THE EOBESONIAN, LUMBERTON, NORTH CAROLINA. MONDAY, MARCH 1, 1920- PAGE EIGHT . 1 'I 'V i THE REVALUATION ACT It is jn Harmony W ith the Rules Sug , Rented by thi State Farmers' Union. MOXY WITH THE RULES SIT. GESTED BY THE STATE FARM ERS' UNION. (BY TvW. B1CKETT, Governor.) At a recent meeting: in Greensboro the State Farmers" Union passed the folloVincr resolution: "Wo ask thp Legislature to amend the Revaluation Act and that all property be assessed according to its ability to produce an income, ai its nosition in give it a value." With interpretations that will make instant anneal to every thought fal man. this is precisely what the Revaluation Act does. It taxes all property according to its fair mar ket value. Two things determine market value profit and pleasure. When a man parts with his hard- earned cash for a piece of property he does it because of the profit or the pleasure he expects to get in return. The market value of anv piece of property, real or personal, is fixed by the profit it is already yielding, or in the opinion of the public can be made to yield, or by the pleasure the ownership of the property will af ford. Below I give snme illustrations of how these rules of value work, for illustrations are always better than arguments: 1. A- invests $10,000 in Ford pas senger cars and trucks and goes into the business of carrying goods and passengers for hire. He makes $2,000 a year net on his investment. B. pays $10,000 for a silver-mounted, velvet upholstered Pierce-Arrow tour ing car. He pays out his $10,000 for the pleasure he expects to get out of the car. He never dreams of making any money out of it, but, on the oth- .-a if .t Mm t9 000 a vear to is a real plement of value. run the car and keep it in good re- Again, when there is no consider pair Rhruld the Fords be taxed at ation of pleasure and satisfaction, and th(ir fair market value because they we consider incomes only, the market pay 20 per cent on the investment, and vasue is and of right ought to txyje th Pierre-Arrow be exempt from termined, not by what the property is taxation because it involves a loss of actually producing, but by the judg 0 per cent on the investment? nient of the public as to what it can A builds ten houses for rent at: be made to produce, and this is what a total cost of $50,000., actually does determine market value. He rents the houses for, Illustrations: $500 each and they yield him 10 peri 1- In a certain city in this State cent on his investment B. builds ai a man owned a large block of prop yl) 000 residence. It pays no income ertv that under the old law was on and' never could bo rented to opay any 1 the tax books at $25,000- It did not . reasonable income on the investment, yield him a fair income on that value for people who are able to pay $5,000 and in its present condition never a vear for a house to live in live in! could be made to yield an income on their own homes. Should the ten rent-, $25,000, but the man was offered a ed houses be taxed for what they are! certified check for $375,000 for this fairly worth on the market and the I property, and refused to take it.. En-, r,nnon mansion hp tax free because i lerprising citizens jiierea mis nion- sissippi, was voted $5,000 by the near Columbia, Miss. On the day of After serving: 2 years Purvis was House of the Legislature of that the execution the noose slipped and c,eared of the crime by the deatn-Dea State Thursday because of what he he fell to the ground unhurt. The confession of on,, Joe Beard, who has suffered at the hands of the law. hanging was postponed and the sen-' claimed that the murder was com- llp was sentenced 26 years ago to tence commuted to life imprisonment, j mitted by another man. it never can pay an income : ft. Ther is a hunting1 club in North Carolina that owns 17,000) acres of land. It yields no income.! On the other hand, it costs the mem bers of that club several thousand land has a fair market value based dol rs a vear to Keep h up. on two things: (1st) what some other '. : ...;n:.. t fnr it I oiai jcroup 01 mon ift wining w t,ay " as a hunting club, (2nd) what men believe could be made out of it as a farming proposition. The lands sur rounding the club lands are farming lands, and have a market value de termied by what men believe they can be made to produce. Should the farm lands be taxed at their market value, and the hunting club lands be exempt because they yield no in come ? 