The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-08-24
THE BUTCHER LICENSE FAKE

| lnat the NuaIitspon 6dZetter the mead
and front Of the ant.tax reformism
the one paper that has never seen
the slightest good in any one OF the
new tax measures or has been WILLING
to concede the least degree OF SINGER,
ty or honesty TO. those who advocated
them, is unable to stomach IL and
gives liberal use OF its columns to a
rebuke TO those who circulated II.
The News has referred from time
to time to some of the more malicious
lies which have been published con.
corning the tax laws. and 1t is pleas
ed to note that these falsehoods finally
have reached such a degree of men.
dacity as to sicken even the Charles.
ton Gazette. When an anti-tax re.
form fake is so bald that the Gazette
calls halt 1t is to be hoped that
the liars have reached their limit.
Parenthetically, however, 1t should
be added that there is no intention TO
accuse the Gazette of being in the
liars columns. The Gazette has con.
fined itself to arguments against the
tax laws. and TO its credit mas not en-.
gagged in the saturnaiia of lying which
some of its more mercenary anti.tax
reform brethren have been reveling
In the past year.
This particular fake which the Ga.
zette could not swallow emanated
from Morgantown. 1t was to the eff.
feet that Tax Commissioner Dillon
had instructed the prosecuting attor.
new of Monongalia county that a
farmer must pay 800 license before
he could sell beef or meats of any
kind he had raised on his farm and
that butcher or peddler who pur.
chased meats thus raised by farmer
should also pay 800 license. 1t is
remarkable the rapidity with which
this lie spread. A lawyer gentleman
OF Morgantown, who seems to have
developed spite against the world
because the court Of his circuit did
not share his opinion Of the lease.
hold tax, gave many learned inter.
views to his local paper concerning
the Injustice Of this ruling. Then II
was taken up all over the State. In
Wheeling there was learned edito.
rial discussion on the subject. The
Parkersburg Sentinel sharply com.
mented on the injustice of such law
and published interviews with "promi.
nent farmers" from this or that district
telling how the folks down his way
had been up in arms for months over
that very thing and how much mon.
ey they had lost by being unable to
sell their beef products. In several
other towns the papers made SINH.
lar utterances. In fact It would take
the entire issue of the News to repro.
duce the words of all the prominent
farmers" who had lost thousands of
dollars because they could not pay the
license necessary to authorize them
to sell their meat.
Now, the fact is that no license is
required from farmer who wants to
sell meat produced on his farm; no
license is required of the man who
buys the meat from the farmer and
then peddles 1t; no prosecuting at.
torney In any of the fifty.five counties
OF the State has asked any farmer
or meat peddler to pay license this
year; no farmer or meat peddler has
been prevented from peddling all the
meat he wanted to; no farmer or
meat peddler has lost one cent
through any license because they had
no license to pay; there has been alb.
solutely no restraint in any county
and no prosecuting attorney has tried
to impose any-if one should he is
due for impeachment.
1 Moreover Tax Commissioner Dillon
never gave the prosecuting attorney
Of Monongalia any such instructions
What Mr.. Dillon told that prosecut
ing attorney was absolutely, explicitly
and Enthusiastically to the contrary
He told him that 1t was not necessary
for a farmer to secure license tc
sell meat or for the man who bought
the meat from the farmer and then
sold it. The records in both Mr.. Dill
Ions office and the prosecuting attor
ney's office show that, though we
don't know and don't care how the
latter gentleman stands on the tax
laws.
And we may add In conclusion
that it was not until the new tax laws
were passed that the farmer or the
man who bought from the farmer