The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1921-05-18

friends and supporters the bill wouiG
probably have passed II it were Iot f"r
a deal which | have every reason /" bc
lierr was made. feel fairly rcrta II
that acting through thr governor r.
coal interests offered defeat Of the or
for Stewards support % the gross sa'cS
tax.
Il don't know n neither the water pow
or bill was made a trading point or NIX
hu, have every reason 20 believe ina
tho 'sugarinG Off process was appileo
there well.
The rnal stroke that passed the eit!
was OF course tho speech made ny Gov
Morgan in support OF the bill. Morgan
was primed and Sc. of al the logica.
moment By the coal interests lie cdmH
down to the house of delegates after ;h'
hill had been defeated. iIr went On az
floor Of the house ami argued personally
for the MASSAGE Of the sales tax Or.
There is no doubt in my mind that II hr
had permitted the Legislature I" act n
accord with its expressed wishes. a.
shown by the successful tablinG OF IN"
bin on the night before. it would have
defeated the measure. His appearance
on the floor and his arguments. weak
as they were. swung 'hc pendulum anu
tho reaction WIS strong enough I" pass
tho bill.
"MorGan's action was no surprise /"
those who had been Watching the
trend OF affairs. He had been favor
ing the coal interests throughout the
session. His arguments before the cx-
pcu.ive session Of the finance commit
tee hAld shortly before the tax bill vas
enacted. indicated clearly that he IA
vored a gross sales tax and nothing else
He asked US TO get together. tn" or
Eanixation controlled the committees
and as a result the compromise pleasure
they presented was hardly 10 Jor Dig
nihed By that name. The compromise
was accorded gubernatorial support at
once. His entire plan seemed to he 10
save the coal oil and gas interests OF
the state any OF the additional taxes
which must be raised When he APP
peared TO support the measure. IN via
, lation OF all precedent. there was ma
jority OF six votes against the oItI.
When he had finished telling the legs
lature that the coal oil and gas inter-
ests Of the state had agreed {" permit
the passage OF tax OF two-hfthS OF
one per cent on them and assured them
that the direct levy would be limited 10
IS cents exclusive OF the amount neceS-
Sarv TO cover the costs or the good
roads bond issue. Il was all over. This
me interests and Commissioner Stewart
and a similar dea, preventing the pas
sage Of the medical college bill thrown
the delegates from MonoaSa!!a county
ss a sop TO their injured feelings. sue
ceeded In putting il over.
Senator Bloch then turned again to
the tax bill and fayed il bitterly as
the most inequtable measure ever
passed by the legislature OF West Nir-
GINA. He pointed out that 1t violates
every economic law ever laid down. and
at the same time. very probably talls
Of its purpose. in that It will not sup
ply the revenue needed.
Before touching upon any specific
points in the bill" he said. II want TO
talk about II generally not as 1t APP
plies to the great interests but as II
may be applied 10 two kindred indus
tries or business.
Let US say in eNplana ton that there
are two manufacturers engaged in pro-
ducing the same product. One OF them
has a large establishment and produces
at small overhead cost. The other
has a small business and correspond
ingly greater overhead on every dol
lars worth OF business. The tax upon
them is the same The difference in the
percentage OF profit is not taken into
consideration. The tax may be 80
heavy upon the one as to force him to
drop out OF competition. On large or
ders ne would undoubtedly be greatly
handicapped This same example APP
plies 70 different lines OF business
where the profits vary. 4 jeweler may
have a greater percentage Of profit than
a grocer. and accordingly the latter
would be at a disadvantage
Again. suppose that Vest Virginia
man is doing business in constant COM
petition with one from Ohio or Penn
sylranIa and that ne ia forced TO pay
A tax OF several hundred dollars year.
Is his state not placing handicap up
on his business and favoring that Of
the other community?
These glaring inequities may be APP
piled 70 nearly every li.tle establish
ment in the state Hardly a business
man or a manufacturer who faces COM
petition in any degree Will not be the
sufferer. This tax ia one OF the most
difficult Of collection ever evolved. The
Appropri ia tlon for this year for collect
ing the gross sales tax is So6.000. 1t is
Increased for 1922.
There are some specific charges to
b. preferred against the gross sales
tax. The nrst OF these is that the cor
porations which exploit natural pro-
ducts will not pay ANYTHING like their
just share OF the costs or stdte gov
eminent. Next. they will not pay more
II they pay as much in 1921 AS they
paid in 1920 Again. the burden Of the
tax must be borne. BY the cornen gro
rery store and similar small esta blish-
ments, along with industry Of greater
size not aligned with coal. oil. and gas.
And lastly. the manufacturing interests
Of the state will pay a greater percent
age Of the tax IN the end than do the
above mentioned industries.
Remember that fully half of the leg
isiature. throughout the entire session
believed in the principle OF tho deplc-
ton tax; that is. they believed that in
dividuals and corporations engaged in
industries which we're eXhaustinK the
natural wealth Of the state. should pay q
special tax for that privilege. Left to
itself. the legislature would have, at
any time. poSSed depletion tax bins, re-
turning TO the state treasury from two
and haiti to three and half million
dollars from the development OF the
coal. oil and gas wealth of the state
But the legislature was not left TO itself
II was bullied. misled. and corrupted
from the very start. and one Of the
biggest influences in doing that was the
governors office.
Coal Doesn't Pay IT'S way.
Vow. what will the gross sares tax
bill yield: first. from the coal industry.
Coal production in this state amounts TO
about 9o.00en00 tons yearly. coal in
1920 sold at about 81 per ton on the
average In 1921 it will probably not
average more than $3.50 per ton. Ninety
million tons OF coal. assuming thar that
amount is produced in the state. Will
bring 225.o00.Ooo. The gross sales tax