The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-01-30

i N. 41ssSV'FsSsalE I lIERH
SRoFzv6 RED1o7loH 0Fis1 POUNDS.
nMrs N :; E,.ary writes. "lyasa, J. began tho
81 s5sSss' t!s.gg 1886 as s. ,' y ss
SBSs Sii
IS Fs sa
licensed physicien BY the State Of Netp York;
his district committee eons!deration ah be
the bill was adopted.
Fletcher Bill Again.
Next cane the Fletcher pil as the
/. quier, asked that all amendments Le
4 presented at once, SO that they might
be fully considered before Monday
when. the bill and amendments might
be taken up and acted upon
! Launching a fiery .philippic on the
low. tax on mineral lands. Senator
Eolkes. OF Richmond. took the floor
for the taxation OF mineral lands put
on as a rider" to the Fletcher bill
No provision had been made in the
original ,nd bill bil! for such lands, and !,
OF the committee. The subject matter
of his amendment was gcrmane to the
title Of the BIZ be argued, and be.
i hi, ,o to t ne and eassilication of the
class Of land Is the richest In the
state In some way it ought to be
assessed. The assessment now is In
adequate, and Is done now and then
by the commissioners of the revenue,
amounting to very little The valua-
ton at present is pitifully small.
Mineral Laud yaIucy.
assessor would inspect and value the
by i the mineral land would go "sco.
free" from his inspection. He would
! never vote for the Fletcher bill until
there is law taxing anew the mine
| raj lands, he asscnted.
| Senator Elan, of Brunswick, inter
rupted to say that Il bill is being
drafted oy the Finance Committee 10
cover mineral lands under tho juris-
| diction OF thu State Corporation Com
| be wise for Senator Folkes 10 with.
draw his amendment.
(, But the junior Senator from Rich
mond said he had tried the easier
way before, ana that he didn't intend
to rest until he got In something def
mite about Il tax on mineral lands. 1t
had been the custom to start lot
OF fierce comment about the lack of a
tax. and then to let the matter die,
because nobody took It up. ne had
been subjected to criticism because of
this. If the mineral lands tax failed
to get in as a rider it would not
get through at all. The Senator that
would try to run through the senate
/ an independent mineral tax bill would
nave to possess enough Optimism to
cut the Panama Canal" he concluded.
Correcting Evils.
Senator Halsey, of Lynchburg. asked
II the ,,, Senator thought that the Fetch
View. Is 1t wise to weigh down that
a bill with propositions that might kill
II? He suggested that the PROPOSE
, tons be presented separately. 1t is
: better to correct one evil than to let
o Two so uncorrected, he argued.
e Continuing. Senator Folkes said that
in his. opinion the State has seen the
q last or rotten tax assessments" The
Tear OF making wrong return would
spread abroad among the assessors of
ordinary land because of the way in
which the subject had been aired. and
ne wanted tho same idea to get fixed
assessors. He did not want tho min
eral land people TO feel that they were
under different law,
On tho desks OF the members there
i is book showing that s30,ooo.ooo
| worth of minerals had been taken
from the mines, aud that on this was
! an assessment of SlGOOe,0oO OF prop
erty. These lands We're the richest in
the State, The people who owned them
i.GuEht to pay, as we'll as the poor
people.
Need Separate Bills.
Senator Halscy, OF LynchburE, OBJ.
lected to the use of the term poor"
bear the burden Of the bill. The bill
applied to all. He went on to say the
propositions ought to be embodied II
separate bills, for some Senator'S would
vote. for ono proposition alone. who
w0Il11 for hntl .IOining them
in tho bill would, therefore, cut off
votes and might kill both propositions;
That policy makes ne. nervous,
said senator foikes. A In,se ga s9 No
Constitution made a distinction be-
tween mineral and other lands as sub
jects of taxation, he said that no at
tempt had ever been made TO carry on a
wanted to do it now, He realized that
he was up against a powerful and
astutc" lobby. Once before he hud
rushed a biz to engrossment thron !, =
voted the wrong way. and who had
been in state Of sels.hagellation
ever since for such, "A mistake
land people had iarped OH the West
Virginia plan OF taxation. and the
Senator said he would be glad to have
that adopted, but under that the mill
eral tax would DO very much greater
the system OF q Republican state, but
said the senator, u had rather be a
Republican than Prohibitionist, and
ii seems that we are drifting toward
prohibition
IiqGpr Taxes Raised.
Unusual duties. he said, devolNe upon
tho present General Assembly, Money
is needed above all things. 1t is no"
popular 10 slug the liquor people
and the Senate certainly had done
that 1t had raised liquor licenses
$4,000 That Is good, IT serves the
purpose of those who do not want
prohibition. Il am speaking frankly
said Senator Folkes. II think we noed
franknosa in our politics. He Went
! on:
| though have not been taxed. They
| sre the beneficent express companies
! and they have agreed to pay an sodl.
| tional $1,000 from their meaere Golfers
II am admontshing the FINANCE Com,
! mittee, sentlsmen, M their spiritual
/ and political adviser"
II object to the Senator's calling
] himself our spiritual adviser" inter.
1 Jected Senator Elan, Of Brunswick,
i with 4 smile.
Who Is u:
well II I'm not tho spiritual ad-
visor Of the senate Finance Commit
Tee replied Senator Folkes. you know
VINO he is And the senate laughed
aae., ,,.,1a Il T.. tI,. -.