davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26
account of State fund:

1t will be seen that in the short
space of ten years the annual appro-
priations have been more than dou-
bled, the actual increase being S744,-
237. And the taxpayer must also re-
member that the Legislature in 1904
and 1905 saddled on the counties some
thing like a hundred thousand dollars
of charges that the State used to pay,
so that the true increase has been
something like hundred thousand
dollars more than the figures given
above.
Unable to dispute the truth of the
above figures, the State machine has
sought to nullify their effect by claim
ing that this immense increase is
largely due to new buildings and i'm
provements for State institutions, etc.
The best answer to this claim is the
indisputable fact that after the COM
pletion of new buildings and improve
ments, the appropriations have gone
ON still increasing.
To show that this enormous increase
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26
"wATcH YOUR TAX RECEIPTS"

This is the delusive campaign cry
of the Republican this year. 1t is de-
lusive because 1t is half true and half
false-the most dangerous and decep-
tive of all lies. Truth needs no herald.
1t is its own messenger, but truth
alive today and dead tomorrow is q
falsehood.
1t is true that taxes, at least in
some counties of the State, will be
less this year than they were last
year But that is not the important
thing. The important thing is, 'Will
they be less this year than they wilt
be next year?"
This is the thing for the voter to
consider, for next year will be after
the election. The Legislature and the
county commissioners will have been
elected, and, If Republican. no relief
can be had until the general election
of 1908. and remedial legislation under
it. The voter will be locking the sta
Bile after the horse is stolen" unless
he protects himself by his vote before
the election.
"William Weaver Was a GayDeceiver."
And William NJ. o. Dawson is a gay
iuggler with figures. He knows, and
the Republican newspaper bureaus
know, that it is the loud-heralded and
much Wanted tax upon corporate and
railroad property, which it has here
tofore, for the last ten years, allowed
to escape taxation, that makes the in
dividual tax lower this year than last
year. The voter and individual tax
payer is not told, however, that the
corporations and railroads are now in
court for the purpose Of having their
taxes reduced, and that 1t is undenied
that the taxes imposed upon them
were arbitrarily imposed, and in some
instances unfairly and unjustly i'm
posed. and that the courts will reduce
them and ought to reduce them, where
they were so unfairly and unjustly i'm
posed.
This will make the individual make
up these taxes next year, but as this
will be after the election, the purpose
of the campaign cry will have been ac-
complished.
1t Is the same old humbuggery that
so long deceived the voter, as the for
eigner pays the tax protection to
American industries" the full dinner
pail and vote as you shot"
We advise the voter this time 10
shoot as he votes. Shoot ticket in
the ballot box, and vote the Demo
cratic ticket.
Z 1t will be too late next year"
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26
Speech Delivered by the Hon. John J.
Cornwell at the Second Congressional
District Convention held at Keyser,
September 5, 1906.

much cost, and yet they say to the
counties, for carrying this 20 per cent
additional tax burden and the natural
increase of necessary expenditures. in
your own county affairs we will allow
you to raise only 5 per cent additional
money for the first year and then 2 per
cent more for the second year. We will
do this because there is going to be
an election in 1906 for members of the
State Legislature and we want to keep
the taxes just as low as possible until
after this election. You must build
no bridges, you must allow your roads
to go by default, you must not build
school houses, fix the streets of your
town, or do anything in the way of
keeping up your progress and your
improvements until after this election
hind with your affairs, how much you
lose by this performance or what
amount of charges and debts will &C
cumulate and pile up against you, be-
cause we want d hepuDllCdu 1@eSlold-
ture to elect a Republican Senator and
to again re-enact these laws, which
we said were perfect in the first place
and which, after enacting them a sec
ond time we swore were perfect, but
which we now say must be amended
again, because there are certain
wheels that must be added to this
great political machine of ours, in the
way of new commissions and new
offices. We don't care how high the
taxes will be later on" they virtually
say, chow much additional money you
will have to raise to pull your county,
district and municipal affairs out of
the slough into which we will plunge
them in the two years this limit is in
force, only allow US to get another
Legislature and have one more effort
at this tax business"
While they were placing this limit
on the counties diStriat 4 . = 7ul1n1
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26

