Year: 1875

The vote by which the Tobacco Ware
house bill was indefinitely postponed
lew days ago, was reconsidered in the
House on Monday, and the bill recon-
mitted to the Judiciary Committee for
amendment. That committee has re-
ported the following amendment to lie
added to section I


"No salaries, compensation or wages
fixed by this act shall be paid out OF the
treasury of the State, but all salaries,
compensation and wages shall be paid
oat of the receipts of the State ware
house.


If this amendment be adopted and the
bill pass in that shape why the necessity
for calling it State warehouse g? 1t
seems to us with what light we have on
the question, that the amendment is sim
ply intended TO conceal the real effect of
the bill in order to betray unsu'pccting
members into voting for it. There are
| those who say that while they can see no
necessity for the inspection of tobacco IN
this State, yet if it can be done without
any expense to the State attending 1t,
they are willing to support the measure
for the local benefit it may prove 20 Par
kersburg and Huntington. This amend
ment is intended to catch just such per-
.ons and bring them INTO support of the
bill. The bill requires the Governor to
rent suitable buildings in each Of the
cite. OF Psrkersburg and Huntington
and have them fitted up for the desired
purposes. He then appoints Superln-
tendent, with salary of $1,000 per
annum, an inspector, with a salary OF
$500, first clerk 5000, second clerk s4OO,
screwmen 81 per day, and laborers at
! 81 so per day, are to be selected for each
warehouse. Avery short calculation will
make sum not much less than $4,000
annually to support these warehouses,
and yet all charges are to be paid "out of
. the receipts Of the State warehouse
/ Does any one for moment believe that
the receipts from inspection of to-
/ bsCCo will a. any time amount
to $4,000 annually? We be
| hcve that we are strictly within the
/ bounds of truth when we sny that there
will not be $4,000 worth of tobacco in
/ spectcd in any one year. 50 that If the
State got all the tobacco that would be
brought in for inspection it would hardly
pay the expenses attending tho work.
There i. comparatively very little to-
hacco raised in West Virginia and when
We remember that good portion OF
/ what is raised is shipped east
to Richmond and Baltimore, We ut
once see the utter fu.ihty OF estab-
/ fishing State warehouses on our western
/ borders. lesl hut it will cost the State
nothing, say the advocates of the meas
ure, and why not lot US make the expert
ment? We reply that it will cost the
| State something, and a good deal at that
/ By tho next session of the Legislature.
there will be- a strong lobby asking for
an appropriation, with the argument
that the Legislature has already cstab-
lished these warehouses tho receipts
don't begin to pay the expenses, and 1t is
the duty of the State to foster and build
up what she has undertaken. And then,


by systematic log rolling or some
other similar process, appropria-
tions will be obtained from year.
to year. And for what? This question
is most easily answered now West
Virginia is not a tobacco growing State,
and We do not know why it should ever
be. There is nothing which eIhausts
lands so rapidly as tobacco. and certainly
our hills and valleys are better adapted