Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-02-08
ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS
OF THE LEGISLATURE.

corporations and joint stock compan-
les, on second reading, on motion OF
Mr.. Reynolds, was recommitteds1
H. B. 149, repeating hotel licenses.
on reconsideration of the vote by
which it was rejected, came up on its
! passage. Mr.. Anderson spoke in favor
of the repeal of the tax. Mr.. Smith,
Of Ohio, for repeal of the law because
| Ohio county paid hotel licenses and
Kanawha county did not Mr.. Rey-
nolds thought this House could make
no more serious mistake than to repeal
this bill. He thought it bad thing
to repeal law because that it was
| evaded. If the Kanawha hotels were
not taxed, then there was no cause Of
complaint. II so little returns come to
the State from this license, it verifies
| his statement that the license taxes
are not collected and shows that the
bill putting the collection OF these
taxes on local officials was good one.
II there is no license for hotel there
would be no regulations. The law
compels hotels to provide escapes. Re-
peal this law and you do away with
the requirement to provide fire escapes.
4
the right to arrest man who jumps
his board bill; repeal this law and he
loses this privilege. Repeal this law
and you repeal all his privilege and
his restrictions. That Charleston
| taxes hotels exorbitantly has nothing
to do with the State license.
Mr. Jackson said that boarding houses
were not licensed, yet are un4er re-
striction. Hotels are not created by
| license. In other States where this
| license tax, there are restrictions as
to fire escapes and the right of arrest.
| The license law has nothing to do with
the manner in which hotels are kept
| The laws Of trade will compel him to
| keep the kind of house their trade
| compel them to keep.
BrannOn said that the common law
back to the days Of Blackstone defined
| hotel and imposed certain obliga-
lions upon him. A hotel man,
without statute has lien upon the
property Of his guests; he could see
no special reason for this tax. 1t is
amusing to see how every occupation
in Virginia was taxed. According to
| the argument, because lawyers in this
| State are no longer taxed, we have no
more lawyers. 1T is in violation Of the
Constitution because it does not i'm
| pose uniform taxation. The matter Of
revenue is very unimportant, accord
ing to the Auditors report.
Mr.. Smith, OF Chic, interrupted Mr..
Brannon to say that if the Auditor,
who lived in Kanawha county, could
only collect SIT year. how could he
collect the taxes on other counties.
Mr.. Brannon said he could not do so,
and because the law was unjust.
Mr.. Martin said that the report of
the Auditor quoted from was a mis-
print and cited instances where there
| were several hotel keepers in kanawha
who had paid over SIS and 500 each.
He called upon the majority to be
careful, that the minority wanted the
majority to do many foolish things
and would help them, in order to get
them into trouble and laugh at them.
The druggist was just as necessary as
| the hotel keeper, why tax him? Why
! tax the keeper of the bowling alley?
Why tax great many other things?
You can't keep a shooting gallery; you
tax the skating rink. The people who
have large means must not be taxed,
but the poor devils must he. Mr.. Mar
tin insisted that under the rules, this
bill should have come from the COM
mittee on Taxation, which relates to
the legal question. 1t was not the duty
Of the chairman of the Finance and
Taxation committee to go to the Ju-
dietary committee to examine a bill
on appropriation, and moved that the
Dill be recommended to the committee
on Taxation and Finance.
Mr.. Kenney criticized Mr.. Martin for
appealing to the majority on a party
question. Mr.. Kenney said there
would be muddle on the affair of this
State so long as the majority had con-
troll OF the affairs OF the State. Mr..
Martin asked Mr. Kenney to state why
drug stores and skating Kinks be tax
ed! Mr.. Kenney said he would answer
them when he came to them.
Mr.. Brannon said he could not see
why drug stores should be taxed and
he was not in favor of the taxes, but
believed that amusements, as bowling
alleys, skating Kinks, etc., should be
taxed. He thought there was a legal
4uOSCiOA luFOiN0u that maze the Dill
go to the Judiciary.
Mr.. Jackson said he resented the
speech made by Mr. Martin. He had
no interest in the bill The bill went
to the judiciary committee naturally.
Mr.. Jackson said that if the chairman
OF the Finance committee had express
ed a wish for the bill to go to his
committee it would have gone there.
He deplored the bringing in of poll
tics on bill that was being discussed
on its merits. 1t does not seriouly af-
feet the revenues of the State, or it
would have been referred at once to
the Judiciary. Quite a little heated
eolloquy occurred between Messrs
Jackson and Martin that trended close
ly upon personal grounds. Mr.. Martin
said that the Democrats We're Ginning
In with Mr. Jackson in this.
Mr.. Darst said the bill had been
thoroughly discussed in committee and
1t was matter Of justice between
man and man.
MIR. Smith, OF Mcdowell. spoke in op-
position to the bill. The State tax had
nothing to do with any onerous tax
imposed by cities in addition to the