The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1906-08-03
DEMOCRAT
lENOUNCES
DEMOCRATS

| At the Ohio county Democratic
convention in Wheeling yesterday :
afternoon for the purpose Of nom
mating Legislative ticket, Col.
Thomas 0'Brien, ST., a lifelong
Democrat, hurled thunderbolt IN
ito the Democratic camp, denolnc-
ing the dual position taken by his
party on the tax question. A com
mittee on resolutions had brought
in batch of them, including the
following planks:
/ sThe West Virginia state admin
iistration is Incompetent and extraya-
giant, and We charge that the present
Republican political machine seeks
to continue its control of the state
government through legislative
measures and administrative policies
which are designed for thar object
alone, and not for the public good
sgWe favor a proper revision of
the new system Of taxation, which
has failed to bring about the uni
formity in assessments and reduc-
ton in taxes promised by those who
designed it; but which has through
the oyer-valuation Of property, Great
ed standing temptation to waste
and extravaganza on the part of tax
levying and disbursing bodies
Speaking against the adoption of
the above planks, Col. O'Brien said
@These resolutions we're prepared
evidently by some one not SO famil-
! lar with state affairs as he should
have been, or he wouldn't have re-
corded such sentiments. That reso-
luton, Mr.. Chairman and gentle
men, is not true.
ssThe tax laws are not all what
| they should have been, but they are
a great Improvement over anything
that has gone before them. The
corporations heretofore have not
been paying one-fourth or one-ffth
of their proper proportion toward
the public tax burden, but if the
present assessment Of them as fixed
by the state board Of public works
stands, as I trut and hope it will.
thee corporations have been placed
upon an equality with u.s."
Col. 0'Brien then discussed tn
increase of the valuations Of the
Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and
showed the millions for which the
road was bonded, how its preferred
stock was selling above par and its
common in the vicinity of par, and
/ the good judgment Of the board of
public works in increasing its form
er assessment six or seven times
/ higher. ~esstTsr'"'-"-a
q won't pretend to give the hoard
lcredit for doing its whole duty, but
they have done it in way, not en-
'Etitling them to the language of this
resolution" said the Colonel He
next discussed the increase Of the
Wheeling Traction company's prop
'I.erty, and asked: sIsn't that a whack
on the farmer, and the small proper
1 ty owner? Not much. 1t is step
in the right direction.
1 ssThe Democratic party commits
Itself to false doctrine by the adop-
ltion of this resolution and with it
we go into the election with handi-
|, cap. When You go before the farm
er and be shows you his tax ticket,
;, which is smaller than last year, and
smaller than the year before-when
YOU are confronted by his reduced
tax bills, how are you going to
meet it,"
:; Taking up the declaration for a
return Of the license taxes to the
counties, Col O'Brien said the new
system was a just and wholly right
eous measure intended to remove all
the state tax from the counties
and support the state government by
! license and other privilege taxes,
and to upset the system would be a
backward step. He recited the fact
that under the new system Ohio
county would look after its own