Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1913-04-18
The Citizt n VS.. Law
Commonwealth of Va,

In the great cOuIt vi c''i'iiI"H
Justice of the said counties anG
cities, the taxpayers Of the Com
monwealth of Virginia in and for
the body of the outraged counties
and cities and now attending ths
court of Justice and equity, rpoi
their oaths present:
That the tax laws Of the Com
monwealth Of Virginia are dis
grace to a civilized people, an in
suit to the honesty Of decent men.
a bare-faccd denial of Fundamentals
righteousness, confscatiun thc
most brazen and injustice tht
most profound, in this:
That honest men i'll the outraged
counties and cities of the Common
wealth bear their own heavy bur
dens of government, meet their a.
sessments, pay their taxes, yet ar
forced to pay for courts, schools
pensions and roads for counties
which fraudulently and consistent
ly refuse to deal justly with Their
sister counties and cities;
That legitimate business must
suffer because a grasplng statute
unreasonahly eXacts an unfair pro,
portion of honestHprofts;
That those who are mindful o,
their oaths and obedient to Law
suffer for their probitY while the
laws of the Commonwealth put IL
premium upon perjury and reward
a lie.
That citizen holding one class
property are forced to pay thre'
times the taxes often paid by OWN
ers of other classes of property o;
like value, thanks to a 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 a
pittance in the hands of trustees,
are forced to pay more than one
third of their living in taxes, while
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 morgaged 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 ID
no two cities are the same provis-
ions of the same law construed IN
the same manner and 10 like
end of equality and justice;
That the arm Of the states Off
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
nav. If he has a business, he pays
on the profits; if he owns stocks or
bonds, he pays on the principal; II
he has money in bank, he pays on
its 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 a 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
fonr per cent; but what are the