The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-06-28
WHEELING BOARD OF TRADE
! GAVE HIM a SPECIAL INVITA-
TON TO SPEAK. ,is;
STATE TAXES WILL BE NEARLY
WIPED OUT AND Local TAX. \
Es LOWERED.
.CWheel!ng IntelllseReetlL

ig,iN an
CWheeling Intell!seRcef9
lRircsponse to It's Invitation lion.
Charles w Dillon, State tax commits.
Is!oner. last night addressed the Boara
Of Trade and citizens generally at the
boards rooms, on tho new tax laws.
There was a representative attend.
ances which was rather small when
Mr. DillonSIegans hut which filled the
room. long before he concluded. He
spoke for over aphour, and later an,
swered inquiries put TO him by ccrta:n
of his auditors, The meeting was pre-.
sided orersby Mr. Harry c. Frans,
helm, a member Of the special com
mittee of tho board In charge.
Mr.. Dillon fully3and satisfactorily
explained the now tax system ana
thoroughly convinced all sEeptics opo,,
to conviction II there were any sach
present, He talked frankly aid al.
rectly and removed any misapprehen,
/ r.. z . = q
sions of the new system. He was
greeted With applause at his openins
and was voted a unanimous and heart,
vote of thanks at his conclusion on
motion Of w. A. Wilson.
Favorable Impression.
In his predatory remarks sir. Dilio,.
expressed his appreciation OF the In.
vitation 10 address a gathering OF
shrewd business men, and apoioglzea
for being a dry talker on dry SUP.
ject. But he was far from being a dry.
talker, making his subject grow in in.
terest as he proceeded, and he i'm
pressed his audience greatly by his
sincerity and earnestness. Mr.. Dlllor,
believes in the Justice and equity OF the
new tax laws with all the y:gor OF his
forceful personality, and mucn OF HIS
praise Of the new laws was becaus.
Of the inequalities they would right.
After briefly discussing the former
tax system enacted in 1873, a system
effected when West Virginia was al.
most purely an agricultural State,
with farm hands being subjected to
the burden Of taxation and continuing
to bear 1t on through the years he
spoke Of how the development, OF rail.
roads, mines, oil and gas enterprises
md manufacturing pursuits. incrcas.
in the number Of banks and other In.
situations, brought about a diversity
of OCCUPATION that required a new sys.
tenn 20 equallze taxation and relieve
those taxpayers, particularly the own.
ers of farm lands and other real es,
tate of an excessive and dlspropor.
tlonate amount n
n Taxation IS as old as tho ciyilizeu
government, remarked the tax com.
missioner, and In some respects the
old system was just, but one q great
drawback vas the absence Of any tax
department in the State government,
whose duty It would be to look afte.
the collection Of taxes and the admin.
istration OF taxation affairs, Taxation
had ben drifting along in a hap hazard
way, with each assessor fixing the
assessments in his county In way 10
make himself popular with his con.
stltuents. As result Just about one.
tenth Of the total true valuation got
on the tax books. and 1T at; the rate OF
about 81 on the 500 valuation.
Personally Showing. 8
Lastsyear the total entire valuation
of real and personal property in the
State was s279,OO0,0OO, Of this s7o,.
100000 being personally. Mr.. Dillon
doubted If the county OF Ohio could
be bought for that personally return,
yet there were 81 other counties. He
said this showing did the State an in.
justice In other States, because "a
man, II. New York for. instance, would
IsssFEal. =
pick up the State auditors report, and
would Judge that West Virginia was
a poor State and would think It a high.
place 10 live in when he consulted the
old high tax rates. Now to bring
more property on the taxibooks would
bring about a loweraleyy and not cost
a citizen a cent more, and to the ex.
tent that more new property was listed
10 that extent would taxes be reduced
to the citizen who had been paying in
the past. y,
Farm lands as a rule had been as,
sessed at 50 per cent Of what they
would sell under the old system Con.
sequently the eyaluatlon under the
Lewstrue and actual value basis would
double their assessment. Town prop:
erty, coal, oil and gas lands had been
assessed from 10 to 20 per cent. The
i eTa mn NM nareana1 -