The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1909-01-15
TAXA TON FIGHT
10 BE "A BIG ONE
Oil and Gas and Coal Inter
ests Are to Have the Bat
tie of Their Lives.
tcharles brooks smith.l.-

N~AaAANS A@e0VhAs alAAttAAAsA5
CHARLESTON, Jan. 1.-THE oil
and gas Interests are going to have
the fight of their lives this session
to escape paving greater taxes. Their
friends viii see to it. that coal. too.
is hitched up with oil and gas when
it comes TO lease-hoId and produc-
ton tax. But coal Is not so much
what the state authorities want to
reach as oil and gas, for coal comes
pretty near paying a fairly equitable
share OF the tax burden. The same
cannot be said OF oil and gas. and /
ind strong and growing sentiment
among the Legislators here in favor Of
getting at the oil and gas products
to force the INTO yield their ftithe to
the state before they cease TO be Inn
portant resources and just objects
for taxation. 1t is noteworthy that
this sentiment is strongerki in the sem
ate than in former sessions. for in
that body the coal. OIL and gas inter-
ests have heretofore had enough
friends TO enable them to defeat the
enactment Of a production or license
tax.
Much of Goyerncr Dawson's mes
sage is taken w with fun discussion
of this subject from that Viewpoint.
He quotes at length from the tax
commissioners report and from the
paper read at the Toronto convention
of tax experts by Mr., Townsend. In
which nc discussed the taxatio. of
coal. oil and gas very learnedIy.
1t Is very evident that this particu-
lar piece of important legislation IS
very much desired by the State adj
ministration. and bills viii be intro
duced, which have no doubt been
carefully drawn in the tax commits
sioner's office, which viii be known
as administration bills and win be
pushed forward by 1t with an its
might. The administration Is very
hopeful this year OF overthrowfng the
majority influence which the coal. oil
and gas lobby has always had in the
senate. 1t doesn't fear the House.
which Is here to do anything the al
minisratlon wants But the more or
less conservative senate is debatab!e
ground when ii comes to this prop
osition as we'll as to other ones.
However, this senate is not so much
SO as the last one. The billions Of GU
bic feet of natural gas being taken
out OF the state each year. without
paying any tax worth mentioning to
the state, is largely Responsible for
the prevailing strong sentiment that
"a production tax should be laid on
gas. and also on oil. because practice
ally the same condition prevails as
to that product. But on coal the
conditions are disslmiIar. Coal can
he fairly accurately assessed and
made to pay its just share Of the ex-
pepsc Of government: but no one Is
bold enough to deny that assessing
gas and oil IS matter OF guess work
and the guessing IS pretty unIversaliy
to the benefit OF the oil and gas cor
porations. About the only way this
condition can be changed and made
equitable and satisfactory, according
to the Governor Tax Commissioner
Townsend, and the oninion OF many
lawmakers. Is to collect tax levied
on production
The bills covering this subject will
be the administrations CHIEF revenue
measures at the present session. and
over these bills the stiFfest contest
next to prohibition, Will he waged.