Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1859-11-02

UICutl lneaI lcllQeu W luSlCdSc luG pOpu-
lation of State and enhanced the value of
labor The cost OF living must be deducted
from the value of production, SO that the
cheaper bread and meat is, the greater is the
net profit.
The second part of your proposition, that
an agricultural people, which las to purchase
meat and Bread must necessarily grow poor"
is no sensible deduction from the first part,
nor is it true in fact. If an agricultural peo-
pie have to buy meat and bread, it is an ad-
vantage to buy them cheap. Whether that
is wise system Of agriculture which is de-
voted to the production Of other things than
meat and bread is quite another question.
That must be decided for themselves, by the
people engaged in agriculture. 1t does hap
pen that by the adaptation Of climate, soil
and skill, It may be much more profitable to
produce other staples and buy meat and bread
from those who can produce them more
cheaply. It's more profitable to plant cot
ton than corn. The value Of hands labor,
and of an acres product in cotton is greater
than in corn. That at least is the settled
conviction of our people.
But moderate thinking people cannot see
how the State will be benefited by building
rail roads to bring cheap corn which every
man ought to raise for himsrlf." Then It
seems you would refuse aid to the Blue
Ridge Road rs means Of compelling every
man to raise bread and meat for himself
You should not restrict your prohibition Of
cheap supplies of neceSSaries to the farmer,
to the articles of bread and meat, sugar,
coffee, tea, tobacco, and great many other
articles are necesSaries of life also. You
should resist all rail roads which supply these
articles cheap to the farmer, for he ought to
produce them for himself if he can do so
proftably. On no other consideration would
you compel the farmer to produce his own
bread and meat
You 90 on Q quote continuously to say
"neigher can they (the moderate thinkers
see that the State at large is to be benefited
by bringing corn, and wheat, and bacon from
Tennessee farms to our towns and villages,
at cheaper prices and cheaper freights than
our own farmers can afford to carry and sell
at. The so-called Fogies think that the ten
dency will be to enchance the value of Ten.
nessce lands, and deprecate the value Of our
own"
Now, which is the largest interest in the
State-the Cotton growing or the Corn grow
ing? There is no corn growing interes; in
the State. That crop is planted only subor
dinately to cotton. The value of lands in
this State depends upon their fitness to pro-
duce cotton. The value of land varies with
the net value of its production in cotton
Provisions for the negros form charge against
the crop. 20 the extent that it is necessary
to purchase them, to that extent are the sales
of the cotton diminished. If a planter has
to buy one thousand bushels Of corn ut fifty
cents bushel, his net sales of cotton are five
hundred dollars more than if he paid one
dollar bushel. This illustrates the propo-
stion that cheap provisions enhance the value
of labor. So does cheap transportation, which
is the certain and immediate effect of rail
roads to enhance the value of land. An acre
of land, which, after dcducting the cost Of
labor Including provisions and carriage, will
not twenty dollars in the value of its pro-
duction, is worth twice as much (and more)
as an acre of land which, with the same til
lage, will net only tea dollars in the value Of
its production. 1t is we'll known that many
planters do not make corn enough for pro.
visions, and few raise their meat. South
Carolina imports very largely corn, bacon,
tobacco and other plantation supplies. The
cotton growing interest is the greatest and
paramount in the State. No farmer plants
corn for a crop. The policy you announce is
by the action OF the State to make the plan
ters produce their own bread and meat as
"they ought to do," by rejecting aid for the
construction of the Blue Ridge Rail Road,
because it will make those articles cheap.
You are no citizen Of Charleston, and live
where taxation is not ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Yca
would not make that extraordinary demand
THAT that the Blue Ridge Road should be con-
structed by the citizens of Charleston. T.
Charleston to be exclusively benefited
that road? Must not every section Of IL
State, more or less, directly and valuably, be
improved by it? Why should the cost of a
great State enterprise be imposed OH its citi-
zan>? Compare the State taxation on the
real estate in tic city, with the taxation OF
other real estate, and no ground for addition
al burden will be found Its citizens are
heavily oppressed with Il Corporation tax.
This is applied, in q great measure, for the
security Of the property Of all the citizens
Of the State deposited there for sale or in
transit. Charleston is all integral part of the
State, and its prosperity or decline should
give the State some concern. For the coul-
mon veal Of the State, the owner Of 4 wharf,
which may bc assessed at $4,000, pays u
Corporation tax of $500. The proprictors
Of factory in Edgeiied District, it may eb
with grand building and costly machinery,
surrounded by a village Of comfortable and
$3.50 900, pay q tax, it may be, on five thou
sand acres of land, classified at twenty Cents
an acre, which amounts to $1,000, on which
the State tax is eighty cents on the hundred
dollars of value, making tue total contribu.
tipn Of the proprietors of so valuable pro-
perty to the State expenses eight dollars
($S00.) Improperly Of the same value in
Charleston, the Corporation tax would be
three Thousand seven hundred and fifty dol
lars (S3150) The sam total of the tax paid
by all the inhabitants OF Edgclield for 970 600
acres of land, is little over $500. 1t is
high time that the citizens of Charleston
should throw off the pack Of taxation which
is now imposed OF it by the State, and make
all the citizens Of the State contribute to
bear the public burden in just proportion ac.
cordng to the actual value of properly.
You sum up certain items of expense from
the Presidents report:
Engineering expenses ...-S152,6 $500
Saaries, printing law fees w
Interest IN Mortgage Bonds ds............S3, ,3l7.D0
Loss ON sale Of Bonds aud Stock .....35, ,GS6.O0
s2S1 1,OSOOO
And this you bring TO notice exceeds the
additional subscription made BY tho citizens
of Charleston III 1857.
will only remark on the item Of salaries,
&C., that the costs in the suit Of Bangs Il Co.
rs. the Blue Ridge Rail Road exceeded S25,.
900.
Nearly two hundred witnesses were exam
incd by commission, in great many States,
and the depositions and other evidence filled
t,uo Ia ro,o not,y,, rolpp,ac Of nina hup5rnd