Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1912-08-05

! have read with amazement your
article on the Weyerhauser Timber
company's holdings in Chehalis coun-
ty. According to your logic by the
power of taxation this company is to
be driven into the cutting up of its
large timber tracts regardless OF
whether the market justities such
procedure or not. This is penny.
wise, pound-foolish campaign against
the best interests of the county. If
you force this company to denude The
vast forests of the county, in tha
space of twenty years there will be
nothing left to tax any more except
vast fields OF burned stumps. few
farming districts and city property
Instead of being the richest county
in the state. ours Will become the
poorest.
When the Romans set out with the
War-WhOop "Cartagena delenda" and
strained every resource at their com
mand to destroy that vast city, and
to make an ash heap out of it, they
laid the foundation for their own de
struction. Yet you would spare the
milloWners and other like institutions
when it comes to taxing the same
Can you not see that the lumber mills
will shut up shop as soon as the avail
able timber supply gives out, and we
will get nothing in return lor the
policy of pampering we have extended
to them for so many years. The true
interests Of this county demand that
its leaders and moulders of public
opinion look to the future as we'll as
tn tho IF hIr n cfIhhnpp N
sistence we demand the last pound of
flesh from the holders of large tim
Der tract, we in reality shatter the
foundations upon which the future
value of our real estate and our com
merce depends.
There is nothing to be gained by
the ruthless and unreasonable attacks
on the timber land owners. While we
expect them to pay a reasonable tax
on their holdings. it would be the
height of folly to make this tax con-
tiscatory. 1t is well to look at this
matter from a different viewpoint
than the mere demagOgue standpoint
to cinch the corporation in order to
curry favor with the masses. The in
terests of the county at large are
bound up with the proper handling
of our vast forests-and to urge the
cutting up of all timber for the sake
of temporarily enriching the county
treasury so that more foolish expendi-
lures can be INDUCED in, speaks not
very we'll for the fairness, foresight
and business ability the editor of the
Herald is usually credited with. In
stead of destroying Cartegena, it
would be better to foster it's growth
and development. You cannot per-
manently collect taxes from wealth,
if by the dynamite of agitation you
blow up the last vestige of it.
FARMER.
Our farmer correspondent either
fails to grasp the full meaning of the
article he takes exception to, or he
is one of quite number of we'll
meaning citizens of Chehalis coun-
ty who are used as innocent backtir-
ers by this tax lodging corporation.
His line OF talk indicates the style
of argument to be gathered from the
dodgers and their allies, official and
For instance. the idea that to re-
Guire this concern to pay its JUST
proportion of taxes will spell ruin
for it and Chehalis county. is almost
too ridiculous for consideration. Ii
the argument of Farmer contained
an atom of truthful foundation it
would prove altogether too much
The Herald has not suggested that
this corporation, or any other. pay
more than its just proportion of the
expenses of the county in return for
the protection its vast holdings re-
ceiye. Ii it would ruin the Weyer-
haeuser Timber Co, to do so what
must the burden be on the small land
holder. home owner, manufacturer
and merchant who now have TO pay
their own and its share?
Denudng Timber Lands
That the collection of its equita-
BILE share of taxes would result in
more speedy cutting of the timber
lands is another error our Farmer
friend falls into In the past ten
years. the value of timber on the
stump has more than doubled. and it
will continue to increase in a more
rapid ratio as the supply decreases.
so that it is a perfectly safe assump
tion that ten years from now, the
holdings of this company will be
worth more than they are today, even
if half of it is cut at that time. In
fact, the cutting of every section adds
to the value of what is left This
elementary proposition is familiar to
all who have observed the timber
market in the older states, and is
proved by the experience of the
world
This company is not engaged in