4 A man in the city of Raleifrh bought a house and lot. In the rear of the lot purchased was a vacant lot. The man bought this lot because he did not want anybody to live behind him. He paid $2,000 for it. It never will yield an income, but should the vacant lot be tax free on this ac count ? I think these illustrations will serve to show that it would never do to base tax values solely on what in come property either does or can be made to produce. The amount of pleasure and satisfaction that the ownership of the property will afford Spring Suite and Dresses Our first show of anything like a line. Twenty-five suits came in Tuesday and from now on will have them coming in all along. The suits for this season are prettier than for a long time, mostly in navy and black, tricotin and serges S37.50 to $75.00. . ', - km . DRESSES 50 to 75 in the lot, tricotines, serges, taffetas, satin, plain and printed georgette. They are sim ply wonderful, and the prices will surprise you. Look at twenty to twenty five dresses, no two ake in taffetas, jerseys, plain and printed georgettes at $25.00 and $27.50. At the present conditions, we cannot understand how these dresses can be sold at the above prices. ey because tney Deiievea tney could take the property, build apartment houses and office buildings on it at a cost of more than one million dollars and make it pay a fair dividend on the, investment. Should this property, slay on the tax books at $25,100 or This x . z in a certain county iin tne e there is a man who owns 10,- 000 acres of land. It is on the tax I books under the old law at from eight ' to ten dollars an acre, and it does not pay a reasonable income upon this' tax value. But all over that county there are men wh0 are willing to payj for this land from seventy-five to j one hundred dollars per acre because they believe that they can take the land and make it pay an income on thp investment. The man will not sell. ' Should this land stay on the tax! books at eight or ten lollars an aero,' or should it go on the tax books t from seventy-five to one hundred dol lars an acre, which the farmers in that county are able, and willing, and anxious to pay .' 3. A few years ago in a certain county there were two cotton mills They had practically the same equip ment in buildings and in machinery, worth approximately $200,000- One paid from the beginning a handsome dividend, the other lost money, and final'y went into the hand? of a receiver. Should the buildings and machinery of the successful mill be taxed at $200,000 and the buildings and machinery of the unsuccessful mill be tax free because it paid no income? Is it a wise policy to pen alize success and reward failure? 4. Jones inherited 200 acres of land. On it he eked out an existence. Finally Smith came along and bought from Jones one-half of this land and paid him one hundred dolarg an acre for it. He paid $1,000 in cash and gave his notes payable $1,000 a year for nine years, smith went to work. He rotated his crops, he used improved farm machinery, and in four years on that hundred acres he made enough clear money to take up the $9,000 outstanding against it. Jen kins comes along and, seeing what Smith has done, offers Jones one hun dred dollars an acre for the other half of the land- Jones refuses to take it. Should the farm of Smith be taxed at a hundred dollars peT acre because it pays a hanilsime in-, come on that investment, and the farm of Jones be taxed at ten dollars per acre because it pays no income at all? Let me repeat, that the market value of land is fixed by what it is now produced or by what the public believes it can be made to produce. This increase in the productive power of the lands of North Carolina explains the steady rise in the mar ket value of these lands. In 1909 the crops produced on the lands'-2n North Carolina were worth one hun dred and forty-two millions of dol lars. These values have steadily in creased. In 1915 they amounted to two hundred and two millions; in 1916 to four hundred and seventeen mil lions;, in 1918, five hundred an.l thir ty-seven millions; 1910, six jndred and eighty-three millions. In 1910 North Carolina was the twenty -second State in the Union in the value of its farm products; in 1Q-19 , was the fourth State in the Union. In nine years we passed eighteen Spates ; in the value of the products of our ; farms. It would be a miracle if this i increase in the value of the products was not reflected in the market value ! of the lands- In A Better Line of Dresses We are showing CO-ED and Robins. When it comes to a nicer line of dresses there are no two more popular lines made. They are absolutely exclusive in design, In tricotines, taffetas and geor gettes from $37.50 to $125.00. Mourning Dresses This is a nw line for us and we propose to carry a complete line in every way, from 12 to 15 beau tiful mourning dresses just in. From $27.50 to $42.50. A complete line of mourning georgette and crepe waists from $9.50 to $12.50. mi wiv - -; mm - -4 U- (ft ;.:.:',!;,v SEABOARD DEVELOPMENT AGENT FOR THIS SECTION J ' .