Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1913-04-18
rlonterey, Va. Friday, Apr Is 1911
The Citize n VS.. Law
Commonwealth of Va,

to-Wit:
In the great court of common
Justice of the said counties anG
cities, the taxpayers of the Com
monwealth of Virginia in and fol
the body of the outraged counties
and cities and now attending the
court of justice and, equity, rpol
their oaths present:
That the tax laws Of the Con
monwealth of Virginia are a dis
grace to a civilized people, an in
suit to the honesty of decent men
a bare-faccd denial of Fundamentals
righteousness. confscation til,
most brazen and injustice tn;
most profound, in this:
That honest men in the outrage
counties and cities of the Common
wealth bear their own heavy bur
dens of government, meet their as
sessments, pay their taxes, yet arr
forced to pay for courts, schools
pensions and roads for counties
which fraudulently and consistent
ly refuse to deal justly with thel'
sister counties and cities;
That legitimate business must
suffer because a grasping statute
unreasonahly exacts an unfair pro,
portion of honesthprofits;
That those who are mindful O.
their oaths and obedient to Law
suffer for their probity while the
laws of the Commonwealth put a
premium upon perjury and reward
lie.
That citizen holding one class @
property are forced to pay three
times the taxes often paid by OWN
ers of other classes of property o;
like value, thanks to ruthless law
which boldly demands full tribute
of rectitude, but allows local self
interest to protect dishonesty;
That the widow and the ophan.
wards of the State and possessing
pittance in the hands of trustees
are forced to pay more than one
third of their living in taxes, whit
the favored citizens of tax-dodgine
counties may pay less than five pei
cent of their earnings;
That a senseless statute, the
fruit of grasping fraud, twice taxes
the morgsged property and over
burdens the thrifty man who woul'
borrow to save or to better his
estate;
That the banker, who would LOAF
to increase prosperity, must pay Oh
every dollar of his capital, surplus
and undivided profits, while thu
owner of real estate in the offend
ing counties protests if his assess
ment is more than twenty per cent
of the value of his property;
That in no two counties and IN
no two cities are the same provis-
ions of the same law construed in
the same manner ana 10 a ike
end of equality and justice;
That the arm of the states otti-
GERS is not strengthened to enforce
the law, while local officers Deepen
dent upon county influence and the
creatures of their constituents are
empowered to defeat the law, to
reward their friends and to punish
their enemies, regardless alike OF
law and honor;
That worthy commissioners and
honest assessors are unreasonably
nurdened in that there is none to
guide them, none to uphold them
WHERE TAXATION HITS BUSINESS
Take, for instance the tax on
money which man is forced to
pay. If he has a business, he pays
on the profits; if he owns stocks OF
bonds, he pays on the principal; If
he has money in bank, he pays on
it's full value, regardless of his out
standing obligations; if he has an
income, he is forced to pay one per
cent of that; if he takes his money
from bank and buys personal prop
erty or real estate, he must contrl-
butte heavily to the State. On the
very food he eats, the clothing he
wears, the tobacco he smokes, even
on the mortgaged property he does
not possess, he pays taxes
As specific instance. might be
cited the bank taxes. Levied on
the capital, surplus and undivided
profits of the banks, this tax may
seem to concern the banker only.
But in reality, it vitality affects the
business prosperity of every mer-
chant and farmer. Suppose a gro
ceryman goes to the bank and
wants to borrow money with which
to meet coming drafts. His credit
is good, his stock is unencumbered,
his trade is steady. Yet he is very
fortunate if he is not forced to pay
six. per cent. on every dollar he gets
from the bank: This is high, very
high, for the economic rate of in
terest in the United States is not
four per cent; but what are the