Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1859-12-17
REPORT.
To the Senate and House of Representative,
of the State of South Carolina:

bodies, the Annual Report from his depart
mcnt, containing statements and exhibits of
the transactions of bis Office, and OF the Treas
uries of the Upper and Lower Divisions, du-
ring the fiscal year ending the 30th of Sep
tembcr, 1859.
The aggregate of the taxes for both Divis-
ions amounts to five hundred and nnety.onc
thousand eighty-two dollars and five cents.
(S50l, l,OS2.05,) which is an increase of one
hundred and twenty five Thousand five hun
dred and sixty-three dollars and sixty.six
cents, ($l25 5,36366,) as compared with the
aggregate of 1858. The increase is athibu
table to the higher rates of taxation adopted
at the last session of the Legislature.
During the last fiscal year, it became nee
cssary to raise by taxation sixty>three thousand
dollars (SG3 ,OO0) to meet the payment of the
interest on the Bonds and Stocks issued for
the construction of the New State Capitol.
During the present year it will be necessary
to raise eighty-sevcn thousand dollars (SS7,-
OO0) for the same purpose. In anticipation
of the annual Increase of the interest on tho
public debt for several years to come, the
Comptroller deems it proper to suggest to the
Legislature the necessity of a rc-vauation of
the lands of the different Districts and Par
islies of the State, as means of furnishing
sufficient revenue to meet the future drafts
on the Treasury, without a much greater in
crease of the rates Of taxation on other species
OF property The present system of taxation
Is strkingly unequal in it's operation on lands
and negroes. Some of the most valuable and
productive cotton lands of the State are re-
turned as valued at twenty-five cents an acre,
according to the classification of 1915, when,
IN many instances, twenty-five dollars an acre
would be refused for them consequently land
cd estates, worth ten thousand dollars pay
into the Treasury less amount Of taxation
than Is paid for a superannuatcd negro. 1t
appears to have been the general policy of
this State to raise the largest portion of the
annual revenue from the tax on slaves, with
out any discrimination as to ages or Value
The tax on slaves in 1883 amounted to nearly
four times and half as much as the tax ON
all the lands of the State for that year. But
as the increase of the negro population was
ouly 81 ,593 from 1913 to 1853, in consc-
qucncc of the sale and large emigration from
the State, it seems evident that the time has
arrived when, it the State intends to meet her
future obligations and keep mp with the mate
rial progress of her sister States, it is the i'm
pcrative duty of the Legislature to cndcavor
to dcvelopc a source of revenue from the
lands of the State moro uniform and produc-
tive than the one derived from the present
defective system of arbitrary valuation A
system inauguratcdsin 1854, and, with all it's
defects, continued in full operation to the pres
en- time, notwithstanding the great and impor-
tant changes which have trampircd since that
day in the values of all the lands Of the State,
isccrtainly very striking instance of the
conservative character of our State Govern
meut. The whole machincry of the system,
from the use of twenty-fv years, without any,
repairs, has become almost entirely worn out
and worthless as d means of collecting the
necessary revenue from lands. The Land Ia
bles of 1853 clearly demonstrate the ncccssi-
ty of making important changes in the exist
ing system.
The whole number Of acres returned in
1853 amounted to 1858, ,l01 of that num-
Der lO,3Gl ,056 acres were returned rs valued
at twenty cents an acre, and 1 4,520,078 acres
as valued at forty cents an acre, a large por-
tion of which returns covers some of the
most productive cotton lands in the Stdte-
There were only l,0l7 ,405 acres returned as
valued at more than one dollar an acre.
From the above facts, is it not surprising that
the total valuation of all the lands of the
State amounted to only Slo,257,727 In
Barnwell District there were returned ,035,-
975 acres, and of that number l,00G,975
were returned as valued at twenty cents an
acre. In Darlington District, one of the
most productive cotton districts of the State,
there were returned'4S0, 1888 acres, of which
number 4GQ,980 acres were returned as valu-
ed at twenty cents an acrc-thousands of A.
cres of which can be sold for twenty dollars
an acre. The unequal operation of the land
tax in different sections of the State is stri-
kingly exemplifed by the same tables. For
instance, ST. Helena Parish, containing but
1886 acres, pays larger tax than Barnwcll
District with upwards of 100000 of acres,
and Prince George, Wiuyaw, containing only
34l l,404acres, pays moro than double as much
las the largest and weathiest District in the
State. The land tax of 1858 amounted to
only $61 ,54G36, which was less than the gen
eral>ta&es paid by she Parishes of St. Philips
and st. Nlichael's, for that year. OF that
amoupts tho Lower Division, containing S.
324, ,637 acres, paid S82 ,575. Is; and the Up.
pcr Division, containing 12,283,76f acres,
paid SIC, ,971.1S, showing that the Lower Di-
vision, containing less than half the number
of acres, paid a larger land tax than the Up
por. 1t is evident that under the present
system of fictitious valuation, a rate Of taxa
ton that might be viewed as oppressive In
one section of the State, would be almost noun
iaalin other sections. For the last fiscal year,
fI,a tax on land amounted M eidlitN f,v,, fhh,,S