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license is in lieu of all other taxes, and
amounted in 1884 to railroads, $754,269.44;
telegraph $4,508.85; telephone $1,169.26;
insurance, $64,904 75; or a total of
$824,912 30. Vermont, which pays nearly
its entire expenses out of the special
taxes, has a law somewhat similar to
that of Wisconsin. The number however,
is steadily increasing. As the advantages
of the new plan are brought
more clearly before the notice of legislators
we may expect a revolution in
State taxation. So great has been the
progress in the past ten years that it
would not be astonishing to see at the
end of the next decade fully one-half of
the States levying merely a nominal tax
or none at all. Special privileged classes
will probably bear the burden of State
taxation in the future. The tariff will
furnish the national revenue, and the
main tax on real and personal property
will be for the necessities of county and
municipal government. The special
taxes must not be oppressive The rights
of the special classes, as well as of other
tax payers, must be protected. If cooperation
between States could be assured,
so that uniform and equitable
rates might be established, great benefit
would be derived by all property-owners.

The Local Option Question.

A COMMITTEE OF NINETEEN REPRESENTATIVE
CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTY
VISIT ANNAPOLIS IN OPPOSITION
TO A RESUBMISSION OF THE QUESTION
AND PRESENT A PETITION TO THE
LEGISLATURE CONTAINING 3.536
SIGNATURES.

On Thursday of last week a Local Option
committee, composed of leading
citizens from the several election districts
of Montgomery county, Md.,
went to Annapolis for the purpose of
presenting to the Delegates from the
county a mammoth counter petition to
that placed in the hands of the delegation
by the opponents of Local Option.
The following-named gentlemen constituted
the committee: Hon. A. B. Davis,
chairman; Dr. J. L. Lodge, Messrs. D.
H. Bouic, Vice President State Temperance
Alliance; Frank Higgins, Vice-President
Prohibition Party; Benj. H. Miller,
Vice President Temperance League; E.
B. Prettyman, Somerset O. Jones, John
T. DeSellum, N. J. Wagner, George
Rice, Benj. D. Palmer, Alfred Ray,
John W. Hodges, Wright Curtis, Causin
Condiet, John C. Wilson, J. C. Dowell,
J. W. D. Moore, J. L. Burns and Philemon
M. Smith. The petition presented

by the committee contains nearly four
thousand names of leading and respectable
citizens and residents of the county,
and represents a large portion of the
property-owners and taxpayers, and at
least one-half of all the voters in the
county.
At Annapolis the committee was received
by Representatives Laird and
Crawford, of the Montgomery delegation,
the other member, Hon. A. L.
Graeves, being absent on a bridal tour.
The correspondent of the Washington
Star says: "The petition of the opponents
of local option, praying for a resubmission
of the question to the people,
has been placed in the hands of the
Senator from Montgomery county, and
although the number of signatures it
contains has not been made public, it is
said, upon good authority, to contain
less than a thousand names, and presumably
few of these are property owners.
The sentiment in favor of local option
has proven to be stronger than was
anticipated by some of the most sanguine
and ardent supporters of the present
system, and the local option petition
gives evidence of the high favor in
which the law is held by an overwhelming
majority of the better class
of citizens. One need be but partially
informed to know that the present prosperous
state of the county is due to the
effects of local option. Only a few years
ago a grog-shop might be found at every
cross-road and one or more in every
hamlet, village and town in the county.
Labor was completely demoralized, and
it was with difficulty that the farmers
could procure trusty men to assist them
upon the farm; and none so find
sober, reliable men to carry their produce
to market, on account of the temptation
by the way. The county jail at
Rockville was also constantly occupied,
and the courts and lawyers were kept
busy. Now a new order of things exists.
Beautiful homes have sprung up
where once was desolation and want;
the county jail is often closed for a
month or more at a time, and when a
poor criminal does enter its doors he's
"awfully lonesome." The criminal
docket is a mere shadow of its former self.
Furthermore, labor is more steady and
reliable, and, as a consequence, is better
paid, and the workingmen are beginning
to procure for themselves and their
families comfortable homes. Still fur-