North Carolina Newspapers

T 1 E VOLUME 17 NO. 101 SUBSCRIPTION $1.00 A YEAR. WILSON, N. C, FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 1911. WILSON MBB GOV ITCH MESS Wants Near Beer Abolished Tax Assessments Increased and Increased Appropriations For Health Department, Schools, Soldiers and Charity MUST PRACTICE ECONOMY AGE i TODAY AFTMEAM RAILROADS FILE BRIE NEWS ITEMS OF I GENERAL INTEREST SHIP TRUST FS To the Honorable The General Assem bly of North Carolina: During two years I have given at tention to the State's business, and numerous matters of legislation have occurred to me concerning which 1 herein make recommendations, many of -which I shall not discuss, as their reasons are apparent. Not only obe dience to the Constitution but a sense of duty to the people's interest prompt . me to mention them. A General Assembly representing a people whose progressive spirit is aroused, whose prosperity is bounding upward, whose hopes and- attention are centered here, having splendid op portunity to render public services commensurate with the honor and re sponsibility upon It, will be glad to " give such wise and patriotic consid eration to these subjects-as the public welfare demands. The people have approved the- prin ciples and policies of the party which lias been dominant in the State for the past ten years, and that party in con trol of all branches of the State gov ernment is charged with the great re sponsibility of legislating in the inter est of the people and promotng their welfare so far as local government can do so. In the last two years there feas been much progress in the State. . The-geportst-of""thg - v a rl uttiTgpfficaaig, one hand that they may plunder with the other. Prohibition. Prohibition has now been in force throughout the State for two years. This fs a short period with which to measure the effects of a reform move ment. We have done little more than planted the seed whose full fruitage will be- gathered by coming genera tions. And yet already the results fully justify its adoption. There- has been, as appears from the Attorney General's report, based upon Superior court statistics, a marked diminution in crime, even in the crime of violat ing the prohibition law. Business has experienced increased rather than di minished prosperity. Morality, indus try and frugality have increased, and politics and government have been to a great extent relieved of one of their most corrupting influences. The greatest hindrance to its en forcement, except the interstate com merce clause of the Federal Constitu tion, is probably the licensing of per sons to sell near beer, and similar cure for these responsible positions the be-;t men possible, men of integri ty, judgment and courage. Inequali ties in valuation are less defensible than inadequte valuations. It is be lieved that with the property of the State, real and personal, individual and corporate, assessed at its true. value the revenues of the State will be amply sufficient to pay all proper expenses of - an. economic administra tion and interest on the public debt and the State's work in all branches will go forward with increasing ra pidity. I commend to your careful consideration the reports and recom mondatifins nf the State Tax Com mission, and the State Treasurer. There" is some complaint that cot ton mills and other industrial corpo rations pay their taxes directly and the shareholders pay no taxes on their shares, while the banks pay tax es only on their real estate, leaving the shareholders to pay the taxes on all other bank values, the bank, however, paying to the State the State taxes assessed against the shareholders. I deem it not inappro priate to call attention to the rea son which controlled former legisla- 1 turos in establishing and maintaining difference. The State can not tax National bank capital, but the JUTTFRk RF IIW TAN F HAP- inill'llU um imi uniKnwf PENING THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY GOVERNMENT CHARGES SEVERAL URGE INCREASE OF RATES JUSTI LINES HAVING ENTERED !L- FIED ON ACCOUNT OF GREAT- LEGAL CONTRACT ER EXPENSES Augusta, Maine, Jan. 5. Charles F. Johnson, of Waterviile, was nominat or for ih TTnited States Senate to OFFICERS ARE INDICTED WANT RATES TO STAND New York, Jan. 5 The Federal succeed Senator Eugene Hale at the J government brought suit yesterday in tne unitea states circuit ouu under the Sherman anti-trust law against thirteen of the principal trans- Atlantic carriers, which are estimat ed to control ninety per cent of the steerage traffic, worth to them $35, OOO.UOO a year. Twelve officers of the defendant companies, all residents in America, are named as co-defendants. These thirteen companies, the gov- Democratic legislative cause last nieht The nomination was made on the first ballot. Columbus, Ga., Jan. 5. A tempera ture of fourteen degrees was recorded here today, the coldest in twenty years. The Chattahoochie river was so high that several cotton mills were path Tailor! to shut down. There was a light snow. Auburn, Wash., Jan. 5. Two mask ed highwaymen entered