The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-02-09
.M'CORKLES MEASURE
IS FURTHER DISCUSSED
TAX COMMISSION En- yyNsENpH'
LAYS BARE TIL WEAKNESS oF
Z SENATE BILL N Q. ~, Il 4 7!

N !. fNi l------------ "a Ia n
CHARLESTON. va. FEB. H..
Following Is No 9 OF Tax 6 Commission
ers Townsend's articles showing the \
dangers of Senate Bill No. y 1 4
r. The imbecillty Of Senate Bill No. ia i
is shown by considering together sec.s
tlons five. nine. eighty and elghty:ones
Y Section five provldessthat any conn-
ty that has less than forty thousand
population, as shown. BY the sFederaIjl
census Of 1910 shall have one assess
sor, one assistant and one ONCE dep
.uty. In other words. ii would Do tho
duty otthree persons to assess every
county In the State where The lpopula.s
tIon was less than forty thousand
Under this law; Wlrss count, i With d I
population of s,047, would have the
same number Of assistant assessorsiais
Wood county, IL; which Isl located the
City Of Parkersburg. with d population
of 3s.OO1..t Webster 4 county, with d
population OF $3.50, would have thss
same number Of assistant assessors asi
Marshall county with d population of I
32,3Ss. Pleasants county, with 81 pop. /,
ulation Of s.o74. would have the same
number OF assistant assessors as Ncr.
ccr.county, with a;popuiationsof Ss,37f.
Wetzel county, with itsSyast wealth in
oil, gas and coal, and "a zpopulat Hon OF
2S,s55, would be assessor With sthc
same number Of assistant assessors as
'Pendleton county, with d population
Of l9,s4s. SO. 1t goes throughout Tie
list. sS5 3ti5,5s !. I. 3
shortens Period for Work. IL { &
Then again, section nine provides
that property shall Ebe assessed as otss
April first, instead OF January frst. .5as s
the law now provides. This bill sie.
creases the number lof assistant ass
SCISSORS and at the same time ishortens
the time for max ling tic assessment
three months. n whose interest," ii
this? The farmerf No. ] Tie small
taxpayer? No. The poorer classess
No. It Is solely in nEthe nterest soi{ ne
corporations. BY reducing the MINI.
Der. Of assessors and shortening the
time. the big taxpayers vii escape.
In Wood county each pefsQp. .assass,
ing property would have to assess sixty.
eight persons "a day H. order to -set
through in the time provided; by this
bill. In Wetzel county each persons
would have to make fforty.fiye assess
ments daily. In Wayne forty In
Randolph, tifty.two. In Ohio COUNTY,
seventy-four. In Dowelf county.
seventy-ave. In Mercer. sixtxhlne.
In Marshall, slxty-five. IN Harrison,
sixty. In Fayette, slxtg.three. SIN
Braxton. forty.two. The best .asses.S
sors Of the State tell me that from /
fifteen to twenty assessments ls allS i
that can be made ina day. sThisslawS
would mean that the assessor would I;
be compelled tossllght his work tof getsi
through. and by doing $50 the large
property owners would j be benefit
1t takes time to properly assess prop
erty, and to cut down the number OF
assessors as provided by 5senat ate BIZ
No. "A makes 1t impossible for an ns-s
SCISSOR to properly Do the work. &;
Physical imposslbliity "
Moreover, this bill provides that the
assessor shalt begin on April first.
make the assessment and deliver his Il
books to the Board Of Review. which
by this bill isithe county court July
18th. The board ofreyiew shall per-.
form its duties, deliyersthe books to-
the assessor, and the e83assessor must
complete them for the leyylng bodies
CONTINUED on Page Four,) n
l u. 1IEII - y l. III