makes it effective. Folk needed no
new laws to secure the conviction of
boodlers in Missouri. Theft is theft,
dishonesty is dishonesty, wherever and
whenever it may be found The en-
actment of new laws and the com
plant of the lack of laws is the poll
ticians blind, his apology for not do
ing that which the people expect him
to do.
But this convention has not assem-
bled to nominate candidate for the
State Legislature, but has assembled
to nominate and name the next Con-
gresham from this historic Second
Congressional district. l have discuss
ed these State matters at some length,
because the candidate of the political
oligarchy which has ripped up the
tax laws of this State and is juggling
with them still, for political purposes,
is the Hon. George c. Sturgiss. He
will, doubtless, make his campaign
largely upon them.
Nevertheless, the candidate we will
name will stand for the people in mat
tiers of national taxation and national
affairs
1t would be amusing, were it not so
contemplate, to see the Republican
party today, which bought the election
of its President in 1896, and again in
1900, by an immense corruption fund,
contributed by the corporations,
banks, tgust and insurance companies,
now pretending to be the enemy OF
those corrupting organizations.
And how came they to strike that at
titude? By an accident they nominal
ed the present chief executive as a
candidate for Vice President, and by
virtue of the fiendish act of an assas-
sin he became the President of the
he caught the rumble of popular opin-
ion and adopted a few propositions
outlined in the Democratic platform
and forced his party to enact them
into law The Republican party, its
national organization and its office.
holders are no more in sympathy with
the efforts, or apparent efforts, of Pres
ident Roosevelt to curb and control
the trusts than they are with Mr.. Bry.
ans suggestions for their elimination
What can the Republican party dc
without the trusts. and their campaign
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26
RECKLESS ExTRAVAGANCE THE
REAL CAUSE OF THE NEW
lax SYSTEM

If the intelligent taxpayer still has
any doubt as to the real cause of the
alleged tax reform, let him glance at
the total appropriations made for each
year from 1896 to the present time, on
account of the State fund, This fund
includes all expenditures except those
on account of schools. The figures are
taken from the printed acts of the
Legislature of the proper years, and
the reader can easily verify any or all
of them. The figures have been car
ried back as far as 1896, because that
was the last year of the Democratic
administration of State affairs.
Total amount of appropriations on
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26

the levy for State purposes this year
is reduced, by the Board of Public
Works from 20 cents to 81 cents for
State and State school purposes, the
amount of money that will be raised
by this levy, the amount OF money
realized, will be nearly 100000 more
than last year, because the total as
sessed valuation of all taxable proper
ty in the State has been increased, I'M
der the new assessment, from $751;
100000 to nearly $900,000,000, and
while your counties must pay more
fixed charges and get along with less
money, the State treasury will not suf-
fer, but will be 100000 better off by
this arrangement, and the same old
Republican extravaganza in State af-
fairs will go on unchecked.
They are not lessening the peoples
taxes by any such an arrangement as
this, but they are only postponing the
time when these taxes must be paid.
They are simply damming up the ex'
pe0ulluT6S WHICH, Tic SouhtiCo' uio
tricts and municipalities will be COM
pelled. at some time or other to make,
and which must necessarily break
/ forth with renewed force when the
/ limit is once lifted, when the dam is
broken down.
/ This is not tax reform, it is tax post
ponement, tax lodging, tax shifting for
political purposes, purely and solely
and in order to see that this postpon
| ing process is properly done they have
an assistant tax commissioner, holding
an office in direct violation of law and
in the very face of the constitution OF
/ the State, which he and the Governor
both have sworn to support, going
abroad over the State, bulldozing and
I intimidating county courts and boards
of education and even threatening the
circuit judges of the State. This man
Darst when appointed assistant tax
commissioner, was State Senator
1t was an open and notorious fact
/ talked around the State house at thu
time, that his support was secured fol-
the machine program in the Legisla
/ ture, because he was to be appointed
assistant tax commissioner, and this
too. when the constitution of the State
provides that no member of the Leg
islature shall be appointed to any OF
flee created during his term of ser
vice or the emoluments of which wert
increased during his term. Coult
there be more fragrant case Of VIC
lation of the fundamental law of tht
State? But what do these people carr
for the Constitution or their solenr
q oath to support 1t?
They say we have given you genuine
tax reform because we have increased
the assessment of the railroads ant
other corporate properties | answer
while you were doing that you wer'
lessening the benefits that the peopl
should have derived from these In
| creased corporate assessments by III
creasing the assessment of the rea
/ estate of the people almost three-fold
answer further that when you multi
| piled the assessments of the railroa
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26


