Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1913-10-14


A traveller recently, while waiting to
change cars at little town in South
eastern Kentucky, had a conversation
with an intelligent business man OF the
place and ascertained the following
facts:
What is your population ?" he asked.
About two thousand"
What is your principal Industry"
I'VE have none. unless stores count"
Have you no factories?'
None except a tombstone maker"
How is your population employed?'
well, we have ffty-two stores, nine
hotels and restaurants, two newspa-
pers, one laundry, one photograph gall
lery and two banks"
you seem to have good railroad IA
cilities"
Eyes, we have railroads running
north, south, east and west; twenty
six passenger trains in and out every
day and no end of freight trains"
What does the surrounding country
produce"
Coal, timber. clay, stone, corn,
wheat, tobacco, fruit and vegetables :"
What becomes Of all these?"
They are shipped to different parts
Of the country"
HAS your town Increased in popu-
lation?"
Not much in the past twenty-five
years"
How are your young people EN-.
ployed?"
They mostly drift away and get
work in the cities"
"Has it never occurred to you to
start a few factories and keep them at
homer"
yes, 1t has been tried, and we at
one time had a commercial club, whose
aim 1t was to get some factories here,
but they couldn't seem to do any
thing"
What were the obstacles?"
well, some people were induced to
come here and found cheap land, cheap
fuel, good shipping facilities, but no
labor, and some of the inquisitive ones
asked about taxes, ETC., and nothing
came Of IT,"
What is the trouble with your
taxes?"
well, you see, we have the general
property tax in Kentucky, and when
they were shown the assessors lists
and found they had to pay taxes on
about seventy-hve different kinds Of
| property, and all at the same rate, they
ducked"
as this true about the taxes?"
well, ii is pretty near the facts.
The city and county and state and
schools all have to be paid, and if a
man starts a factory he has to pay on
his machinery, his raw material and
finished goods; his cash and accounts,
and, of course, on his land and build
ings, and a good many other things,
including his watch and stickpin, and,
if he wants to educate his children, he
must pay on the books and piano and
his horse and buggy and almost every
thing but his shirt, and the trouble is,
be never knows exactly what his taxes
will be. If he omits any of the seventy
five things the legislature could think
of and the miscellaneous things he
must think of himself, there is the rev.
enue agent who gets a commission on
anything he can find, and then there is
the county equalization board, which
scrutinizes his returns and adds what
it likes, and then the state board at
Frankfort takes a whack at it and gen.
orally raises the whole list, and it sim
ply keeps everybody going who has
anything to be taxed"
Why don't you change the tax
laws?"
We'll, they put the law relating %
revenue and taxation in the state con-
stitution, and it takes about five years
70 effect a change, and ii is hard to get
the voters to understand the question.
The last legislature passed an amend
nent and il will be voted on at the
November (1913) election, and If it Is
ratified the change will be made"
Il live in Pennsylvania, and every
town in that state as large as yours
has a factory of some kind. and many
Of them several. They employ the
goung men and women and keep them
nd the money they earn at home. But
here comes my train, and all can say
8, you people should wake up. and If
your tax laws are oppressive. change
hem, and your state will blossom like
he rose"
"Well, goodbye. stranger intend
20 vote for the amendment myself. and
nay be others will do the same. IL
can't be any worse than the present
stem, and | surely would like to sec
ONE smokestacks looming up in these
,arte EarauyalIn