The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-01-11

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board OF assessors. whose duty It
would be to e that all property was
assessed. and all assessed by to the
standard. This same, view IS ably urg-
ed in the report of Mr.. Dillon, the
State Tax Commissioner. Nor would
the reasons for the existence Of such
a board be the less II you should act
favorably upon my suggestion that
the State assessing board should as.
more property than is now as.
sessable by the State board. ! would
have assessed by that board all prom.
erty of such peculiar. nature as to re-
quire expert knowledge. which expert
knowledge we can not expect the
county ASSESSORS to have. generally.
! think 1t would be better II this State
board should assess all banks and
banking institutions, building and loan
associations, and leaseholds. One of
the most difficult kinds of property In
this State to assess is undeyeloped
coal lands. Allow me to urge that you
put means at the disposal of the State
Tax Commissioner SO that he may
employ experts to assist the assessors
in valuing property of this kind. The
investigation made by the Board of
Public Works in its work of equaliz.
ing real estate values last year. show
that there was great inequality in
the valuation of this property within
the same county and among the coun-
ties; and the board could do little 20
remedy this state Of affairs, because.
as the law was construed, they could
not raise the value Of any particular
property in a county without raising
the value of all the property therein.
New Sources Of Revenue.
Let us consider briefly from what
sources additional revenue may be
obtained. I suggest: From the In
crease of license tax on spirituous
liquors. beers. etc. Lately in Ohio
the saloon tax was increased from $3.50.
to $1,000 n year.. Reports from eighty.
one of the lightweight counties show
n decrease in the number of saloons
OF 2.213, and increased revenues Of
s4.913, 9oO.'
From a recordation tax, along the
OF a bill prepared by the, State
Tax commissioners office, and intro
Guced into the last Legislature, which
proposed that on deeds. contracts,
leases and the like, there should be a
RECREATION tax payable by adhesive
stamps furnished by the Auditor to
the county clerk and attached to the
record by the clerk.
From restoring at least to the old
figures the tax on the premiums of all
kinds OF insurance companies, includ?
ing bonding. surety, guaranty, casual
ty and others.
From an increase of the valuation
OF banks; the present law not hav-
Ing proved a success. for reasons Civ.
en- in the State Tax Commissioners
From a progressive inheritance tax
along. the lines suggested by Presi.
dert Roosevelt. grading tax accord.
ing to the size Of the Inheritance re-
ceived by each heir or other person.
From an xclse tax. like the Cole
Law OF Ohio, On the gross earnings of
all public service corporations, in
which I would include all coal minas
subject to inspection by the mine in
spectors. The rate of tax on the gross
incomes in Ohio was originally one
per cent, but was increased. One
objection to this form Of taxation was
that 1t put certain property In a class.
and It being easy to raise the amount
of the tax the Legislature would like
ly do 1t. and make It b~urdensomc.
This could be avoided by a declara-
ton in the law that the rate should
not be raised, for, say, ten years.
While this would not be a legal oh
it would be a moral one. which
| have no doubt succeeding Legisla
lures. would observe. | prefer, rather
than a straight tax on the gross earn
irgs,. a smaller tax on the earnings.
supplemented by a tag on dividends.
This is better. because fairer. The
gross earnings of certain of these pub.
lie service corporations as disclosed
in their reports to the Board of Pub.
lie Words are as follows: Steam rail.
roads in West Virginia, s37,416.O00:
street or electric railways, S%1.570.000;
express companies, sS79,00O in West
Virginia: telephone companies "a
number did not report any income)
s413. 900: telegraph companies. $50,
900; water. gas and light companies
(many of which made no report Of
earnings or Of anything .else). 49,
10000. This does not include car
lines and of course nothing for the
earnings Of the coal industry. But
what we have foots up n total OF s43,.
IA, 900. The law of Virginia imposes