The Lexington progress. (Lexington, Tenn.) 1884-current, 1920-07-02
ROBERTS SPEECH AN APOL-
0GY, NOT A REPLY

Governor Roberts, at Brownsville,
addressed the citizens of that COM
munity Saturday and gave what must
be his line of defense of his conduct
of the Gowrnorship of the State of
Tennessee the past two years. We
have grave doubts, however, that the
Governor really depends on the la
bored apologies and involved appeals
which in the main constitute his ad-
dress. He surely must have some
thing in reserve if he hopes to make
much impression on the Democratic
electorate of the State.
The greater part of the Governors
address was devoted to an attempted
defense Of the iniquitous tax laws
which he had placed upon the statute
books of the state. His arguments
are flashy and specious, yet a little
consideration will readily show how
they attempted to deceive the voters
on their merits.
The Governor makes no real at
tempt to defend the operation Of his
tax machine, or to answer the severe
criticisms made of it. It's machina-
tions are a closed book to his hearers,
so far as he is concerned. The Gov
errors main argument is that Col.
Crabtree, while speaker of the State
Senate, voted for a tax bill with the
Governor, in his omniscience, deems
a worse bill than the n which is
now arousing the entire state against
Roberts.
The tax commission bill which was
introduced in the Legislature in 1917
was a carefully drawn measure,
which had been drawn after the la
Dor of many months by an advisory
tax commission, which considered
thoroughly the methods of progress
sive states, and applied these theor-
les and practices to the problems of
Tennessee. The bill as drawn did not
create a huge political machine, the
upkeep of which would cost the state
an enormous sum Of money, as does
the present one. The state admins
~tration of assessment by means of a
tax commission would not have cost
over $15,0 OF 500, 900 how the "tax
statisticians," their myriad cohorts
at $40, per day and expenses will
bleed the state is yet a matter of es-
innate. 1t is believed that it will run
up to $500, 900 or more. The Governor
kept a discreet silence on this point.
The 1917 tax commission bill would
have brought a f~ace-to-faee assess
ment by the assessor and owner of
the property. 1t would not have loos-
ed from Nashville a horde of hun
CRY officeholders, schoolmasters and
horsetraders, unacquainted with val
ues, as statisticians to make assess
ments. promulgate them from Nash
vile and apply every possible pres
sure on local officials to force them
to swallow these iniquitous figures.
The law proposed in 1917 gave pro-
lection to the taxpayers by limiting
the amount of increase in local taxes
to 6 per cent. The new law puts no
curb whatever on local rates. 1t is
true that Col. Crabtree, when Speak
er Of the Senate, voted for this meas
ure. And he voted well when he did
so. 1t can be safely asserted that Col.
Crabtree would never have voted for
such a bastard measure as that which
harnesses the State and a Nashville
made assessment of every county of
the State, enforced by a powerful ma
chine. There would have been no $40
per acre assessments on coal lands,
worth about $40, by itinerant school
MASTER : statistician : assessors under
the 1917 bill.-Chattanooea News.