the mail car on an east bound North Coast Limited train of the' Northern Pacific last night as the train was leaving the King street station, Seattle, shot and severely .wounded Mail Clerk Harry O. Clark and robbed the mails. Washington, D. C, Jan. 5. Freight rate construction as a whole, and not with relation to any particular article of transportaion whether it be a com modity or be embodied in a class, is the principal issue involved in the in vestigation now being conducted by the Interstate Commerce Commission. This is the contention of the counsel for the railway lines in special classi fication, filed with the Commission yesterday. The brief points out that ernment charges, entered into an 11-1 It is claimed the carriers have not beverages. Evily disposed persons j . ... t 11110 use such license as a cloaK to aiu them in violating the prohibition law; i Pederal law permits real estate owned and they quite frequently obtain a Federal license to sell intoxicating liquors. ; I; recommend that the near beer saloons be prohibited. In case and from the various public institu' tions, which are transmitted to you and which I will not recount, but which will receive your consideration, show development, and service with out a parallel in our history. The basic occupation, agriculture, bas "been prosperous beyond any point heretofore . reached by our people. Some of our manufacturing industries have not had their accustomed pros perity since the panic of 1907, but we have reason to hope that they will soon again have their former profita ble conditions. As detailed in- the treasurer's re port we refunded the State bonds which feH due on July 1, 1910. A perusal of the report will show that too much credit cannot be given to 'our bankers and other business men in coming to; our relief when the fail ure to dispose of ;the authorized is ; sue of bonds in the money centers after two advertisements for bids In this State and elsewhere rendered - the situation critical. In 19G9 the Legislature of Rhode Island, in accordance with Governor Pothier's j wishes, directed the return to the donors of $500,000 of the spe ' dal, tax bonds" which the committee holding large sums of such bonds "had given , to that State for the purpose of suing, this State, under a low re Quiring the Governor to accept all gifts. Similar bonds were offered the of Nevada under a similar --r . statute, but- Governor Dickerson, as - did the Governors of Michigan and New York, declined to accept them, and a mandamus proceeding to com pel his acceptance thereof is pending inline Supreme ' Court of Nevada. It may be improper to commend the patriotic spirit and high sense of pro priety with which : these Governors have -acted, as noble conduct on their part should be assumed as a matter of course, but I deem it proper to state the above facts for your Infor mation as jthey show the diligence " ith which the holders of the frau dulent special 'tax bonds of 1868-'9 " are ceeking to harass us, their only purpose in tendering these repudiated ' ' bonds to our ' sister States being to ' , bare these States 7 sue North Caro- Una, hoping thereby to . blackmail -ns ; into a compromise of those still re tained by the donors, who give with by national banks to be taxed and also permits a State to tax the shares in a national bank held by any per son In the -same manner and at the legal contract February 5, 1908, at London, England, by which they con stituted themselves the Atlantic Con ference, with power to apportion all traffic pro rata, impose heavy fines discharged the burden of proof, re quired by the law "because they have failed to establish an affirmative proof the reasonableness of the proposed increase on each specific article of members of the conference for the many thousand articles, embraced you permit the; continuance . of near t aa- shafgs ot State banks beer license then you should provide that the holding of Federal license to sell intoxicants shall forfeit the near beer license. Appropriations. The Legislature two years ago ap propriated over $300,000.00 more than our revenues. I most urgently re quest that you practice economy in appropriations and that you do not appropriate more money than the rea-1 are taxed. Siriccr a State can not ta the capital stock of a national bank but can only -tax the shares in the hands of the owner, and that, .too ir o a sharps in State banks are U111J taxed, our legislatures were compell ed to tax the shares in the banks of shareholders of State banks in order 'to reach the investments in national banks. As banks are' in the towns and cities and as the average tax rate ti!K ' exceed 2 per r. , .1 ss nnablv certain amount or revenue m tne towns aim umea v which you may provide, without also j cent, it is manifest that if the State providing for securing the necessary 'unds. I aKo urgently recommeuu .hat the State Treasurer be authoriz ed upon approval of the Governor and his Council to borrow whatever money is sufficient to cover the differ ence between the amount appropriat ed and the revenue . received by the Treasurer