Are you going
to oppose, and request the repre-
sentative Of this county to oppose
a measure o object of which is to
force the money lender to pay taaes
on his property which heretofore he
has refused to do by reason of his
ability to conceal the same, and the
other object of which is to equaIize
taxationi
Me-. Editor, / hope you will revert
to your former position upon this
question, but Whatsoever may be
your course in the future. for myself
| cannot either IN or out Of the leg
islature ever lend my vote in oppos
ition to this measure. | will con.
cede that owing to the radical
change which this law involves,
there may be a temporary suspense
or s~tripgency in money circles,
something that follows all changes
so material az this, but at the same
time ! do earnestly believe that
when that temporary suspense will
have worn away-when things will
have adjusted themselves to the
new and altered conditions-that
the law will prove a benefitin every
way.
have written this with a feeling
Of the utmost regard for yourself
and your paper and in no sense for
the purpose of entering a newspaper
discussion, nor shall l be drawn into
one. Permit MI 10 thank you for ,
the valuable space and to remain
Sincerely, i
RHODES CLAY.
PAYS AN ELECTION BET. I