The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-09-25

POI. IleIEll
a HREEz olfTIcAL LETTEF
ToBctiiNa ma TTERs or GEM
ERAi STATE INTEREST.
fHy Charles Hrpplls SMITH
ssPARKERsREaG Sept. ~ see:
sion or the Fe1erai cpUrtt Is an open
sesame to the stpreliouse or latest gp1-
|liticalg plans and Chi ttrhat, and thither
Journeys your ilisto rian of poll tics ID!
quest OF fresh rnateriaI for IL yoraclous
market. For. be- known, that II
these internit It ent. terms otI the super
,ior court. there gather 1Ewyers, Rno
are almost sinyariablY leading men 81:
note In their respert Give ennimuni.ies
Ein+p oltical life and pnblir affairs gnn.
orally. And along with them. Il cnme
men OF other professions and bnsl:
ness. who figure largely as active pa-::
tn men cons picl1uus in lead rship.:
And then there Is the small army ,oii
court attaches who by the very fact
OF their oflcehold!ng are energntic
and expert politicians: hence, a sest
sion OF the Federal Court causes IA
rendezvous of the politicai clans. Al
survey Of the crowd attending tae
session ut Wheeling at present ;usa:
fies the preceding statement. q
Chief among the topics talked was
Governor s cla5scocA' s proposal ito
raise more revenue by imposing ~
heavier tax on .parunls Eas !; and the
Governors suspected deaire Ito call
the legislature in special session to
do this thing. There is no danger Of
misstatinE, nor mis- ging the gsenti:
,ment Of the yIsitors to I Wheeling ~
overwhelmingly pne-sided 1t was vas. A n !
so. far as the extra session WAS ccn:
,cerned. In my s. canvass. for express
yions, did not find a Republican Of
prominence and standing who; favored
such a thing. Among those vita
whom l. talked, were two State senn.
tors. Neither expressed himself with
any flnality on the proposition ofsthe
Governor to further tax natural gah,
hut both spoke without hesitation aud
with elnpla SIS against an extra yes 3
sion. Senator Charles CofIman de.
Eclared, 1t rs his oplnionitlat a greater
political ablunder could not be made
than to convene the legislature in spe.
cial session. Senator, C. p, Craig gave
practically the same opliiion in prac-
Etically the same words. "The people
desire, and are entitled Ito a. rest
from lawmaiing. - declared Senator
FCoffman.G There E:ei no urgent neceB-
atty, at this time for more revenue.
Tna, state -soFernment Is amply f.
nanced;s and perfectlyAso.yent LIDO
not see any reasonable excuse forfIa
special session',is s.i ~
Perhaps the most interesting per-
son chancett to interview On this sub:
ject was. Major C.. D. Elliott. By rea.
son of his recognized, position at the
last legislative session as personally
representing t-,e then Goyernor-eleef
what he had .toa say anent the much
mooted subject.( YVES Invested with
greater Importance and interest. An
extra session. SAID he. 9""would brins
about chaos and place tho Republican
party on the rocks or very close to
them. 4 This wouldabe true. becausc,
In my Judgment, nothing woull be
done by the present legislature on
the governors gas-tax proposal such
as he has vaguely outlined ne thinks
ought to be done.i The legislature as
at present, composed. showed unmis-
takably its position on gas taxing as
we'll as. coal and oil,t at the last SEES
|ston. :5
1.Ivdo not. care to seriously discuss
the! merits or dement's of Governor
fGlasscock'5 plan to Increase the tax
on gas May he ! 1t should be taxed
heavier. And should It be taxed% as
the Governor would awe It, there
can only be one result therefr omT7--
more revenue for the State. It would
not conserve the gas supply to this
State, Of that we can be certain. Nov,
the State government stands In no
need lof, more revenue. aIts income is
sufficient at this time and greatly Ia
excess 2offfa sufflcitncy IL economies
were practtced strictly all along the
|fine. 81 gat%5 I,
what we politicians should do 10
to- turn our attention to- the nracttc-
Ing OF; rigid economies, and the intro
duction Of strict economy IN every
department five don't in my 5uds
Eiment something decidedly unpleasant
Is, going to happen. Raising revenue
I'M excess OF what is actually re-
uuired, means more Offices created.