The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-01-12
GOV ERNOR' S MESSAGE
TO THE LEGISLATURE

its, as that is avery good index of
their earning power, and q proper
basis of the market value of the
shares of stock think the assess.
ment would be better done II the
banks were assessed by the board of
public works or other State board,
The present law operates TO the dis.
advantage of the State banks. | see
no Just reason why national banks
Should not pay taxes on the same ba,
Sis as State banks The fact that they
own government bonds which are de,
posted to secure their circulation is
not, in my judgment, sufficient rea.
son for the exemption Of the value OF
that property from taxation. II a ma,
tioaal bank merely owed the bon Is
of course II could not aud ought not
to be taxed on the value invested In
the bonds. hut thlt is not the case,
The bank buys the boads and deposits
them with the government and re.
ceNes from the government an ex.
change Of value. 70 wit. notes, which
arc property called money. Now,
the bank draws interest on It's bonds.
AMI in addition Il gets these notes
which are property OF value. 1t is
true It Is not intrinsic value. but is an
impaired value aud substantial val.
nc. Congress has provided that the
national banks shall not be taxed
higher than State banks. This was
wise and proper; but under the opera.
ticn Of the present laws they are tau
ell lower han the State banks. If
you change the law so as to base the
taxation of all banks on the shares
OF stock. which the national laws will
! allow you TO do. you will have a meth.
oil which will be fair to both kinds of
Ibanis. and prevent discrimination.
The value of the stock depends on the
cspital and surplus aud undivided
profits, and this comprises all the
bank owns. including real estate.
There is no good reason why the real
estate that bank owns should be as.
sesscd as real. and put on separate
book. The distinction between real
estate and personal property is large.
ly arbitrary anyhow No such dis,
tinction is made III the property of
railroads and the other property as.
fscssed BY the Board Of Public Works.
although great deal OF such prop.
Eerty IL real estate Ee all the value
that the bank owns. whether real es-
tate or personal property. Is assessed,
ii does not matter for taxation pur.
'poscs whether il is called real estate
or personal property, OF whether It ia
entered IN one hook or two books. I
Therefore see no necessity for ascer.
tanning the whole value of the prop.
I.erfy of the bank, and subtracting the
assessed value Of the real estate, and
F'hca putting that on one book and the
Eba'ance on another book. The less
detail in the assessment the less the
danger OF mistake
Collection " canis1s'on Taxes.
The law GeduiriqE the collection OF
State cap;lation tn<a4 by the assessor
has worked well. hut 1t needs amend.
mcnt. The assessor should be requir.
Cd TO report monthly to the auditor
during the time which he is authorized
TO collect these taxes, OF the amount
collected. and 10 pay the same directly
into the State treasury. There is no
reason why he should pay this money
to tac sheriff. and that the sheriff
should be paid commission for re.
ctring It. The assessor should be re.
CARED 10 make final report to the
books. Or some other time. OF all de-
lin4uenclcs, and these should be plac.
cd In the hands Of the sheriff or other
collector or collectors. for collection.
and part OF the cost of making collec.
ton of these delnQuensies should b.
charged up to the assessor who failed
10 collect them.
The Sheriff Should Collect All Taxes.
The sheriff should collect all taxes
levied on property, except such as is
payGble directly to the auditor ana the
capitation taxes collectible by the as.
SCISSORS. He should collect all prop
erty tax levied for State. county. dis.
trio; and municipal purposes, and the
collection Of municipal taxes by city
collectors should be abolished. There
are Two good reasons why this should
be done. The first reason is because
II would be morce couomicai, for one
man can collect the taxes cheaper
than two mon. The second reason Is
that it would be less annoyance to the
tax payer. The city taxes are usually
payable at different times in different
ways from the other taxes, and some
times no notice is given and the tax
payer. not thinking of these taxes, ana
sometimes supposing that when he
4.