for any fiscal year. A fail ure to have such authority has some time embarrassed the Treasury and may some time necessitate a special session of the General Assembly to prevent the impairment of tne State's credit. -Revenue and Taxation. The State needs more revenue. It is doing magnificent work in her va rious efforts to relieve misfortune, educate the youth, and uplift the people. The demands upon her treas ury for worthy purposes are con stantly increasing, with our increas ing population and its increasing ac tivity and progress. - The Health De partment the Good" Roads and Drain age movement, the old soldiers, the schools and .the charitable institu tions, all require more funds to ren der proper service to keep pace with pressing, legitimate public demands upon them. The fundamental cause of the cramped conditions is found in my judgment in the under valuation of the taxable; property of the State. I doubt not that the; taxable property of the State1 real, personal and cor porate is really worth,, and Would bring at fair sale, over $1,000,000,000, yet the taxable values are but $600, 000,000.00 - The assessment ,at Its true' value of all-property is lodged In the hands of the State Tax Com mission and the local assessors . and listers. Assessors for real estate "will this year, 'under our quadrennial as sessment law, be selected by tv' county commissioners, who should se- vTiUvniike.fi.. Wis.. Jan. 5. A match was closed ' yesterday betw een "Packey" McFarland, of Chicago, and Freddy Welch; of Cardiff, Wales, lightweights, for a 20-round boxing contest in England February 9th, the boys to weigh 133 pounds at 2 o'clock on the day of the contest, according to announcement made by H. C. Messier, American representative .for, Hugh-'D. Mcintosh. ,- . ir .... In the official classification, the rate on which will be advanced if the ad vance In class becomes effective." This, it is submitted, "is a totally erroneous view of the matter. If the companies have demonstrated, as we believe they have, that any advance were to tax the. capital stock of a State bank-when it cannot so tax the capital stock of a national bank, every State bank that could do so would at the earliest possible moment be transformed into a national bank, as State banks could not be expected to compete with banks having so great an advantage over them in capital stock exemption. The same result would follow if the State' should retain its present system of taxing the bank shareholders, which it can retain as to both State jmd national banks, and then also tax the capital stock of a State bank. It can not so tax the capital stock of a national bank. This would be such manifest, though unavoidable dis crimination that the public conscience would revolt and a State, bank could escape it only by surrendering its charter and becoming a national bank, and - the State would thereby lose its expected Increase in revenue. These are the practical, inevitable results which would follow the sys tem of doubly taxing the capital in vested in banks, that is of .taxing the corporation on its capital and also taxing the shares in the hands of In dividuals. ; . 7 Health. .: The health of the people in essen tial to progress. Disease not; only , destroys- the usefulness and consumes Charleston, W. Va.f Jan. 5. The death of Senator Elkins adds to the political complications in West Vir ginia.'. The Democratic Legislature which already was charged with the duty of electing a successor to Sena tor Nathan B. Scott, Republican, and which for the first time in years has a large Democratic majority, is now confronted with two Senatorships. Washington, D. C, Jan. 5. Officials of the American Naval Stores Com pany have filed a petition in the Su preme Court for a review of their con viction in the Federal Circuit Court of Georgia of violating the Sherman anti trust law. - - . on violation of any of the articles of the agreement and wage competition against all lines outside the confer ence. As 'a result, it is alleged, the Russian volunteer fleet, plying be tween New York and Libau, was driv en oat of business and the , Russian- American line was forced to mane i m tne ciass raies is w"""1 ouu terms with tlie conference and enter that the" advance proposed to be Its membership. - - made therein, are reasonable, then It Full was brought by Henry A. Wise . necessarily results that the reason- Pnitea States District Attorney, act-1 ableness of tne advance,.