The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-10-24

Continued From PAGE Two.l

Only one perfect wtit' en- leciiE.o,.t On
earth. and that Is the !,;ilt. and tlley
know. 100. that a gryit many iearnod
men think that that IS not perfect.
they lnow that the constitution of
tile United States. which ". Cad
stnae cuiogized as Tho no.. perfect
Instrument ever struck of at one blow
by the mild Of man, had TO have e;ey-
Ell Different amendments RACED to 1t
w:tlin its very infancy, and t':lt the
great majority Of he people of this
county are in favor u fu'lter amcnd-
M .ts thereto. In the legislature Of
ISL tllare were 81 Ii giants rs Jart s
H. Ferguson and Willi.nl. Hubbard.
1lat session wal prolonged beyond
The institutional !Ia!lt IN der 10
1cvIse the code. Among the chapters
that we're passed was the familiar
chapter 90 about ;,'sti 'fs and con3tl-
lies. 1t had the ca;a anil pervi-
.:Jn OF Ferguson, Hanrlrd AMI many
~ r rb!e men Of that rc:an:r lie
leeisLtnre. Before it adjHuInod 1t
par sGl resolution 10 t'lhe n recess
until 1882, and appoint u comldttec
to alt n the meantime Il finish the
revision o! the code. NV, no sooner
had the law concerning the justices
AMI c.;nstables gore into effect in 1881
tlan there were fonni' many discirp-
ancics trd imperrec!lols III ii, SC that
III 1852 the whole Chapt": was revised
and repassed. We snai not SGT /. rer-
f.et law On the syaleiu Of ta&" Jon nor
IN any other question. II r" could
we wo. d get the lie is tnre together
and pass such perfect laws ard thon
al,t...h the legislature.
How tire New Tax Laws s'oiIe &c
Judgd.
The now tax laws are to ? judged
as to whether or not they are an i'm.
;yrovement on the old law. That Is all
that is claimed for them. That they
are suscttible of amendment and i'm
provement their friends have always
claimed. l am some times amused at
a statement something like this:
"Why Governor Dawson himself, ad-
mits that the new tax laws are not
perfect" Certainly he does He would
not insult the intelligence Of the peo-
pie by claiming that they are perfect.
He said in October, 1903, in letter
printed in the Grafton Sentinel, that
the laws proposed by the State tax
commission we're not perfect, and they
were not sacred, and that nobody pre-.
tended that they should not be amend
ed.
Assessing Railroads, Etc.
In the second place, about the only
charge that Mr.. McGraw has made as
to the assessment of the railroads and
other public service corporations, is
that the motive whereby there was
such large increase made in their
assessed value was not a good one
This reminds me of the old adage.
1--WE are very apt to measure other
people in our own half bushel." If
Mr.. McGraw would assess the rail
roads, etc., from improper motives, he
would naturally suppose all other
men would so do 1t. We are not apt
10 rise above our own ideals. l appre.
bend, however, that the people of the
State are not so much concerned with
the motives as they are with the acts
done. Actions speak louder than
words. A tree is known by its fruits.
The Creator has not endowed Mr.. Nc
Graw nor any other man with the
power to look into another mans soul
ard read his motives, and hence we
are warned not to Judge, and that we
will be Judged by the Judgment
whereby we Judge others.
Savings Under the New Tax Laws.
In the third place, Mr. McGraw as
qerts that the counties will pay as
much into the State treasury under
the new tax laws as they did under
the old, If we take into consideration
the license taxes. It must be stated,
of course, that the State government
Is not an industry which creates val
des, and like all other governments 1t
does nothing except what It gets from
taxes. In sense, rs has been said by
an able man, 1.-THE government is a
public pauper" But the counties do
not pay the license taxes. A large
source OF revenue is that arising from
the license tax on the charters of cor.
poratlons under the law which bears
my name. enacted in 1901. II amounts
to about 100000 a year, Now tho
counties do not pay any Of this, and ]
do not think 1t would be considered
seriously that the counties pay any
other license tax. When we talk about