rule of assessment laid down therein
would throw an unfair proportion of
the burden of all State and local taxa
ton on the real estate and farm land;
that the tremendous increase in as
sessment values, which would go up at
a single bound, would be a temptation
to extravaganza on the part of the
levy-making bodies; that no such sud
den elevation in taxable values should
be made, especially on the real estate.
Our Republican friends contended
strenuously that none of these things
would result, but Immediately follow
ing the election, at the regular session
of the Legislature, they set to work
and re-enacted the entire tax and IL
cense system, which they had just
created, and which they contended in
the election was perfection personified,
and, undertaking to profit by our crit
icisms and to strengthen the weak
places we had pointed out, eliminated
some of the inquisitive features of the
laws upon which they had laid most
stress during the campaign and which
they contended were the most admir-
able features of the new laws.
In addition to that, they enacted
other laws, as they claimed, to round
out their system, which placed new
limits on the county courts, boards of
education and municipal authorities,
so that they could not levy beyond a
given amount of taxes, five per cent.
the first year in excess of the amount
collected in 1904. In other words they
said; We are going to reduce taxation
and make good our political promise
but We viii not do it by lessening the
amount of money collected and spen,
for State purposes"-for they have
not done that-"but we will do it by
tying the hands of the county courts
boards of education and municipal au
thorities SO that their progress in their
own affairs, over which the State
should have no more control than thai
given it by the constitution, which
the people themselves made and adopt
ed. would not be more than five pei
cent In other words, the advance
ment in this State, under these won
derfully wise and beneficent laws mus
be only five per cent advancement
The Republican party ever talks ant
prates of progress. but the Republi
can party of this State has set a limi
and said Progress In this State shall
be only five per cent progress. Beyont
that you shall not CO." This, for DO
litical purposes, purely and solely.
Now, what does this mean? B,
these same laws they have enacted
they have shifted TO the counties an.
placed upon them burdens of taxa
tion, which, in some counties, will in
crease the outlay or amount necessar,
TO be raised for county purposes, NOR,
than 20 per cent, that is additional
criminal charges and the costs o
maintaining the inmates in certain
State institutions. They have place,
on the counties this additional charge
relieving the State treasury of tina
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26

