The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1911-08-08
Tuesday, August s, 1911.
THE RECORD OF THE TAX LAWS.

The Advertiser ventures the assertion
and does not believe that II viii he. CON
tTadictci. that a greater amount Is paid
Ia taxes OF one sort or another iu Nest
virginia today than was the. cas-. when
the ldw son tax laws went into eff.ct
Not only greater in actual dollars and
GEMS. hut greater IN proportion to the
actual value OF property in the stat.
And IN whatever form they are collect
ed. whether directly or indirectly.
whether ~ state. county or city. liz,
tsNes must be paid b. the people Just
the same.
The last final resource OF the defend
ets OF th- Republican policy Is the claim
mat they made the great railroads and
other public service corporations pay
thelr Just share OF the taxes. that ta,y
HseesSed the property OF these CORPORA
lions at its true value But they vii
not tell US when they valued In that
year at practically the sam. ngure true
and actual value as COMPARED with other
property IN the state. Was IL In lyu6g
ne property Of all the great railroads
OF the state was assessed In that year
at prnc tlcHlly the same figure At winch
u Is valued this year Yet IN the past
I'VE years millions have been su,If ia
improvements and bett,rmeuts ana roll
~ STOCK that has added tremendously.
10 the value OF tie properties II ft,.
railroads were honestly valued In 1900
thty are dishonesty valued to-day I.
tA"y PAID their just share. OF taxation ia
1910. thcy are not paying their ...-f
share ia 1911. They we're eitner robbed
then. or the other tax payers are being
tice Is apparent.
The boosted fairness OF the Dawson
plan ~ IFS application Viii rot bear
The above is taken from the Hun.
tington Advertiser. II IS "A part Of
an editorial published by the Adyer-
tis"r several weeks ago. and which
has been extensively reprinted by
Democratic papers. Apparently 8, is
considered crushing exposition OF
the ineiiiciency of the tax laws. or
dinarily the Huntington Advertiser is
not only fair. but honest and in'elli.
gent. In this particular case it sacri-
fees fairness and displays more than
the ordinary Democratic imbeci!ity
In its efforts 10 Giscredit the most
creditabie legislation that has ever
been put upon the statute books in
West Virginia. The Advertiser as
serts
First, that "a greater amount IS
paid i'm taxes OF one sort or another
in West Virginia today than was the
case when the Dawson tax law went
into effect"
Second. That at some time or
other between 1906 and 1911 there
has been some kind Of "a discrimina.
ton IN favor OF or against certain
railroads"
Now what are these two asser
uons? The first is simply the case
OF puttinE up a straw man 20 knock
him down. No person in West Wiz.
ginia has ever claimed that the tax
laws were intended 10 relieve tho
people of West Virginia ~ all taxa
ton. The purpose and intent of
those laws was 20 cqgalize taxation.
primarily 10 reduce tho burdens upon
real estate. which previous 10 1904
had borne the largest burden OF
taxation. and 20 distribute "a portion
% tho burden upon intangible prop
erty and public utilities Wost Viz
ginia is a growing state Tho state
administration. the state institutions
It's counties. cities and towns 400 need
more money today than they needed
In 1904 OF course moro money i4
being paid in taxes today in West
Virginia than WAS paid eight Years
ago Simply because We have moro
people. more wealth and more occl.