THE EOBESONIAN, LUMBERTON, NORTH CAROLINA. MONDAY, MARCH 1, 1920-
PAGE EIGHT
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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
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;.:.:',!;,v
SEABOARD DEVELOPMENT
AGENT FOR THIS SECTION
J
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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
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uy