Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1909-02-03
HAVE A CARE AND HAVE MERCY

FNP"t"i ~ iSi.eNe the indSSeS OF tax
alton and pile the burden on the
corporation and that is what the
advocates OF production tax are
propos ng t do. The Charleston Ga
zette takes the side or tL7 corpora
ZION and 1t presents an argument
worthy OF the serious conslderat ON
OF our lawmakers.
There Is no one who can stand
for one round againet the seven fol-
lowing propositions:
First-That product. on tax" Is
wrong. at least unless the taxing
power has the right to classify prop
erty and thus lift the burden fr IN
the producer or lana owner In some
other place to even up for the pro-
duction tax.
Second-That our coal comes in
competition with the coal from 9th
er states that do not impose such a
tax; and therefore the tax would be
weapon in the hands OF our COM
petitors.
Th.rd-That no state has this tax
and there is no precedent for it.
Fourth--That under our system
without classification, 1t would be
double taxation.
F.fth-That it wouI be saddling
a burden upon an industry that is
now struggling under Frustrated
markets, low prices and generally
discouraging conditions.
Sixth-That it would violate con-
tracts already made, and would be
the use OF the tax ng power to take
mems property under conditions
that would make them unwi ling
parties to the contracts thus chang
ed.
Seventh-That there is Just as
much reason in taxing lumber, salt.
stone, marble, sand, lime, cement,
ron, clay, brick, ra lroad ties.
barges, boxes or anything else from
the vegetable or mineral kingdoms.
1t is id'e to say that even wheat
and corn do not stand on the same
footing. True they can be produc-
ed each year, but only for a limit
ed time, as W .tness the fact that our
Kanawha river bottoms, once so pro
iuctive, are now worn out, and the
land must be made over before it
VIII be productive. Look at the
worn out lands OF Asia Minor, once
the home OF agriculture. Every
crop of wheat and corn Injuries the
and and 1t requires capital to re-
pair the injury. But have a care.
gentlemen, for another reason. This
panic Is not yet over. Ask the pro-
Queer, trader and merchant: con-
suit your banker and you will as
certain that times are still hard,
trade is dull, colrect ons are poor
and the greatest and only argument
FOR better. times is that it can't get
much worse and we are bound to be
near the bottom, from which point
all movement must be upward.
Please observe that the January re-
port shows that te'l-tale story of
IDLE cars to within 10000 of the
worst days Of the panic THIS is
10 time to experiment and tinker.
Lumber, coal, oil and gas have
brought the railroads. All these
nave converted Mcdowell, Mingo,
Mercer, Fayette, Tucker, Randolph.
Clay, Logan and other counties
from small back woods counties to
immense lax payn thriving, busy
communities. Compare the tax list.
the revenue now from Fayette or
Mcdowell with the revenue from
either before their railroads were
built and before the coal was devel
ped. The state getting nothing.
indeed? Surely 10 -. expects him.
elf to be taken seriously when he
makes such statement. West Viz
MIA IL farther from seaboard than
'ennsy vania, farther from the lakes
than Ohio, Indiana and Ill nois. Be
sides these states consume from 60
20 80 per cent of their OUTPUT Of
coal. We consume less than ten
per cent of our output. Our COM
petitors are concerned in finding
foreign markets for from 20 TO 40
per cent of output; we are inter
eJted in finding a fore gn market
Tor over 80 per cent of our output
can the struggling coal business
stand an arbitrary handicap at homs
on top of these natural ones? Think
about II. Study the question. Seek
accurate information. Remember.
TOO that TN 3 is the most radical
step that this 1tate has ever been
ASKED to take. Ought not the biIps
tit'e be, IAN d; to pp. burden
upon the industries that rave made
West Virg MIA, and to tax enterprise
and thrift and for other doubtful
Durpogeg ~