Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1922-04-13
UNFAIRNESS TO PEOPLE OF G. 0.P TAX
Program SHOWN BY DR.. McCLINTIC
Careless Appropriation of State Funds Last Republican
iaure and Efforts Now To Make Up Deficit Which Ha,
Resulted Exposed by Member of House of Dele
gates; Farmers Are Hardest Hit

ana the farmer in particular of the
old Dawson tax law which has been
| reSurrected by the present state Re
puoIcan administration in order u
increase the value of property for
assessment purposes, DIR. {. r. Nc
Clintic, prominent physician of Will
! IiamShurg and Democratic member
IF the House 6f Delegates from Green
erier county. has made an exhaustive
study of state finances and taxation.
He includes his work on this sub
1ect in series Of articles on What
a Patriotic State Administration can
10 for West Virginia"
His criticism is constructive. in that
he suggests remedies for the present
tax evil
THE state of Michigan" he cites.
reached the point where its taxes
had become so unequal. and its re-
sources so depleted, with a continuous
Increase in state expenditures, that
something had to he done. At the
last legislature, n tax commission was
appointed for a term of ten years to
ieviSe fair system of taxation. So
let West Virginia act now"
Boost in Salaries
THE state elective officers In 1921"
says DR.. McClintic, "received 1892
5IS.W, or Ga per cent and appointive
officers received SOL, S06.97, or 1901
per cent or tota! Of $s84, s75.O6 or
1917 per cent Of the total revenue de-
voted to state purposes.
The state department of commits
Sioner Of agriculture lists IA per-
sons as receiving salary or pay for
services ut cost of S76,943.5l, and
81 other persons per diem" ranging
aS high as $4,000 each or total
expense and salary account Of S143,-
'1S.S1. 1t took the taxes from prop
erty valued at $5,732, 10000 to pay
this Item. In other words, 1t took
the taxes off Of 4,G19 farms To nav
this bill. There. are 1929 farms in
West Virginia, so It takes all the
taxes off one In twenty Of the farms
81 the state for salaries and expenses
incurred by the staff Of the commits
sioner of agriculture. Did one farm
IN twenty In the state benefit to the
amount Of tax paid by contributing
20 this fund?
AN item Of $29,230.64 appears for
community packing house Why
vas not this work done by the agri-
cultural extension department of the
university?
THE commissioner of agriculture
urged the passage, ut the last Legis-
lature Of law to prevent disease
among honey bees. The bill called
Tor the appointement of an entOmolo-
yist to enforce the law or to do the
inspection. His duty is to look for
bacteria (for which Il bacteriologist
IS needeO. When the commissioner
made the appointement the appointee
was neither an entomologist nor
Psychologist.
us this typical of the way the
peoples money is being spent? The
money spent by the state department
md for public institutions accounts
for 1876 per cent of the taxes paid
Tor state purposes.
No knowledge of Assets
But what would you think Of
business that did not know the value
Of its assets? Yet, when the ques-
ton was before the last legislature
The office of the state tax commits
'oner could give nothing definite as
20 the value of the assessabIe prop
erty of West Virginia. There were
estimates" another term for guess
eS," of the amount of business done
~ wholesalers, jobbers, manufacturers
etc; it was current knowledge about
Charleston that the commissioner did
lOt know within Il billion dollars of
he wholesale business of the Charles
:On district. The most reliable source
If information was gained through
bureaus of the United States Govern
ment at Washington. This is not in
ended as n reflection upon the pres
emit tax commissioner, but it is intended
20 show that state officers Of West
Virginia have persistently failed to
establish n scientific basis upon which
TO estimate property values.
These unscientific methods have |
resulted in n haphazard tax legisla-
ion. First one party and then the |
other will come out with a new |
scheme for raising revenue. These |
schemes seem to be more for the pur- |
pose Of gaining votes or serving as
campaign thunder, than for solving |
IN scientific way the question of |
.axation.
The Tax Arrangement
'Tn the last session Of the legisla-
lure, the Democrats proposed as n
matter of political expediency and |
strategy that tax OF One-half to
,ne per cent he levied on coal, oil, |
gas, lumber, ETC., and that Il tax be
placed on net incomes, graduated |