The Bourbon news., 1913-08-29
business Men pepIore suits

Whereas, it has been brought to
the attention of the Board of Directors
OF the Lexington Commercial Club,
that the tobacco interests of this city
and State are again jeopardiZed by
further harassing and embarrassing
ntlgatlon having been instituted by
revenue agents against the Burley To-
bacco Society, and
Whereas, the tobacco interest of
Lexington and the Burley tobacco dis.
ltr1ct is one of the greatest of our in.
dustrial, commercial and financial as.
sets, an interest and business which
directly affects 10000 farmers who,
with their families, number approxi-
mately 100000 Of our citizens, and,
Whereas, one of the main wheels
and factors in this great commercial,
industrial and financial tobacco enter
prise, has been and is now the organi-
zation known as the Burley Tobacco
Society, whose efforts in behalf of the
farmers should be appreciated by ev-
cry business man, and the benefits re-
sulting from those efforts cannot be
disputed or denied, therefore, be it
Ask For Dismissal.
Resolved, That we deplore the
great handicap of unnecessary litiga-
tion that has for many months him
dered and embarrassed the laudable ef-
forts of the Burley Tobacco Society
and especially do we regret the fur
ther annoyance and embarrassment of
this company by the prosecution of
numerous suits by the revenue agents,
in this and other counties, and for the
Of oSf hO,. @f 70 ar.c
and other interests of the State we
hope and trust that the State and
county officials will see their way clear
to dismiss these actions now pending
and that they and others will here
after refrain from a like class of pros
ecutions."
Tax System Blamed.
Discussing the tax system of Ken
lucky in relation to the litigation in
point, Editor Desha Breckinridge, of
the Lexington Herald, says:
Among other innumerable faults of
| this system, there are none more glar-
ing than the provisions for the ap-
pointment and authority given to rev.
enue agents. 1t became a custom for
some lawyers to make an arrange
ment with the revenue agents for a
division of the fees allowed for the
collection of back taxes, instituting
suits in the name of the revenue agent,
when in fact it was the lawyer who
conceived and executed the purpose
to bring the suit So fragrant became
the abuses because of the institution
| of drag-net suits, which were often
compromised for amounts only part
of which reached the State Treasury,
that the last Legislature modified the
law so as to prevent this abuse.
Huge Drag-Net Cast.
But there are still glaring evils un.
! der the present system, some of which
are revealed by the innumerable suits
J instituted by John Howard, Of Mid
/ dleboro, a revenue agent for the State.
! at-Large, against the Burley Tobacco
/ Society," The aggregate amount OF
! property, for taxes on which suits
were brought, is some sixty millions
! of dollars, the taxes on which would
/ be some six hundred thousand dol
/ lars, with penalty, which would GO
/ to recompose the revenue agent and
! his attorneys. The amount sued fol
! is, of course, made so large as to Gov
/ er all possible contingencies, like a
drag-net with which the fisherman
hopes to catch everything in the pond
1t is most unfortunate for the
! Burley Tobacco Society, for the bur
, ley tobacco growers, for the State and
for the City of Lexington, that these
suits have been instituted in the way
! in which they have been; and most
unfortunate that there is apparent
ground for the charge that their pur
pose is not so much to collect the
amount of taxes due, If any are due
as to hamper and harass the Burley
Tobacco Society.
The Just And The Unjust.
There are forty thousandsmembers
of the Burley Tobacco Society who
pledged their crops of 1911. Many o.
them undoubtedly listed their tobacco
for taxation, as they are required tt
do by law, it being the duty of the
owner of tobacco to list it for taxa
ton. The suits, if successful, would
require the society to pay out of it!
general fund, taxes on all the tobacco
In it's possession on the day on which
it was required to be listed, so tina
those who had listed their tobacco fol
taxation and paid the taxes would b,
mulcted, as would also those who hat
not listed their tobacco. There ar
members of the Society who live il
Indiana and Ohio who will, if thes'
suits are successful, be required t.
contribute to pay the taxes collected
in the forty counties of Kentucky, ant
the penalty, which would go to th
revenue agent and his attorneys.
The Burley Tobacco Society ha
on hand ready for distribution SOM
three hundred thousand dollars 1t is
of course, impossible for it to distrit
ute that amount as long as these suit
are on the docket unsettled.
at Seems Curious
1T seems curious that these suit
should have been instituted agains
the Burley Tobacco Society, an OF
ganization formed for the purpose @