essesSed them this year are reSponsi-
BILE for their previous assessments;
that it required no new law. with all
its attendant annoyances and expen-
sive enactment to secure an honest
assessment of these properties. 1t
only required an honest enforcement
of the law as it stood, with, perhaps,
some amendments to that law.
| believe, as declared in the Demo
cratic platform adopted at the last
State convention, that there can only
be found the needed reforms in our
State tax system, through the medium
of an amendment to our constitution,
which will allow the classification of
property for taxable purposes, so that
the more productive property will bear
larger proportion of taxation than
the property that is non-productive.
To assess the non-productive real
estate, the town lot on which there
is no building; the home, which the
laboring man owns as shelter for
himself and his needy family; or the
farm on which the owner can barely
make a subsistence, at its selling
value, the price for which it will sell
at voluntary sale, is assessing these
things at fictitious value, because
other classes of property sell on a
basis fixed by their income, or pro-
duction, while this class of non-pro-
sductive property sells on entirely an
other basis. fixed higher because they
are necessities.
| In my judgment, that is the serious
and vicious defect in this new system
which has been forced upon the people
of this State and which the trainers
are attempting TO perpetuate by a
skillful political maneuvering of the
assessment figures.
They expect to say to the people
this fall, you must vote the Republi-
can ticket because we have lowered
your taxes" If | owe a man a note
it is no advantage or benefit to me If
/ he does not compel me to pay the in
! terest on that note the first year or
4 the second year | must pay it event
ually, and the more it accumulates the
harder it hits me in the end, And that
I is the way with these new tax laws.
so far as the reduction in local taxes
4 is concerned.
4 AS to the State tax, they admit that
they must again amend the laws in
that particular; that they will be with
out means of raising revenues fos
State purposes, when the State tax is
taken off How will they raise it?
Do they dare tell you? By a tax on
deeds2 That was defeated once, and
they dare not levy it, BY putting
back the State tax? Well, where viii
be the reform in that? If not that way
then how?
My friends, want to emphasize
what | have said before, that we dom
need new laws in this State half as
bad as we need an honest and fearless
Il enforcement of the laws Why, ou
code now is larger than Websters Tn
abridged Dictionary. Laws. in them
selves, amount TO nothing. II is tn,
great moral force behind a law tina
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26


trolled the venal and floating vote of
this country so long by wholesale
fraud and bribery that they will be
absolutely lost without their great
campaign fund in an election, and
right busy are the Republican news
papers now assuring the trusts and
business interests of the country that
Mr.. Bryan is more radical than ever,
in order that they can make these
trusts and business interests loosen
up for the coming Congressional cam
paign.
| need only say to you, my friends,
that the man who will be nominated
here today will be a Democrat That
he will stand for the people against
the protected and private interests,
that are getting rich and powerful at
the expense Of the people by virtue
of special legislation for their special
interests. That he will believe that
the tariff will never be reformed by
its friends, except that it be made
higher and more effective for trust
purposes; that he will believe that
this is a republic and not an empire;
that this government should not hold
colonial possessions for exploitation,
or enslave a people under the pretense
Of making them better citizens
Gentlemen, the convention is now
rady for business.
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26
TAX DODGERS.

The Bloch mansion In Wheeling is
taxed according to the true and actual
figures at just $4,000 The Elkins
home at Hallihurst, by far the finer. is
taxed at $4,000 Evidently the tax
dodgers are not all Railroads.&c. Sisters
vile Review tRep1.
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26

lllcoSttfe.' Spltt OF tlIe IdCt tiidt elfe
railway employees had strong repre-
sentation in Charleston to push this
BILL it was suppressed and smotheref
in the committee to which it had been
referred. That was the time for Sena-
tor EIl<ins to have shown his hand.
If he had been favorable to the meas
ure. he could have had it brought up
and considered at wave of his hand.
He did not do it, and the railway en-
ployees will take his political play in
the railroad ridden Senate with a large
grain of allowance.
Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1906-10-26

political henchmen, the increase in the
following items that include only pay
ments to officeholders and legislative
attaches may be noted:
1896. 1906.
Salaries of Executive De-
partment .......... .$11 800 $685.
Salaries and mileage Ju-
dicial Department. :. 54,S5O 90,500
Salaries of State house
clerks ........ $1,000 $4,000
1895. 1905.
Legislative contingent
expenses ............$ $500 100000
Legislative Department 1885 60,452
That is, the above items, involving
only the paying of officeholders, has
more than doubled since the Republi-
cans have had control of the State
government
Can the intelligent taxpayers not
see from these figures that the real
motive of the new tax system was the
crying want of more money to meet
expenditures that were not at all nee
essary, and that the alleged motive of
equalizing assessments was merely
used to hoodwink the people. while the
new system, which already collects
more taxes than the old, was being
fastened on them?
The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-09-02
Neither Rebels Nor Government
Able TO Whip Other.
NO CHANGE IN THE SITUATION
Hope Is Expressed Everywhere That
United States Will Intervene to Put
An End to the Trouble
at Once.