- f - L. H. Caldwell Norfolk, Feb. 28. Mr- Claude J. Hayden will on March 1st, 1920, come to the Seaboard Air Line as their development agent, with headquarters at Hamlet, North Carolina, to cover territory along the Seaboard Air Line in North Carolina and Virginia, also South Carolina, north of Columbia. Mr- Hayden was born and reared on a farm in thfl Carolinas, is a grad uate of Clemson college, South Caro lina, also of the University of Idaho. In addition has spent one year at Cor nell university. He received an JJ. S. degreP from the North Carolina col lege of agricultural and mechanic arts. After graduation Mr. Hayden as sisted in agricultural work at the State agricultural college of Missis-1 sippi and North Carolina. At the beginning of the world war, Mr. Hayden was commissioned a sec-: ond lieutenant in the eleventh Unit-' ed States infantry and was overseas with the fifth reerular division for sixteen months having at that time' advanced to a captaincy. The Seaboard Air Line is fortunate in securing the services as develop-, mem ageni oi a man oi as vanea ex perience as Mr. Hayden has had and the territory in the Carolinas ajid Virginia which Mr. Hayden will cov er, will undoubtedly be benefitted through his endeavors along this rail Periodic Bilious, Attacks..' Persons subject to periodic bilious attacks will observe that their appe tite fails them just before an attack. That s,' they do not really crave food but eat because it is meal time. If they will eat only a light meal and no meat, then take two of Chamber lain's Tablets the attack may be avoided. . ,r ,, ;amblers trail harvester and reap harvest from him ym? HARVEST TIMES Ml l hKlbNULV GAME S-V : k UndJHt , i DVTES OF MIGRATION OF WORKERS 2. . l-JJIWW.' I'm ? i AUG I I s j y ""2i The migrant worker has none of the protection of Society. He has no home. No community stands behind him. No organization sees that he gets fair play. He isthe prey of the gamblers, the crooked politician, the police stool pigeon and the yeggman. He is a worker-outcast. The Jnterchurch World Movement is now making a survey of his problems to bring about a closer co-operation of the churches cf America in its solution. 4 Each fall, in the wake of the great harvests, cornea the parasite of the harvester to reap a harvest for himself. He is the gambler. For him the harvester is traditional prey. More than that, the gambler baa the spell to vhieh he yields willingly the apell of the game of ch.mce. And for card and games of chance the harvester has a passion. He does not recognize the gambler as a parasite who feeds upon him, but as ;t hringer of recreation that is tense and fascinating, and has a thrill to it. And that, after a long day in the fields, Is a thing for which to be grateful. But the parasite reaps what the harvester earns. And often, at the end of the harvest, the victim begins, penniless, the quest for the next job, with the parasite still at his heels. The gambler is not alone in exploiting the migrant In borer. That is being shown by a study of the lining conditions of these wandering workers being made by the Interchurch Movement, which aims to present the details of this problem to the Protestant Churches of America, and to bring about the closer co-operation of these churches In its solution. The harvester suffers, the survey is revealing, at the hands of almost every agency that has anything 0ATE6 OF BEGINNING OF WHEAT HARVEST IN AVERAGE YEAR -smn mutKt cmtc uncs winter miui oH unci to do with him. For he is an outcast in the sense that he has no social base. Sometimes the private employment agency, sometimes the railroads and again the local officials and the police take an anti social attitude toward him. For he seems to them little more than a working hobo. An unscrupulous employer will use him as a strike-breaker, with no intention of giving him a permanent place. A ward politician will buy his vote at election time. These are incidents in his migratory career. But the parasite who traiN him through the harvests is constant, and thu Harvest of the parasite is always rich. TTH i We have at last received our big car ot floun If you want something good at prices that are right come in at once and get your supply. Don't wait, come ahead of the other fellow. We sold one car last Saturday and expect this will go just as fast. Compound and Pure Lard Wheat Middlings, Hay Feed Oats mmmi 1 1 uy