Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1829-12-28
VIRGINIA CON ZION.
WEDNESDAY. Nov. IL.

Before we proceed 10 mote particular con
sid ration OF this question, u may bs well q
review the statements which have been submit
ted TO us, deduced from the tables hToshcd h,
the Audltor. aud To MAKE such corrections a.
the, may be tonnd 10 r,quue
| The tables OF popnl, ION shew us, that iher,
are probably IN the commonwealth at tn, time
ahout 6S2,ooO "hlie persons Il about ais ON
slaves thus distributed amongs, The diil zen
districts ;--ln the Isl o, western district, abou
10000 whites, aud l., 900 slaves, mo ? thar
10 " htes Tor eaoh sta, la the ID ~ Valley
district about l3s,0UO whites an Sal, OOt
slaves, ln,is more iaan whites 20 "A slny IN
the Sd ur middle district abnul 1877 900 whites
AM 22l 0ou saves he slaves exceeded the
hire b, ABOUT $1,000, nearly one eighth oi
the white popuiatun: and IN the 4h 81 eastern
IIstriei, a.or 100 % D whites, and 10000
slaves--the saye 9 ere, also exceeding the
" hiies about lo,bUu, about one sixteenth of the
white population. Thus II appears hat lie
Iagaregdt OF sla> e. m the east at the Blue
kidge is about 691, 900, while the ngg' ega'e on
the ives; ~ about 6O,5UO early b BY while
TIE aggregate Of Ante popula lln o. the east
! of the mountnin IS about 362 300 aud that on
he W At 3l9oO0-,he dliic,e nce onl, about
1876 It,sihereiore true as 10 stated on too
other SIDE, that The slave population is unequal
" distributed AT this tiuie ana Is nj present rs
senuaIly an eastern lhterest.
From the tables oil taxation, the gentleman
| from Chesterfield deduced, that The people II
| w. first district pnid OF tie whole tax on aud
| and personal property, an average per cdpin,
| of - cents 3 mis-; nnd the people o. tire 2d
| district n ccnts d mills WIN. tie people Of
! the 3d ,tricl paid u cents mills and those
| Of tue An 63 CO is mi ls--makmg an average
! for the peupl, On hr west OF the Blue Ridge Of
| 81 cents mills aud Tor the people on h east
| Of 6S cents mills. lie selec,ee individual
| members IN the different Districts peiuee
| whica there was a sui more striking inequality,
/ aud showed that the aNtfage contribution of
The slave tax per- capitd. Ia the several Districts
vas the mns uar gu oi all
| Thai then are qntlties III the con'ribu
tnns of eyenues tionI the Il II rent districts Of
| the State, owiog ~ the unequal distribution oi
| wealth, no one hou1ts II L. er,ainly 10, IN
our country, rs II IS IA i coun r'es, aoi as u
must ,e, so long as iaaes a,r luI up a proper
aud not on polls 'oog as the abiiI'y 10 Ply
shall ue regarded as urui 'iag any criel ION oi
| the amount Of contribution. But the Statements
which hHv, Jcen rAhIbned 10 lou NJ cNIcnia-
Al To d" &C, iye-l They make The imp essipu nat
lIhe several snms stated shew the aVe'ag" per
cnpiia actually assessed On he taK-jayipg IN
haDdau,s oil ile several dIstricts-lhls however
dis rlbulue the whole amount OF taxes ASSESSED
IN O oh disi,icr on the whole number oi irer
person in the dlsTici, ~ whom by land OF tax
could b. asse,s d wbether black OF Whit, male
OF female, infant OF adult | have made tn es'
| innate ftIe average per capita, actually Az
sessed, on III, tx-payng mhablianis OF The
| several disiricts-and the r's1li IL materially
differ ats ewing M meg llr, II ,s.Tue, as
nusi have ten anticipated, nut inequalities less
| glaring, and less calcuats4 - excite alarm, or
| ~ countenance The extravagant alarm for pow
| - which has 9ecn founded upon lhem
| Tue co II nlttse will remark, ihn have made
| this estimate from tn Auditors tables Of thu
taxes assessed for The year 1872, aud his lists
. of per sons charged with taxes On land OF other
property, IN he several counits and oorIsJra
| tons ~ the commonwealth. There will he v
| sligh iDaccuiacy in the estimate of the land
| tax resulting from the circumstance tina, this
| list excludes all those charged with "A lax n
! parcels of land III the country less than % n
| cIes But THIS inaccuracy cannot materially
vary the result
| Calculating upon these data. fnd the aver.
age tan per cdpltd as follows In list district,
| lnud tax 81 cen ). ~ on other property OF
ceuis--tolni 81 80 IN The I'd lislr'c', lanl AK
! 80 30, AK On other property ~ u, 'hibI So
| ~ in the 81 dsulc, land tax ~ 81, tax u
other property 81 ID, total "a 3o. we thus
see that the aysrage land tax Of the Valley dis.
trci is equal to the average and tax of tho
middl" district within one cent, aud 10 superior
| 10 tie land TAX Of the eastern district % cenis--
! that IT'S average total tax, is les thar The aver
age total of the middle district. tax 81 32-lhai
| is about % per cent. and less than the average
| total of ihe eastern district by VI % that "
| about % per cent.--Bm the taxes on slaves
have been reduced cents for The present year
and this reduction would cease, the average Of
| the several districts to stand thus--lst IIsrIci
IgI IL Of the india ID district, and within
81 SO I'd district So 81 Sd district 81 AZ
4lb district "a 10 bringing the Valley district
wi hiD 80 cents OF the eastern 1t must b. tar
Their remarked, tina N these estimates, tive
towns of Richmond, Petersburg and fredericks-
/ burg have been lnClud within the tide water
district-Now, although these towns are sltua-
| ted a, The head Of iide.waier, they do not, Tor
any OF the purposes oil this argument, belong TO
! the Underwater district, Ihelr sympatnirs, Their
| interests are with The country that lies above
them, winch founded them, supplies their ifhdo
and FURNISHES their wealth. Withdraw them
! from that district. and you diminish very ma.
| teraity It's average tax.-Webaye not the means
| of estimating the taxes paid ~ Fredericksburg
our tables containing no separate return ioI that
| town-Sublrarling Richmond aud Petersburg
Only, Tor Whlch We ha'b sePdihe 'e'o'"o, anu
thea the average ofthe eastern district will he,
Of land 81 81, OF tax on other property " i2,
total So 90 thus reducing us average iand
tax DO cents below that Of the Valley, and leav-
ing It's total average only 81 cents above H.
In all these estimates IL will be observed that
the contributions Of the trans Allegheny dIsfrIci
are very much below par.-it IS easy 10 under
stand why the average Tux on personal pro-
perty, is much lower there, thanin the other
districts, because olthe small number oil US
slayes,-but why the average land tax should
be SO, is an enquiry, the answer to which does
not lie ON the surface 1t is probably TO be
foun IN two considerations very large
quantities OF land, ia difieren, part. OF that DIS
irict, On which large arrears OF taxes are duo,
have been vested in The literary fund, by the
operations of the tax law OF 1914, and are now
stricken from tho tax books, because The lands
belonging 10 that fund pay 40 taxes second
I l.. a..