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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



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A TAX ON FEMALE DOGS. 



Holding sheep as a necessary of life to the 

 Farmer, and viewing dogs as the greatest ene- 

 mies the sheep has to contend against — worse 

 than foxes or wolves — it is not surprising that 

 we should anxiously desire the death of at least 

 nine out of every ten dogs in Virginia. We 

 view nearly the whole canine race as a pest, 

 only endurable because we have grown up 

 under it ; and we subscribe fully to the opinion 

 of a deceased friend of ours, one of the worth- 



iest of men and best of farmers, " that if there 

 was not a dog in Virginia, and on some fine 

 morning we should wake up and find them es- 

 tablished among us in their present numbers, 

 that the whole community would incontinently 

 go mad." 



It is said, with what truth we cannot pro- 

 nounce, that a law for taxing dogs can never 

 pass in the Virginia Legislature ; that two many 

 voters who own nothing but a dog would resent 

 such a tax as an infringement of their imme- 

 morial rights ; and that rival candidates would 

 use so potent a besom to sweep the offending 

 Solon from his place. We shall not bring so 

 degrading a charge against those whom the 

 theory of our government supposes elected pri- 

 marily, for their " virtue and intelligence," and 

 therefore superior to the sordid notions which 

 the charge implies. Nor shall we presume that 

 any election in Virginia can be influenced by a 

 question about dogs. But to satisfy those who 

 believe, as many do, that such is the impediment 

 to a necessary law, we shall offer a plan which 

 will, if adopted, accomplish the purpose of those 

 who side with us on the dog question, and can- 

 not involve, very seriously, the popularity of 

 the " ayes 7 ' who shall pass the law. 



It is simply a proposition to tax every bitch 

 in the State. The number of them is not large 

 and yet they are the source of the evil. If by 

 putting them under the ban we can stop the 

 breed, the whole object will have been obtained 

 in reasonable time without doing violence to the 

 feelings of that large and respectable class called 

 "many voters." 



We are perfectly serious, though the proposi- 

 tion may not appear so. We believe that if pe- 

 titions, properly signed, were sent to the Assem- 

 bly, that we might stand a good chance to lay 

 the axe to the root of an evil much more serious 

 than it is thought to be, by those who have 

 never suffered under it, or have never thought 

 of it. 



As some one must lead in the matter, at least 

 so far as to show how it ought to be undertaken, 

 we offer the following form of petition, which, 

 with such alteration as he may choose, any one 

 may copy and circulate for signature. 



To the Honourable, the General Assembly of 

 Virginia. 



The undersigned, farmers of the county of 

 , respectfully represent, that the num- 



