Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1860-07-05

answer is that the State having entered upon general
ystem of internal Improvement has been obliged to incur
debt corresponding in amount with the expenditure
sufficient amount of revenue has 10 DE raised 10 ee
the ordinary expenses of the State ana tne
interest on the debt. The whole amount OF taxes col
eced and paid into the State Treasury for the year
ending Sept Both, 1859, was $633, 432 81. vi TINS
amount about $4,000 goes to pay the interest on the
State debt which is something less thanInne mil
lions The next step in the investigation is to ascertain
as between land and slave property which has received
the prncpal benefit from the expenditure of the pubic
money. Ard first, how mucn have internal improve
ments added to the value OF slave properly Inc great
demand for slaves articles OF trade Is In the Cotton
region Of the South west. Ihere 'ney are tn?lI
able than elsewhere and there they attain their highest
market value The prices established Id the Cotton
States regulate the prices in North Carolina Inc an
rinsac value of slaves in State is lar peloW Ihe
erchdn geabe value. Or in other words slaves WIN gen
erav sell for more than they worth anrnSacdHy U
their owners There is a wide margin between the two
values The higher value which likes the price is
lated as have sad by causes existing outside the
1t is true that slave property has received some small ID
cidenta benefit from the temporary demand or iaoor
caused nv the building of railroads But this benefit
has been transient and inconsderable and has not in
1uenced the price OF slaves
On the other hand what has been the effect OF inter
nal improvements on the value OF land! In lo4I, De-
fore the State had entered upon general system Vi
internal Improvement, the valuation of land and town
property was $6643O,S23, as shown by the report OF
the public Treasurer. The Legislature OF lo4o-9 en-
tered anew upon the work of internal improvement by
charering the n. c. Railroad-a road 2z5 miles In
length running through the heart of the State, and re-
ceiVng from the public treasury $3OOOOOO, or three
ourths the cost of its construction The State then
owed almost nothing. The system then begun has been
prosecuted until now, and we have already built one
continuous road from the seaboard to the mountains
and another in of construction, besides numer
Gus other roads and other works OF internal improve
ment Five years after the inception OF this policy there
was an assessment of the land throughout the State and
it was found that it had increased from the above valu
alton of l647 to nearly ninetyeght millions OF dollars
an increase of about thirtyone millions in eight years.
nearly fortyeght per cent This increase IN value Is
constantly going on as the public works progress. We
have official statement of the present value OF real
estate in North Carolina Intelligent persons have es
tmaed it at $l3O0OOO00. This is the lowest estimate
we have seen some put it as high as $l50,00OOO0.-
We will assume the lowest estimate correct. We
have then this remarkable fact presented, that with
in twelve years from the assessment OF l84, the real
estate in North Carolina had increased from a val
nation of siXty-siX millions to a valuation OF one
hundred and thirty millions, clear increase of nearly
sXtyfOur millions. That this enhancement in value has
been due mainly to internal improvements is PROPOSE
ton too evident to require demonstration. We come
to the practical application of these facts. BY
general system of internal improvement the landed prop
erty throughout the State has been nearly doubled
value and is constantly increasing in value. Slaves
have received perceptbe increase in value from this
cause Meantime it has cost nearly nine millions to
build up these great public works. and vesixths of the
taxes paid into the State Treasury go to meet the inter-
est the debt incurred In their construction At this
uncture proposition is introduced to tax slave proper
ty equally with land Is it right that the burden of this
debt should be imposed equally upon these different
kinds of property? Is it right that slave properly,
which has received no increased value from railroads.
should contribute equally with land to the payment of
debt incurred in the building of these works? Had the
benefits to both kinds OF property been equal it would
have been right that the burdens should be imposed
equally on both for according to the principle quoted at
the head OF this article Equality among equals as e9u1-
ty" But inasmuch as the benetssot internal improve
ments have mainly accrued to the landed property
throughout the State comforting additional value on
slave property, it is right that land should bear
much larger share of the burden than slave property
The benefits to land and to slave property not having
been equal the burden should not be made equal for
according to the principle heretofore quoted equality
among uneQudLS not equity" Land now pays about
$4,000 into the Public Treasury, or the interest on
about So 800 900 of the Public debt Nine millions
have been borrowed and spent by the State for Rail-
roads, &c, which have added sixty-our millions to the
value of land IN North Carolina, as have shown Hhe
tax on land is tte than sufficient to pay the in
terest onethrd of the public debt thus incurred and
yet the Opposition leaders tell that land is taxed too
heavily. heir sympathy with the landowner has gen
orally been greater seems than with those who own no
land for find them few years ago cOntending against
Free Suffrage aud in favor of retaining in the State Con-
CduSc WHICH VOLeF Sen
ator to fifty of land Then, they treated the
+ rec Suffrage movement attempt to encroach Oh
the rights OF the land owner NoW they have Just dis
covered that the land is badly treated man. be-
cause he is taxed somewhat pay for the Rail-
roads built for his benefit than the owner of slaves
JUSTICE.
LIGHT HOUSE APPRoPR1ATIoNs.-From the Light
House Appropriations Act as officially published, we
take the following sections
North CarOIanG.-For re-establishing the Beacon
Island light house and constructing in connection there
with beacon light to form range for running the
Ocracoke Inlet five thousand dollars
For beacon light at suitable point at or near Cape
Hatteras inlet five thousand dollars.
For new light house at the mouth of Cape Fear
river, In lieu of the present structure forty thousand
dollars
For buoying Beaufort Harbor and Bogue Sound, one
thousand dollars.
For the erection of light house at the mouth of North
river (Albemarle Sound ten thousand dollars.
The Postmaster General has determined not to enter
into any contract for carrying the mails via the Ishmus
which shall stpuate for any payment for such service
other than by postage as the law provides. All letters
will 60 by the overland routes the principal one being
that OF Buterfe whose contract is for Carving letters
alone AS newspapers and congressional franked docu
mens cannot by that route they can only reach the
Pacific coast by being sent as freight.
The pay OF that class of postofice employees whose
service is the most aborous and hazardous of any, has
been reduced to the sun of from $500 to $500 DER
year.
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