The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1954-05-04
Editor Farmville Herald,

Editor FarmVille Herald
I believe any person holding
public office is a servant of the
people. and since he is coRpen-
stated from the taxpayers money.
therefore he is the hired man of
the taxpayer. This being true.
he is obligated TO give the tax
payer the best possible govern
ment service at the very lowest
possible cost He should ever
strive to make the service better,
and the cost more economical.
With this preface I shall move
right along to the issue before us
at this time.
I believe the matter to be set
tied on May is one Of the most
important that has come before
your Board of Supervisors in my
% years experience. and should
be given mature thought. and ut
most consideration because what
is done about the proposed in
crease in the tax levy will not only
affect the taxpayers now but will
be felt for a long time to come.
We have an overall budget the
fiscal year beginning July / of
1854 874. of this amount all has
been provided for in the antici-
pated income but S12,52l
There are only two avenues for
your hired men to follow One is
if your Board approved this bud
get in its entirety. is to increase
the levy to provide the S12,521
lacking. The other is of course to
economize to this extent, so your
county budget viii be in balance
1t is the duty of your Board to
see that one or the other is done,
as the law says that just that
must be done. I shall do all in my
power to see that the law is com
piled with, and I chose the way
by economy
Agriculture is predominant in
Prince Edward County I believe
every one will agree with this. and
you are aware that agricultural
products reached the peak some
time ago, and some have gone the
other side at a rapid rate For
instance anyone who has watch
ed the beef cattle market knows
what the beef cattle raisers are
dairy farmer has had his head
aches, and all along the line the
picture isn't what it used to be
I can't see the wisdom of add
ing to this groups distress by
putting on a heavier tax load.
because taxes collected is the only
money that can be spent either by
your School Board or your Board
Of Supervisors for those that go
delinquent can't be used by any
one.
We are extremely fortunate in
this county to have as much rev.
enue coming in from the railroads
and public service corporations,
but when you increase their cost
they add it on to what the peorse
pay, so we as citizens. have the
bill to pay in the end.
Just the other day l received a
copy of the petition the telephone
people are going to present to the
State Corporation Commission for
an increase in rates. May l ask
in the end who will pay? I could
go on with examples such as this.
but ultimately the people pay the
hill
We. in the South, are at the
fork in the road, and we will have
no further say in which road we
will take, as this decision will be
made by the highest court Of the
land, regardless of the decision.
l think the States will have to
make large expenditure to bring
the facilities of one race to equal
ity with the other.
The Governor who has just
gone out of Office made it plain
that he would call the Legislature
that he would call the Legislature
if necessary, into session to cope
with the problems that would be
created by the decision of the
Supreme Court. I believe Mr..
Stanley will do the same.
If you recall, about the last of
the session of Legislature Just
closed, some Of the powers that
be. predicted that probably the
legislature in 1856 would enact
sales tax law. I believe if a spe-
cial session is called, it would ser
iously consider this measure. and
if made a law think it would
help equalize the tax burden.
Then, why should we go ahead
and increase our taxes now when
the above could easily happen.