HAVANA, Sept. l.-'Neither side can
whip the other is the concise statement
now heard everywhere in Havana and it
may also be fairly construed to be the
growing opinion throughout the island.
In Havana, at least, this condition has
led, among all unpreiudiced persons, to
expressions of the ardent hope that the
United States will intervene to put an
end to the condition which everybody
believes is bound to grow more and more
intolerable.
Nobody appears to believe the insur-
gents can take Havana, although this
is not regarded as impossible. That the
insurrection is growing constantly, is
undeniably true and the decree of par
don extended by the government has
brought no appreciable change in the sit
uation. An American who has been with
the insurgents, came to Havana tonight.
He informed the correspondent of the
Associated Press that $4,000 insurgents
are now south of Artesmia in scattered
parties, and will surely concentrate in
the vicinity of Guanajay, with the in
tention of capturing both that place and
Artesmia, and holding the entire width
of Pinar del Rio province. They will
thus control the situation better than did
the Spanish troops in the days of the
famous trocha and at precisely the same
points.
The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-09-02
TERRORISM RENEWED.
Hostility of Ruling Glasses Against the
Jews Greatly Increased.

ST. PETERSBURG, Sept. IA re-
newal of terrorism on large scale has
greatly intensified the hostility of the
ruling classes against the Jews, who
have So long been regarded as tthe brains
of the revolution, and it is believed has
correspondingly diminished the chances
of the Jews obtaining any more than
nominal enlargement of their rights. Ev-
cry official report of an assassination or
other crime, emphasizes the role played
by the Jews, and last week saw the
launching of two parties, the "Nationar
at st. Petersburg, and the Russian
popular party" as Moscow, the princi-
pal planks of whose platforms are the
exclusion of the Jews from all political
activity. The Moscow organization pro.
poses to rid the country of Jews by en-
dorsing the Zionist movement and urg-
ing the government to assist it.
The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-09-02
Great Futurity Occurs at Sleeps
head Bay.
William Lakeland Secures $4,000 Purse
Forty Thousand People Howl
Themselves Hoarse at the Ex-
ing Event.

NEW YORK, Sept Down lane
of gray brown earth which had all the
softness of velvet beneath the tread Of
the flying thoroughbred hoofs, fifteen
fleet two year olds raced madly to a
goal three quarters of a mile away,
where lay purse close to $4,000. It
was the nineteenth running of the Fu-
turity at Sheepshead Bay and as roar
from nearly 10000 throats rent the air,
"Electioneer," well named colt by Vot-
er-Quesnal, finished under the wire a
winner by three-quarters of length.
Another champion had been proclaimed,
and William Lakeland, a horseman by
profession, who trains his bread winners
and sleeps in a barn when necessary.
had snatched the richest purse of the
year from half score of millionaires.
At the winners quarters was Pope
JOAN" the fastest FLY of the year and
the best of trio sent to the post by
James R. Keene. 'Demund," for which
Paul ]. Rainey paid s45.oOO early in the
season, was third and was beaten for
second honors by the shortest possible
head "Electioneer" was second in the
betting at from to / to 8 to l; time.
l:lS3 3-5.
The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-09-02
DENvER-SAN DIEGO NEXT.


DENVER, Sept. Incorporation
papers for building railway from
Denver to San Diego, CAL, have been
filed with the secretary of state by
the Denver Transcontinental Railway
Corporation. A. L. Cooper of Denver;
Charles i, Baldwin of Colorado Springs
and r. L. Wider of Georgetown are the
incorporators. The company is incor-
porated for 100000. 1t is said articles
of Incorporation have also been filed in
Utah, Nevada and California. Mr.. Coo
per is not ready at this time to dis
close the identity of the syndicate and
other interests behind the project. He
says that the Incorporation articles
have been filed, also that the interests
behind the undertaking are among the
biggest flnanciers in this country and
England, and that the road would be
built.