- as appnea- ng under , instructions, from United ble Ut all articles embraced in the States -Attorney-General Wickersham. classed, Tias been-thereby estabiisnea. n its the., government pray? the court to "enjoin the defendant : from further agreeing, comhining. rcnspiiing to injure or ae- Raleigh, N. C., Jan. 5. Information comes that C. B. Plyler, now in jail in TTnlnn nonntv. sentenced to be electrocuted on January 20th, is guil ty of the murder of his brother-in law, Carter Parks, has confessed and has implicated others in the crime He appealed, lost his case, and his at torneys are asking a commutation to life imprisonment. The contention is made that if the freight chargesTfor the transportation of any particular article can be de monstrated to be too high, that does stroy the business or any person or nor anect me wuuic tiaso, uul ccn oration engaged in the busines means that the classification of tnai of carrying steerage passengers be article ought to be changed. tween points in the United States and It is urged that, in the view or tne Europe' Further that each, every shipping public the rates, prior to re- snd Pli of the defendant steamship cent advances in the wage scales. lines be forbidden either to enter or were not too high. Some believed clear any of their vessels at or from they were too low. Therefore, in tne the port of New York or any other view of counsel for the carriers, the - . 1 ... MXAnk 4tnn dyr port of entry in the United States or consiaeraDie increase m irei,'uu6 any of its possessions, so long as penses of the roads furnishes on its they shall continue to operate under face justification for the proposed ad-. the ifnresaid alleged uniawiui com- vance in rates. bination or conspiracy. ' The defendant companies are: Al lan Steamship Company, Internation al Mercantile Marine Company, Inter- It is maintained that the present returns to investors in railroad se curities are by no means excessive, and that in order to maintain a prop- national Navigation Company, Anchor er credit, it is necessary for the lines Line, Canadian Pacific Railway Com- to receive such an operating Income pany, Cunard Steamship Company, as shall enable them to form a re British and North Atlantic Steam Na- spectablc surplus. irWinn Comnanv. Hamburg-American Other briefs for maiviauai lines aiau Line. 7 Holland-American Line, The have been filed with the Commission Northern German Lloyd Company, All of them, in general, take the same The Red Star Line, WThite Star Line, ground as that assumed in the general Russian East Asiatic Steamship Com- brief of the carriers. pany. New Republic of Portugal Tottering Madrid, Jan. 5. The Portuguese remiblic the youngest on earth is believed to be tottering to its fall.. An official statement given out in Lisbon-and telegraphed to the vari ous capitals of Europe shows that the government heads 'are trying to ap pease, the people: ' " -' One move by the government is the abolition of Octroi taxes upon certain foodstuffs, directly affecting the poor er classes.. -- - ."- - : , - Taxes ;upon olive oil and meat have been rescinded, taking $525,00 an nual revenue away-from the govern ment, but cheapening prices of those staples.' ; --. . - - . the substance of its victims, but takes At the same time it is reported that the time and taxes the happiness or the Republican , officeholders are- cam- on his family, and diminishes the energy ' piling , a bill . to .increase taxes devoted, to personal and public wel-, property of royalists. fare. The public good depends In large measure npon ' the - masses, many of -horn -are not so well in formed as to recognize the need of a physician nor able to secure hi ser vices and: yet we are advised by those learned In"" such" matters that (Continued oh Page Four: " I TBE WMTBER r Washington, D. a,' Jan. 5-Fo; North Carolina: -Fair and continue cold tonight; Friday fair, not so cold -light to moderate variable winds. Gov. Hooper May Not Be Seated. Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 5. Regular Democrats yesterday started a plan to prevent the seating as Governor of B, W. Hooper, Republican, who was elected last fall by a fusion of Re publicamj and independent - Demo crats. The scheme is for regular Demo crats who were elected to the Legis lature to refuse to - be sworn - in as members. They did refuse yesterday. -"Unless the "regular" members are seated, Governor-elect Hooper cannot be sworn in. Last night an agreement to adjourn the Legislature until summer was signed by "regular" Senators, and many rumors that all regular mem bers rof the Assembly "would leave for home were heard. : Conferences "were called last night and these" may bring the "regular" Into the "Legislature The "regulars" assert that- the fir .onists failed to keep faith as to -certain promisef made by the'fusionists to the regu lars.' - - COTTON The New York cotton market open ed a few points lower. January, 14.60; March, -14.85; May, 15.00; July, 15.01; October, 13.34; December, 13.20. At" twelve o'clock the market was slightly higher. January. 14.60; March, 14.87; May; 15.03;. -July, 15.04; October, 13.41. -.''.. The market closed" from 9 to 1 points higher Jan. 14.73, March 14.9 J, May 15.12, July 15.13. ' ' Spots in Wilson 14 1-2 to 14 5-8. . Receipts in Wilson: 10 bales. Receipts of cotton at 'the ports yes terday, 65,895 bales against 71,148 last week and 30,171 last year; for the week, 360,000 bales against' 302,410 last week and 165,696 last year. Yes terday's receipt sat New Orleans, 17. 461 hales against '8.448 last year, and at Houston 2,570 hales against 4,976 last year. ' ' Mr- M. E. Allred left today for Nor folk. . c Miss Mena Ford came in today from Fayetteville. r