The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-10-11
LESSON IN TAI REF 0RlN

o&Teach and tax aupon5 the same
basis All property in the state, be it
& S8fhesS farm, the home an oil well, a
railroad !, a pipe line, a bank. a grocery
store. "a horse and a sheep.
ct, say the objectors, the assess
y nent law assesses only real estate at
Its true and actual value, lets cor
& porate property escape.
Does
Will give you two examples
n here att Wheeling. Go to the as
SCISSORS books and look al; the records
there OF the Western Union Tele-
graph Company and the Postal Tele-
ess graph Company You will find there
the following
Western Union.
Total assessn q $500 90
Amount OF taxes paid 9 40
Postal Telegraph Co.
3 Total assessment $500 90
Amount of taxes paid .......- So
Do You know how under the present
B law these telegraph companies are as
sessed2 Simply upon the value of
S their furniture and equipment which
they have III their two Offices on
Twelfth street: They are not taxed
upon the miles of poles and wires
3ss they: have strung throughout the
County blocking the public highways
and obstructng the public view
IT has never occurred to them to add
these properties to their return to the
assessor.
a Compromise.
Mr.. Merchant, do you know what
~ hisS I'm eausE%t0 Won ~
The Western Union does business
IS III this county, most conservatively
estimated, of So, 900 year. The
Postal does at least $4,000 a year
ere are two foreign corporations
dong business OF $4,000 a year and
paying the county in taxes the sum
1855 a year.
There is a merchant in this town
"a whose business amounts to $4,000 a
Z year He is assessed for 100000 per-
sona1 property. He pays in taxes to
the county the sum of $3.50 a year.
He does less than half the business
81 of these two telegraph companies and
ss i1e$pays over rs times more taxes
than they do.
workingn1an who owns little
IN tfree4roo ON cottage on the South Side
and SIS assessed for $1,000, pays $40
#35ir1&taxes or $4.O5 more than these two
n telegraph companies, though their in
come in a day is more than his in
two months.
WHAT THE NEW LAWS DO.
How about the new tax laws? Do
pay their share of taxes to Ohio
county?
$ass Jud geE for yourself. Remember, un-
der the present law only what the tel
egraph companies have in their Offices
81 is assessed, their furniture and their
fixtures.
Here is what the new law says they
must return for taxation, and it men
lions each item specifically, SO there
isAno escape:
Section SO, chapter 4, acts of 1904:
III s5 /. The number of miles of line own
ed, leased or operated within this
State. the number of strands of wire
n szz5t tie material Of which it is made, and
as accurately as may be, the time
when the line was constructed or last
placed.
The true and actual value per
$@s mile of such line IN eacn county VI
this State.
8. It's stations, shops and machin-
4 cry therein, and all buildings, struct-
ures and appendages, together with
all real estate and the true and ao-
& tuaI value thereof in each county.
a. It's personal property, of every
kind, Including money, credit and IN
.vestnents in each county.
s. An itemized list OF all other real
property in this State and the loca-
VI ton thereof.
g. The actual capital employed and
:$s!S the market value of the shares OF
capital stock employed within the
e State. 49,.
And from this report, next year,
COS, the State Board OF Pubic
works shall assess these telegraph
7S companies at their true and actual
Value in each county. 1t is manda-
VEN tory upon the board to do this. II
must fix the true and actual value; 1t
has no discretion to make the assess
1nents less If it does any citizen may