Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1906-02-01
THURSDAY, FEB. l, 1905.
WHO PAYS The TAXES ?

IL Is frequently Sdiu ny many PNASNS
and commonly asserted by the newspa-
pers that thase men who pay the taxes
for the support Of the government
ought to run it; and that those who fail
to pay any taxes should have no voice
in the management of public affairs.
If it be conceded that these propositions
are true, is it not proper to ask, who
pays the taxes?
Taxes may be paid either directly or
indirectly; and it is no unreasonable
contention to hold that the great bulk
of the money paid into the treasury of
any government is paid indirectly. One
man pays it in though another has
earned it. In support of this assertion,
we confidently claim that all taxes are
paid by labor. This is true, though the
public records may apparently show
that the entire revenue of the govern
ment is derived from taxation levied
upon what are called capital and real
property. Capital is nothing more
than the accumulated profits of labor,
though the accumulation be invested in
bonds and stocks or real estate.
If this contention can be successfully
disputed, even then it is true that labor
paws all the taxes, because fixed capital
is valueless, dead thing and can pay
nothing, unless it is utilized by labor and
made to produce something. This proves
that all wealth is the accumulated pro-
ducts or profits of labor.
Gold and diamonds, the most precious
and valuable of all metals and stones,
derive their value from the toll and diff
ficulty expended and incurred by men
in securing them. If gold and dia-
monds could be picked up any and
everywhere without labor they would
be no more appreciated and valuable
than the commonest stones that are
scattered all over our hills and valleys.
Capital unutilized by labor can produce
nothing and can pay nothing. 1t is like
the talent of gold that was wrapped in
napkin and buried by the Improbable
servant-the lazy drone who lived
among his fellowmen in idleness and
fattened upon the products of their
toll.
In Virginia all the wealth that is held
by persons and taxed for the support OF
the government is the accumulated
profits of either slave or free labor.
ANY further increase of the wealth OF
the State will be produced by the work
ingmen. The men who toll and sweat
in the fields, in the mines, in the work
shops, on the railroads and in other av-
enues of labor are producing wealth
and are turning over large part of the
proceeds of their labor, in the shape OF
profits, to the holders or owners of &C
cumulated wealth. From these profits,
SO earned and turned over, labor is vir-
tually paying every dollar of taxes that
finds its way to the State treasury.
Yet, in the face of these indisputable
truths we find politicians and newspa-
pers proclaiming that it is wrong to
permit any man to vote who does not
nav one dollar and half taxes on his
head. The poll tax qualification fol-
voting has deprived many thousands Of
honest, Industrious men of the right tc
vote. They have been paying for years
and still continue to pay into the treas
ury, indirectly, large share of then
earnings which is taken from them by
capital and employers as the profits Of
labor. Nine out of ten of the men II
this State who have been turned away
from the ballot box by the poll tax pre-
requisite are wage-earners. With Their
honest toll they are developing and en-
larging the agricultural, mining, manu-
featuring and other industries OF Vir
GINA and are continuously adding to it
taxable wealth. Who will be so simple
and SO ungenerous as to say that these
men are paying no taxes and are not con
tributing to the support of the govern
ment?
n~..~n nr.soo1nrta piilunEp