The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-03-07
THE SENATE
The senate was in session nearly SIX
IN that llIne

z
three bills were passed.
The I,nne OF Contaution was the
.sreu.jtter'' bill of which Senator Gayie
.es ee IA tton and which VIII aHect Oh
rect:y The county Of Nelson and the
city az Williamsburg, which stano 10
lesa large Sums of money due them
! for omitted taxes 80,
AS originally introduced, the Dill
materially affected the State, but wben
the attack grew warm and II was
pointed out that to undertake to re-
mil any part of the taxes due TO the
State would be a violation of the Con-
stitution, the bill was amended. me
y bill. as amended, allows the counties
or localities to go back TO Isle aho
10 Assess and collect taxes but iur-
Their than that they are estopped
While there are great many per-
sons who have paid taxes for years
mast, there are just two cases IN point
and a third was tshut out or what
ever chance the localities might nave
by the defeat of an amendment~~tnat
were specifically referred 10 as bene-
1ictaries OF the measure-~Thomas FOR
tune Ryan. of New York, and me
Marshall estate in WILLIAMSBURG. The
county of Nelson stands to lose about
SOC. 900 and the city OF Williamsburg
about the same sum.
senator Trfnkle Speaks.
Senator E Lee Trinkle, of Wythe.
one of the new men and one of the
most attractive speakers In the Sen
ate. was recognized to complete the
speech which he began Saturday prior
20 the recess. He devoted ms re-
marks to showing that the cxigencies
of the case demanded that the bill
be passed. and TO showing that 1t was
in keeping with sound public policy
Senator Trinkie said that the matter
OF assessments in various parts or the
State was largely factor In bring
ing about the conditions that exist to-
day He referred to the notorious
fact that the assessors of real estate
i'm some of the counties have declared
3 that an honest, conservative value OF
the real estate was just one-eighth OF
the actual value, as disclosed by sales
$ of the property so taxed. In some
other counties the valuations had been
ene-third of their value. In all cases
OF intangibles--stocks. bonds and
notes--where they were returned for
: taxation were assessed for their face
value In other words, the tax on
that class of property was anywhere
from three to seven times greater
! than the tax on lands. He commended
that the assessors were factors in
contributing to this fact. for they
& would say to some of the owners that
other persons were not making full
and complete return, and they were
allowed TO omit these properties to
very large extent. He believed that
~ would be we'll for the State TO give
all the people an even chance to come
forward and to make full and COM
plete settlements of their omitted
property and TO start fresh and let
those who had been ill-advised or
who had failed to make complete re-
turns from any cause to do so now.
> He believed 1t would be the part OF
wisdom TO do this.
i senator Allen Opposes.
Senator Allen, of LunenburE. took
the floor and made short speech
3n opposition TO the measure. From
the first to the last word of the bill
he could not see that it was right or
just to the people of the State and
the people ~Ae- had always paid
their taxes in full. He could not see
that justice demanded that the two
cases which stood out so consnicu
ously deserved any consideration
whatever. He had been Informed by
! the Attorney General that the State
would lose considerable revenue II
the bin were passed, but later said
that he had been mistaken and that
the localities would suffer instead OF
the State. Senator Allen spoke with
Z emphasis. saying that the people IN
all sections OF the State, rich and poor
should share the burdens Of taxation
Z with regard TO their belongings and
4 not because OF their position.
Cannon's Careful speech.
!, Senator Cannon. of Richmond, fol.
lowed Senator Allen, making n care.
full and measured speech in favor Of
the bill. lie said that h was based
on the highest principle of public pol
icy. that IL would be well for the
State TO allow FOR a settlement OF the
claims that were being made. and he
{. expressed the belief that there were
many who would so settle when they
were afforded an opportunity. The
i mere fact that there We're two cases
which had been brought to the atten-
tion of the people should have no ef-
feet in determining the case at all.
The equities were to be considered,
and while some had failed 10 make
their returns az they should have been
made there were many who had done
so with no intention TO do the least
s wrong He believed that the best in
terests of the State We're TO he served
by opening wide the gates and giving
10 those who had neglected making
such settlements chance to do so
instead of going on and failing to
give the State the revenue, The fact
was that the rates on such proper
! ties were out OF ali proportion to
other classes of property If there
should he discovered persons who
were falling later on la make their
returns honestly they could not reap
the advantages OF the terms OF tho
measure under consideration
West For the Measure
Senator West, Of Suffolk, was a
I. champion Of the bill az 1t stood. and
he opposed all the amendments which
sought TO impair ii. He wanted To see
The burden OF taxation distributed
with some degree Of fairness, but
where there had heen, for various rea.
4 sons. failure 10 make complies
I. return Of all the property he would
favor affording chance to the de-
4 linquents to come forward, admit
their error ard settle In full and be-
N gin to make their reports true and
I correct. He believed that such would
b. the case in case the bill under
# consideration Is enacted into q law.
Il Go0lrfck Itaps Newspapers,
Nx, Senator 9ooirick who had charge
~ the bill because he was patron OF
1 similar measure, urged the adoption
! of the bill as II was sought 20 be
4. rsaouded nv his f,r0poAifioAH He