The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1920-06-11
To the Voters of obiOn County.

Having decided to become can
didate to represent Obion County in
the next General Assembly, ! take
this method of soliciting your sup
port in the Democratic primary to
be held the first Thursday in August.
First, l ask you to investigate my
record, one term in the legislature
and half life term in your county
court, and see whether / have, or
not, stood on the moral and economi
cal side of all questions. See wheth-
er / have stood for law enforcement
and good government, and whether
i have taken care of the taxpayers
money or stood with the grafters
and treasury raiders. have always
been a Democrat and believe in
Democratic principles and majority
rule. / will favor no law that will
put a special tax on the people of
Obion County for any purpose with
out the people having opportunity to
express themselves on same.
Our present and new taxing laws
seem to have brought on the greatest
storm of protest over Tennessee of
any law that has ever been passed in
the State. When our Representative
and Senator appeared before COM
mittee of citizens at Union City to
discuss this law while these bills
were pending in the last legislature
they assured us that ObiOn County
was the highest assessed county of
any county in West Tennessee, and
that our taxes would not be raised
but that the other counties would be
raised and all made equal.
What is the result? Our county
has been raised between and
times as much as it was year ago,
and yet they attempt to camouf1age
ms by telling us the sliding scale will
take care of that, in the face of the !
act itself, which says the sliding |
scale only applies to the State tax. |
We have four taxing school dis
tricts in this county-South Fulton, |
Rives, Mason Hall and Hornbeak, |
which carry not less than thirty |
cents on the hundred dollars special |
school tax, which is all the money
these school districts asked for. Now
you see, with the present assessment,
that will be over three times the
amount of money the property in
tuCSt ulSJI Will nofC W pay uh
der the plans of the new law. In
other words, it will be something
like dollar instead of thirty cents,
and the sliding scale does not apply.
ply.
The next thing I'll call your at
tention to is our road tax. The law
says the county courts shall levy a
road tax of not less than Is cents on
the hundred dollars worth nor more
than twenty-five. We have been
levying 90 cents for Il number of
years. Our county assessment has
nearly doubled, so you see our road
tax will be doubled, something like
four times, and the sliding scale does
not and can not apply here under
the existing law.
This same increase applies to all
the taxes throughout Tennessee, so
you can see the result can be but one
thing-that the farmers and owners
of real estate in Tennessee will be
bankrupted by paying taxes, and no
ore ever heard of the legislature III
Tennessee adjourning until the
treasury was empty.
/ am perfectly willing for our
taxes to be raised enough to pay the
legitimate running expenses of the
State, but no more than enough to
pay the expenses of the State run by
real business men in business way.
Hence, / am compelled to say that
should be elected to the next Gen
eral Assembly / will do all in my
power to repeal this tax law, root
and branch. sWhat can l recommend
in it's stead? l favor law to value
property at its cash value, but as
sess it on a percentage basis-say SO
cents on the dollar l am told this
law works satisfactorily in Missouri
and several Western States. favor
the repeal of the double license sys-
TEN to fish or hunt on Reelfoot Lake.
/ also favor repeating a law that was
passed by the last legislature put
ting a privilege tax on every farm
wagon and buggy in the county.
However, the "daddies" of that law
have never had nerve enough to put
it in operation. But it's law just
the same. l favor a law changing
the meeting of the legislature from
every two years to every four years,
for think that's too often. | favor
a law for no State or county officer
TO De 0l6CLeu LOT less THAN lOuT years,
for we have entirely too many cleo
lions in Tennessee.
I've always favored the best
schools that we can have at the
least possible cost. l do now, and
always have favored better roads
and better highways. All we lack
Of having the best county in the
State is good roads and a good mar
ket. l introduced the first bill in
the legislature and tried to put it
through, but failed, to build a REAL
road in Obion County.
In conclusion, will say that l ia
vor no law that does not appear to
me to be of the greatest interest to
the most of the people in Tennessee.
After reading this and investigating
ny record, if you think l am right,
| want and ask your support. Ii
I'm wrong I'm not entitled to the
same. Yours respectfully,
S. r. BRATTON.
June 8, 1920. i